This gluten-free sandwich bread is how gluten-free bread should be! It's soft, tender, tasty, and just so good that you can't tell it doesn't contain wheat!
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.
Watch How It's Made!
Soft Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
Dry:
- 225 g tapioca starch (same as tapioca flour)
- 100 g brown rice flour
- 75 g sorghum flour
- 1 tbs xanthan gum
- 1 tbs ground flax seed
- 1 tsp whole flax seed
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbs active dry yeast (instant yeast okay; see Recipe Notes below)
Wet:
- 1 ¼ cup milk warmed to 110 deg F (43C)
- 3 eggs room temperature
- ¼ cup light olive oil
- 2 tbs honey
Toppings (optional):
- 1 tsp whole flax seed
- 1 tbs sunflower seeds
- ½ 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 ½" above the edge of the pan. (see note below)
- Preheat oven to 350 deg F (180 C). The bread dough will be slightly "jiggly".
- Bake for 55 minutes. If you do not want the crust to overbrown, drape a piece of foil over the bread AFTER the first 35 minutes of baking (completely optional...see Recipe Notes below).
- 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 ¼ cups tapioca starch
- ¾ cup + 2 tbs brown rice flour
- ¾ 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.
- Liquid Measurements in Grams:
- 1 ¼ cup milk = 305 grams
- ¼ cup oil = 55 grams
- You can substitute the milk in the recipe with water or nut milks without any problem.
- I add the active dry yeast directly to the dry ingredients without proofing.
- If you want to proof the yeast first, you can test it in ¼ cup of the warm milk/water with the honey before adding it to the dry ingredients with the remaining 1 cup of warm milk/water.
- You can use the same amount of instant yeast in place of the active dry yeast, but the bread may take less time to rise. Check how much the bread has risen after 30 minutes.
- 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!
- Topping the bread with seeds is completely optional and can be skipped.
- Let the bread rise in a draft-free area on the counter. I also have let my bread rise in the oven with only the oven light on, carefully removing the bread to preheat the oven before baking.
- Covering the bread with foil while baking is an optional step if you do not want the bread to overbrown (it is still good if you skip the foil).
- If you cover the bread with foil, bake it UNCOVERED for the first 35 minutes and then cover for the remaining baking time. This will help reduce any chances of bread "shrinkage" while baking.
- Let the bread cool completely before slicing to avoid any gumminess.
- 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
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. Instructions regarding covering the bread with foil while baking and Recipe Notes were updated April 9th, 2021.
Hi will this recipe work in a bread machine?
I don't have a bread machine, so I don't know exactly if it would work or not. However, my suggestion would be that if you want to try it, make sure that the dough only goes through one rise before baking and not two since that is how the bread is made for baking in a regular oven. Thanks for your question, Clare.
Can I substitute with gluten-free flour
Hi Nafeesa. If you mean to substitute with an premade gluten-free flour blend, you can, but I do not know how the bread will turn out. Use the same amount of your flour blend equal to the combined total of my flours/starches. If your blend already has xanthan gum in it, then be sure to exclude the xanthan gum I have written in the recipe. Good luck!
What sized pan did you use?
My loaf pan is a bit narrower and longer than a standard 9x5 loaf pan, but is the same size in volume. I have had many readers use a 9x5 pan and even an 8x4 pan with success. Hope that helps, Donna!
If I don't want to have little seeds in my bread, can I substitute more ground flax seeds for whole flax seeds in the Dry Ingredients portion of the bread? If so, do I keep the amount the same?
Hi Christine! You can omit the whole flax seeds completely and you don't need to make any other adjustments to the dry ingredients.
Hi Lisa,
I can imagine the painstaking efforts of trying and trying and trying till you're finally happy with the texture. Pat on the back gurl 🙂 Was wondering if I can use the tapioca flour to substitute brown rice flour? Will it alter the texture or feel of the bread? Want to understand from your experience if there is any reason you have chosen to mix the tapioca and brown rice flour?
I'm eager to attempt your recipe within these few days but unfortunately i havent manage to find the ground flax seed. Will the bread work, without it?
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Angeline
Hey Angeline! You cannot substitute the brown rice flour with tapioca starch because they have completely different jobs in the bread. The brown rice flour would be better substituted with sorghum, buckwheat, or other similar grain type flour because it is basically the foundation of the bread. The tapioca starch adds softness and squidginess to the bread. Without the grain flour, the bread would be really gummy and lack structure. You basically need the blend of both a flour and a starch to make a good GF bread. As for the ground flax seed, you can grind your own from whole flax seeds (I do that all the time), or you can omit it completely. Thanks for the questions, and I hope that helps!
The best gluten free bread I’ve had. Thanks! Wondering if it would work to use a muffin pan to make this bread into rolls.
Thanks so much, Kristina! I'm thrilled that you liked the bread! Using a muffin tin to make rolls might work...I think I would only fill the muffin cups halfway to allow room for rise, and I may even reduce the amount of yeast so the rise would be slower and allow more time for the structure to develop. I would probably make only 1/2 or 1/3 of the bread recipe since this makes a lot of batter. Baking time is harder to determine, but I would check them at 30 minutes, checking for color and also testing internal temperature. Those are just my suggestions, but you can certainly try what you like! Let me know how it works!
Hi again! well, the muffin tin didn’t work great (came out too crusty for some reason) but then I did them again in a springform pan. I cut the recipe in half and bake them 30 minutes… I came out with seven “manly sized” rolls. Everyone loves them, even our gluten-eating family members. Thanks again!
That's good to know about the muffin tin, and I'm glad you managed to get rolls out of the recipe (manly-sized isn't a bad thing!). I'm so happy that they were a hit, even with the gluten-eating family members...that's always my goal when I develop these recipes. 🙂 Thanks so much for the update!
Hi Lisa, just wondering if I could adapt this to keto using lupin flour, sunflower flour and coconut flour?
Hi Joy! Unfortunately, I do not have any knowledge or experience with lupin or sunflower flour, so I can't advise on whether they would work in this recipe. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
Finally! A recipe that is worth making. This bread has great flavor even without the seeds on top. I followed your recipe exactly as written. It is light, moist, not heavy and tastes so good. It was easy to make. I am excited I found a recipe that is worth making again. Thank you.
Thanks so much, Angela! I'm so glad that you liked the bread and that you want to make it again! 🙂