This gluten-free sandwich bread is soft and delicious.
Not words you’d ever associate with any gluten-free bread, right???
It’s also a prime example of patience and perseverance because it took me a long time to get this right. A very. Long. Time.
My first attempt at making gluten-free bread was mediocre at best, and at first, I was quite excited about it.
But as I looked at it more, I realized it resembled a brick.
And oddly enough, it was heavy like a brick.
And if you ask my family, it was like eating a brick.
Okay maybe not. No one lost their teeth eating that very first attempt at gluten-free bread. 🙂
But were we excited about it? Not particularly. Did we finish the loaf? Uh…no.
And I could have given up.
But I didn’t give up and my family is so glad I didn’t!
It wasn’t easy making that first loaf, having to figure out all the ingredients only to have it come out like something that could be used as a doorstop…or a paperweight.
What I wanted to achieve was gluten-free bread that someone on a gluten-free diet would love. I wanted to create a real, soft, squidgy bread and prove, once and for all, that gluten-free bread doesn’t have to be dense, dry, and crumbly. Just about every gluten-free bread we ever bought was like cardboard…and they wouldn’t brown in the toaster. What is that all about??
There are actually some gluten-free bread mixes out there that produce a decent loaf of bread. However, I didn’t always want to rely on a pre-packaged mix if we wanted bread, and they aren’t very affordable. Once I was able to develop this recipe, I never looked at a bread mix again!
I have made this bread several times and I never tire of watching a mix of basic ingredients transform to a beautiful loaf of bread. And then to have that bread be all soft and squidgy like “real” bread is incredibly satisfying and fulfilling.
Who’d a thought it was possible, right?
I certainly had my doubts, but I’m glad I didn’t let my early failures deter me from getting to this result! And I have to say that my family was incredibly patient as I worked through each attempt, having to eat every single iteration. But it paid off and now my family likes my bread more than the gluten-free bread mix I used to buy! I call that a total success!
If you haven’t tried making your own gluten-free bread yet, or if you haven’t eaten any good gluten-free bread, you have to give this recipe a try! I’ve done all the research and work and you’ll be amazed at how it’s just like “real bread”! 🙂
~ Lisa.
Soft Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
Dry:
- 225 g tapioca starch (see note below)
- 100 g brown rice flour
- 75 g sorghum flour
- 1 tbs xanthan gum
- 1 tbs ground flax seed
- 1 tsp whole flax seed
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbs instant dry yeast
Wet:
- 1 1/4 cup milk warmed to 110 deg F (43C)
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1/4 cup light olive oil
- 2 tbs honey
Toppings (optional):
- 1 tsp whole flax seed
- 1 tbs sunflower seeds
- 1/2 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and stir together with a whisk; set aside.
- Combine milk, eggs, olive oil, and honey in mixing bowl; mix well.
- Add dry ingredients to the milk and egg mixture and mix for 1-2 minutes. A paddle attachment, dough hooks, or hand mixer beaters will all work with this dough.
- Pour or scoop into a parchment-lined loaf pan. Make level with a spatula.
- Scatter whole flax seeds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds on the top of the dough.
- Gently press seeds into the dough with wet fingers or the back of a wet spoon.
- Let the dough rise in the loaf pan in a warm draft-free location for about 1 hour (check at 45 minutes). Bread dough should be no higher than 1/2" above the edge of the pan. (see note below)
- Preheat oven to 350 deg F (180 C). The bread dough will be slightly "jiggly".
- Drape a sheet of foil loosely over the pan and bake for 35 minutes. This will prevent the top from overcooking and over-browning.
- Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes.
- Bread is done when the internal temperature taken with a thermometer is over 200 deg F (93 C). A temperature reading close to 210 deg F is even better (98 C).
- Remove from oven and let bread rest for 3-5 minutes.
- Using parchment, lift bread out from the pan and set on a rack to cool completely.
- Let cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- Volume Measurements:
- 2 1/4 cups tapioca starch
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbs brown rice flour
- 3/4 cup sorghum flour
- Please note that gluten-free recipes work best with weight measurements because they are more precise than volume measurements. Gluten-free baking requires more precision and can be less forgiving than baking with regular all-purpose wheat flour.
- These volume measurements were made from spooning each of the flours into the measuring cups/spoons (so they are not packed) and leveling them off.
- The volume measurements are approximate. Make slight adjustments to the recipe as needed, adding a bit of water or a bit more tapioca starch or brown rice flour to achieve the correct dough consistency.
- I had a friend make this bread using water instead of milk and it turned out great! So for those of you who are avoiding dairy, go ahead and use water!
- In case I wasn't too clear in my description, the dough for this bread will not be like your typical wheat-based bread dough which you can actually handle. The dough will be more like a thick batter that you have to scoop into the pan. Do not worry if you see this as it is normal for some gluten-free bread recipes to be like this! Just scoop or pour the dough into the pan, even it out, let it rise, and then bake!
- I let my bread rise in the oven with only the oven light on. I then carefully remove the bread to preheat the oven before baking.
- Store any leftover bread in a sealed bag or container for 2 days on the counter. If keeping for longer, keep bread slices in the fridge or freezer and then reheat in the toaster.
Nutrition
If you make this recipe, share your photo on Facebook or Instagram and tag me @dayinthekitchen!
You might also like:
-
- Soft Homemade Gluten-Free Bread
-
- Soft Gluten-Free Tortilla Flatbread
-
- Gluten-Free Garlic Herb Cheese Rolls
This post was originally published on May 21st, 2017, republished in November 2018 with new photos, instructional photos, slight recipe modifications, and updated recipe notes. This recipe was updated on March 6th, 2019 with volume measurements for the flours and additional recipe notes.
I did everything by the book and my dough was thin like pancake butter. What a waste of time and money. There is definitely something wrong with this recipe. You really need to review it . 😡
I’m sorry it did not work out, Sophie. I have made this very recipe several times without any issues and have had others make it successfully as well. That being said, I will review the recipe to make sure it is accurate. Thanks for your feedback.
OK OH my Goodness! Today I attempted to make this bread and used my cooking scales ( she said feeling very smug!) and ended up with a thin liquid more like pancake batter, Well, 2 things, although a seasoned baker, I am new to weighing and I think I goofed there. Also, would you believe I added sorghum flour thinking it was my guar gum!! ( Both were in plastic bags from the bins at the store. I also use guar gum because a friend is allergic to xanthan gum I knew that something was wrong so I tossed it. I decided to give it a second try and measured by the cup just as a safe guard, Made sure I used guar gum. Everything was great, I had just put it in the oven to bake and I got a phone call from a friend who was sick and needed me to sub for her at school. So I gave the instructions to my husband, saying follow this to the letter!! I just got home and we cut into the bread. OMG!! out of this world. We dipped it in Olive oil. Now I can’t wait for a sandwich. This bread is fabulous. I will be making it again and again. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Oh my! I appreciate you not giving up on the recipe after the first attempt! And believe it or not, that small amount of xanthan gum or guar gum in the recipe makes all the difference to the batter, as you found out for yourself. Thanks for sharing your story, Peggy. It’s good to know that guar gum works just as well as xanthan gum, and I’m so glad you liked the bread!
Hi, I make this recipe all the time, it is now my go to bread recipe, makes a lovely loaf but occasionally the sides shrink in. Can I do anything to prevent this? I’ve tried laying it on the side for 10 minutes and then on to the other side but doesn’t help.
Thanks for your question, Deb. One thing I could suggest to try is to reduce the amount of yeast to maybe 2 or 2 1/2 tsp. It will take a bit longer to rise, but that extra time may help with a more stable bread structure. Another tip would be to make sure you don’t allow the bread to rise too much, making sure to keep it to no more than 1/2″ above the edge of the pan. Let me know if that helps…I’m so glad it’s your go-to bread recipe!
Thank you for this recipe. I’ve baked half a dozen breads now starting with your recipe and I’ve tweaked it somewhat because I wasn’t a big fan of the eggy taste.
150g Tapioca starch
100g brown rice flour
75g Sorghum flour
40g oatmeal flour and 40g corn flour (you can play around with these but I like the oatmeal for extra fiber)
20g broken linseed
20g sunflower seeds
20g pumpkin seeds
7g xanthan gum
8g salt
15-20 grams sugar or honey (to get your yeast going)
Mix these dry ingredients well before adding 1 tbs dry yeast because the yeast doesn’t like concentrated salt.
Then I use 50g of olive oil and 1 egg in 350 – 400 ml of warmish water (you can vary the water. I usually start with a little less and I add it bit by bit untill I have the right consistency when adding the dry ingredients).
Wisk the wet ingredients first. Firm but short untill you get some bubbles on the surface. Then add the dry ingredients and mix well. Be sure to keep mixing time limited. I use a kitchenaid with a whisk tool and have it run at about half of maximum speed. The dough seems to be stuck in the whisk tool but if it’s not too firm it actually mixes well due to the centrifugal force tossing the dough towards the outside.
Last but not least, I add just a teaspoon of lemon juice! The lemon juice really gets the yeast going. It’s actually the vitamin C which really helps the rising of the dough.
I scoop the dough in a breadpan (it’s about the same consistency as cookie dough before baking). I let kt rise in my oven at about 40°C (not farenheit) for about an hour after which I bake it for 45 minutes at 180°C (I feel that everyone’s oven works differently so check on it frequently and see what works best for you).
The result is a very real kind of bread. It has no egg flavor whatsoever and it’s lighter than the milk version. It keeps very well for at least two days. It’s easily sliced and very soft. After 3 days it starts to dry and I just toast it. I’m thinking abouttrying rhis to make some kind of hot dog bun (leaving out the seeds). I haven’t put any in the freezer yet so I’m not sure if it keeps well in there so you might just want to give that a try but no promises. And don’t worry about the lemon juice as it does nothing to the taste of the bread.
Wow. Thanks for sharing your adaptation of the recipe!
what is the measurement of the bread pan? thanks. looking forward to giving this a try.
My bread pan is 11 3/8″ x 4″ x 3″ (29cm x 10cm x 7.5cm) (from Ikea). So it is not your the common 5×9 loaf pan, however the volume is very similar, and I have had people make the bread using a regular sized loaf pan without any problems. Hope that helps, Deborah!
I found a long loaf pan as shown in the foto and made the bread yesterday. I live at 7,200 ft (2200 mtrs) in the mountains of Mexico and I can find GF flours in our state capital about 40 mins away. Made no adjustments just to see how it would turn out and it is FAB! Only problem is I want to eat it all … and by myself. melted vegan cheese or organic Nutella style spread (no palm oil). So delish and so much better than the only gummy commercial made loaf available in the higher end grocery stores. Gracias mil~!
It is wonderful to read that you made this bread successfully at a high altitude, after your efforts to get a pan and the ingredients…AND in Mexico! Also good to know that it worked with coconut milk as a substitute. I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks so much for taking the time to post your comments!
I have two questions…
Questions 1: at the end it says 255kcal. Is that 255 calories per slice?
Questions 2: can you substitute the milk with plain almond milk?
Thanks for the questions, Zee. The 255 calories are based per serving, and I have approximated that one loaf has 10 servings. I can’t see why it wouldn’t work with almond milk, and it is a variation that I would consider worth trying. Please let me know if you try the substitution!
I guess I did alter one ingredient by using coconut milk and it worked beautifully.
This is my new favorite GF bread recipe! I mistakenly put in one tablespoon of whole flax seeds, but it didn’t seem to bother anything and I don’t mind them. I used sugar instead of honey just because it’s less messy to measure. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I’m so glad you liked it, Nikki, and that you mentioned your slight changes to the recipe. I’m so glad it worked out! Thanks for your comments!
Hi there, thank you for your recipie. I do not eat eggs. Do you think I can substitute the eggs for flax seeds or egg replacement?
Thanks for your question, Sandra! I have read about people using egg replacement or flax seeds in baking without running into any problems. However, I do not know how it would work with this recipe since I have never tried the substitution. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out.
Love this bread!easy to make and very tasty. Also doesn’t crumble too badly and can actually be cut into slices! Thanks a lot x
Thanks, Sanne! I’m so glad that you liked it!
This bread is amazing!! And really easy to make. My partner was recently diagnosed as being gluten intolerant and bread was always going to be the one thing he’d really miss. Tried so many so-called soft bread recipes but they were all pretty bad. Lisa is our hero and this bread is a revelation!!!
This is fantastic to hear and I am so glad you liked the bread! Thanks so much for the comments!
Hi! I am excited to try this bread recipe as I have been following an AIP diet for a few months and I miss sandwiches! However, I cannot have rice flour – is there a substitute you would recommend?
While I have not tried substituting the rice flour, I think sorghum or buckwheat would be your best bets. Thanks for the question, and if you try either of those flours, please let me know how it turns out!