Baking gluten free bread can be overwhelming, frustrating, and scary. But it doesn’t have to be. Learn to bake good gluten free bread the first time and every time, by taking class, a virtual cooking class from Gluten Free Cooking School.  An updated version of this recipe is featured in the class.
Now that I’ve given you my new all-purpose gluten free, soy free flour mix, you need a recipe to try it in. Based on the questions and comments I’ve received I decided to start with bread. Everyone who goes gluten free starts to miss bread pretty quickly, and a nice loaf of gluten free bread can go a long way to making you feel better about your new diet.
For more great gluten free recipes like this one, check out my ebook, The Gluten Free Survival Guide. I’ve packed it full of all of my favorite GF recipes, including bread, biscuits, waffles, scones and more. I know you’ll enjoy cooking them as much as I do!
I found a new sous chef for this experimental baking. Please let me introduce Sous Chef David.
Experiments in Bread Baking:
For the baking session, I decided to make enough dough for two loaves and cook one in the bread machine and one in the oven. I recently posted “conventional oven” directions (in the comments) for my original Gluten Free Sandwich Bread post and I wanted to make sure that they were correct. And I thought it would be fun to compare the two loaves. You know me; I like experiments.
David and I made a double batch of the dough (see recipe below) and then scooped half of it into the bread machine. I’ve lost the paddle to my machine, so I just threw the dough in without it and set the bread to bake on the 80 minute “Express Bake” setting.The other half of the dough was scraped into a greased 10″ Calphalon loaf pan. The dough needed to rise in a warm place for 45 – 60 minutes and the only warm place that I could find was on the stovetop in front of the vent from the oven. I wasn’t sure if this would counteract the somewhat chilly temperatures of our house, but the bread was pushing at the top of the cloth within 45 minutes. After the bread rose I baked the loaf in a 375 degree oven for 60 minutes.
And here are the results:
The bread machine bread is on the left and the oven bread is on the right. These loaves turned out pretty much as expected. My oven loaves have always been on the short side, but I think this is primarily because my loaf pan is longer and wider than my bread machine pan. There’s just more room to spread. To confirm this theory I cut the end off of each, and you can see in the pictures below that both loaves have the same density.
Again, due to some recent reader comments I drug out my measuring tape to determine the exact height to which my loaves had risen. The bread machine loaf topped out a little shy of 3″, while the oven loaf came in right at 2″.
The 3″ loaf is typical for our bread machine. I’ve made higher loaves with store-bought mixes but they always collapsed as they cooled. Even though this loaf is only 3″, it’s always 3″ and I can count on having slices of bread that will hold together for a sandwich. In fact, this is the bread that we use for sandwiches, and along with soup or a salad it is the perfect amount for a meal.
The 2″ loaf of bread is a bit small, but we’ll be eating sandwiches from it too. We may just eat two!
Final Thoughts:
While I am definitely in love with my bread machine, I think that you can bake a good gluten free loaf in the oven if you have the right pan. My bread machine pan measures 7.5″ x 5″ x 5″. I did some quick research on Amazon and a my 10″ loaf pan is technically a 1 1/2 pound pan. A 1 Pound Loaf Pan
If you have any insights from your bread-baking experiments that you’d like to share with everyone, please tell me about them in the comments.
Yummy Sandwich Bread Recipe
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 ½ c. water (105 degrees or a little less than hot)
2 ½ cups All Purpose Flour Mix Recipe
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 ½ Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. cider vinegar
Directions
- First combined the yeast and sugar in a small bowl, Add the water while gently whisking the yeast and sugar. Let this mixture sit while you mix the rest of the ingredients. If your yeast is good then bubbles and foam should form on the top. (By the way, this step is what is commonly referred to as “proofing the yeast”)
- Combine the flour mix, xanthan gum and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir well. If you have a sifter, then by all means sift the flour. I don’t, so I whisk and stir it really well.
- In a third bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and vinegar until the eggs are a bit frothy.
- By this point the yeast mixture should be foamy, so you can pour the two liquid mixtures into the flour mixture. Stir until all ingredients are well mixed and then: (A) dump the dough into your bread machine and bake on the 80 minute setting. (B) Or, following the remaining instructions for a convention oven.
- Grease a loaf pan with shortening, butter, or the appropriately allergen-free substance. Scoop the dough into the pan and smooth it out with a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon. Cover the pan with a damp dishrag and place in warm area so that the dough can rise for the next 45 – 60 minutes. The dough should double in size or reach the top of the pan.
- After the dough has risen, bake in in a 375 degree oven for 60 minutes. When the bread is done it will have a crisp brown crust and it will pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the oven, and the bread from the pan, and cool for 15 minutes before slicing.
I had to smile when I saw your stubby cute little bread machine loaf… that’s what all of my loaves look like too! The loaf from your oven looks very pretty! I don’t do many oven loaves because I’m never home long enough to let the bread rise and get it baked! I’m glad you like sorghum flour! I just wish they carried it at walmart! maybe we should make a petition!! 😉 I love your comparison posts! Very interesting stuff!!
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xantham gum is a soy product so your bread is not soy free.
Mary,
I’ve done a bit of research and see that xanthan gum is a fermented corn sugar. I haven’t found anything about it being a soy product – where did you find this information? A number of my readers are have soy or corn allergies, so I want to make sure I have the full story. Thanks for your comment =)
Hi,
Thanx 4 the recipe. Will try it. By the way I’m not using a commercially packed gluten free flour so would be grateful if u could tell me the different proportion of flour 2 use.
Is shortening an important component in bread making?
Helen
Helen, I hope you like that bread. You can click on “Gluten Free, Soy Free All Purpose Flour Mix” to go to the post that contains the recipe for that flour mix.
Thank you all so much for sharing your experience and advice. I will probably be re-reading it for the next few weeks as I decide hot to proceed.
I can definitely tell a difference in nasal congestion, but my tummy is still not working properly. I may need to buckle down next week and go GFCF to let everything heal. And after that, we’ll just see.
I am still leaning towards not doing the shots. A few hours after the allergy testing I had what I would consider a “strong” reaction to having so many allergens in my body. I had a headache, nausea, hot and cold flashes, and really wanted to cry for my mommy. If the allergy testing was that bad, would my reaction to the shots be worse? I don’t think I want to find out.
This bread was easy to make and tastes great! I think my pan is the same size as yours, since it came out fairly short. I decided to slice it on a slight diagonal so that the slices would be taller.
@John: That is such a clever idea!
xanthan gum
[ZAN-thuhn]
Produced from the fermentation of corn sugar, xanthan gum is used as a thickener, EMULSIFIER and STABILIZER in foods such as dairy products and salad dressings. See also GUAR GUM; GUM ARABIC; GUM TRAGACANTH.
© Copyright Barron’s Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD LOVER’S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.
I’m in the process of making this bread and, unfortunately, it’s not baking well in the middle. 🙁 I have the same exact bread machine and followed your directions, except that I put the liquids in first and then the flour. I thought maybe you mixed them first because you didn’t have a paddle. Do you think that’s what happened? I put it on bake for longer to see if it works, but at the end of the 80 min. Expressbake cycle, it had hardly started to brown.
As a side note, from what I understand, Xanthan Gum can be grown on a number of plants, it’s not derived from a plant. It can be grown on soy or corn. I used Bob’s Red Mill’s. It doesn’t say on the package how it was grown…all it says is gluten free. I didn’t think about it either until I saw the above post. I guess I’ll call the company and look into it. We’re trying to stay soy free as well as gluten and casein free. Here’s a link about Xanthan Gum: http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/hyxan.html
Thanks for the recipe…I love your blog. 🙂
Hi,
I was really looking forward to trying this bread, but it’s not working very well. 🙁 I followed your instructions, except that I put the liquids in first and then the dry ingredients. I have the same bread maker as you do and I used Expressbake 80 min.
At 80 min., it wasn’t brown yet and there was a big circle in the middle where it wasn’t cooked yet. Do you think it was because I put the ingredients in separately rather than mixing them? I thought you didn’t do that because you don’t have the paddle.
I have it baking for longer in the machine now, and after an additional 30 min., it’s browning, but still doughy and a little sunken in the middle. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Janice
Hello, Has anyone had any success with a bread recipe that is gluten free, dairy free and yeast free. Yep I’m serious!. I realize that these are all major players for successful bread but I am allergic to them all. Thanks for any help! Billie Jo
It’s in the oven as we speak! Your sous chef is adorable! 🙂 I’ll update later to let you know how it turns out.
It turned out really well! It looks beautiful. I used the 8.5 x 4.5 pan and it was almost too small. I think I’ll try it in the larger pan next time just to see the difference. Also, my kids didn’t like it quite as well as a packaged mix I made the other day. They liked the sweetness of the mix. Can I just add a bit more sugar to this recipe?
We just went GFCF on Monday and I’m so used to eyeballing my breads made with wheat. I can already tell that gluten-free baking is much different so I’m afraid to play around too much with the recipe just yet.
Thanks for the great blog!
@Melissa: Definitely increase the sugar if you want. I can’t imagine that would cause a problem. Welcome to gluten free – I’m sure you’ll be back to eyeballing recipes in no time =)
What exactly is Xanthan gum. IS it like Xiolotol a sweetner. IF so I am very allergic too xiolotol. Could you use arrowroot instead?
Shari
Hi Mary Frances!
Just wanted to give you and update. I added more sugar and it was just fine. A friend of mine gave me a gluten-free all-purpose flour mix and I used that to make bread and my family hated it! As soon as I went back to your recipe, they were happy campers again! I feel very lucky to have found your recipe first instead of trying several different ones before finding the right one.
I ran out of cornstarch a couple of weeks ago and used potato starch instead and that was just fine.
I’ve been buying Bob’s Red Mill sorghum flour at the grocery store. I would love to find it a little less expensive. Where do you buy your sorghum flour?
Thanks a million for your website! I also made your cornbread and the family loved it!!!
@Melissa: Thanks for the update! I usually buy by Bob’s Red Mill directly through their site or through Amazon.
I would like to try this recipe, but I have a child who cannot have cider vinegar because he doesn’t do well with apples or grapes…would vinegar from corn make a huge difference? Or can I substitute something else?
Thanks…
@Donna Grinnell: You might want to add some additional sugar since the cidar vinegar is somewhat sweet.
Thank you so much for your blog, and the cooking & experimentation that you do so that I don’t have to be so overwhelmed.
I have baked this great bread recipe a few times, and today I omitted the cider vinegar. I think today’s bread was lighter than it’s ever been. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence, but I think I’ll keep making it without the cider vinegar and see if I get the same good results!
Billie Jo I’ll keep my eyes open for you! My boys and I (and my nieces and brother) can’t have gluten, eggs, or dairy. HAHA Trouble is that every gluten-free bread recipe I’ve found calls for eggs (and subs don’t seem to work well in breads). If anyone knows of a gluten and egg-free recipe for bread I’d be extremely grateful!
Hi Mary,
I just made your recipe using the soy flour but I did not have corn flour so I used tapioca. It seemed fine until I took the loaf out of the machine and it started to collapse…the top, the sides 🙁 Could it be the tapioca? It tastes really good though. Any ideas on what I did wrong?
@Jennifer O: It may very well have been the tapioca. What you’ve described sounds exactly like what used to happen when I used the Bob’s Red Mill Wonderful Sandwich Bread mix.
Mary,
I also used a packet of breadmaker yeast and didn”t realize that you don’t have to “proof” it. I did anyway…it did foam, not a huge amount and the bread rose a lot while baking it just sank when I removed it from the pan. Do you think that could have been the culprit or do you still think it was the tapioca flour. It’s a shame if it is the flour because it tasres really good! Also I made a large batch of the flour mixture, do you think I could alter it by adding the corn flour and another liquid(not sure which)?
@Jennifer O: I’d try proofing the yeast again and make sure that it is within its expiration date. If the bread tasted good, I’d probably just keep using the flour mix until you run out, rather than trying to change it up even more.
If you add egg free and soy free to the gluten free, dairy free, yeast free, you have hit on my problem, along with 16 other food sensitivities! Anyone know how to work with these problems? I get sooooo hungry for some bread!
Juanita
Hello, Has anyone had any success with a bread recipe that is gluten free, dairy free and yeast free. Yep I’m serious!. I realize that these are all major players for successful bread but I am allergic to them all. Thanks for any help! Billie Jo
Thanks! I sure could use some help!
Juanita
Thanks for the recipe. My daughter is milk and soy free and we are trying to make things as “normal” as possible! She loved the bread as did our family. I think I may add a bit of honey the next time since none of us are allergic!
Hello, I am learning about baking and being gluten for the first time so please forgive my ignorance. I want to bake my family’s bread with the wheat we will grow, but my son has ADHD. I want to know, once you wash wheat flour with water, gluten in left, correct? Can any part of what is washed off be used in baking bread?
@Kim: I’m a little confused by your question, but if you’re trying to bake a gluten free loaf of bread then you cannot use wheat at all. And you can’t use the bread machine or loaf pans that you bake normal bread in….or use any wooden spoons that have touched wheat flours. They are all contaminated.
Mary,
I am very new at this – just started my son on this last night. I went to the store thinking I could buy a loaf of gluten free, casein free bread. I was surprised to find that I am going to have to bake our bread! I want to buy a bread machine today and make your recipe – my son is a big 23 year old boy and eats very well. I’ll need two loaves! How do I put the ingredients in the bread machine – can I do this rather than mixing it up myself? Thanks for the tip about ordering flour online. Also, thanks for this recipe.
@Susan: Check your bread machine instructions for the correct order. I lost the blade to my machine years ago and don’t remember what the correct order is. You can put the ingredients into the bread machine and let it mix it. If it doesn’t rise as high as you like, then you can always try mixing it in the bowl first and see if that gets a better result. It probably depends on how well the machine mixes the dough.
Mary,
Can I use your original flour mix with this sandwich bread recipe?
Can you make this recipe with egg replacer? My daughter is allergic to almost everything (it feels like).
@Rachel: I haven’t experimented with egg replacer in this recipe. I typically use a flax egg if I’m out of eggs when I bake bread…the loaves come out a little bit more sticky so I probably need to cut down on one of the other liquids when I use flax eggs.
Bread rising problems? I use Gluten free pantry bread mix with water instead of milk (rice milk was soggy/vanilla soy milk was fine although now soy is out for me). Whisk together wet ingrediants, kneaded in the bread pan transferred it to a bread pan for rising. Here’s the catch – I put a heating pad under the bread pan to rise (don’t let it rise over top of pan). Oven cooked. Let cool fully and slice thin with bread knife – toasted for sandwiches.
Also if you haven’t tried Kinniknick english muffins your missing out. I slice each muffin into 3 because they are too thick and end up with 6 muffins instead of 4. Great for sandwiches too!
Sorry, I meant kneaded in bread machine (1.5 lb works fine) I’m sure this would help with home made breads but this is the closest I get.
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Hi,
Please excuse my naivety but could you tell me how much water is in the bread mix recipe, as I don`t understand how much 1 1/2 c is.
KIND REGARDS.
Rod
@ Rod: It’s 1.5 cups. A cup is equal to 8 liquid ounces.
A question about the bread machine. You said put it in the machine and bake for the 80 minute cycle. No my machine will knead the bread again before it begins to bake. Is that alright?
Thanks for the recipe
Hi, This is great Recipe. I believe I read an early post and I tried the oven method. My bread came out the 2in height and was gooey in the middle. I cooked it for the hour like you said. I also put it back in the oven for another 5-10 mins and that didn’t do anything. I think I messed with the gluts. I still ate the bread it tasted wonderful. However the texture was just off if you know what I mean. I was wondering what I can do to fix this? I did change the flour recipe because of the flour I had on handle. I think I added more soy flour to the mix. Well Thanks again. I will try this again. I keep moving and with school I haven’t had the time to reexperiment.
Thanks Ali
Due to a recent and unexplained diagnoses of Type 1 Diabetes in my 9 year old daughter, we are switching our diet to gluten/casein/soy free. The really tough part is figuring out the carbs in home made bread. Do you know what the carbs are in any of these yummy bread recipes? does anyone have a good bread knife/cutting system that would allow me to cut each piece very close to the same size?
Thanks,
Jimmy
Hi! Great site! I own a cafe and catering complany that, yes, believe it or not, caters to eating concerns! We have a great gluen free, yeast free, soy free bread that we use. I will happily share this with anyone who needs it. We use it for sandwihces, toasts, soups, table bread or whatever you like. Mary Frances, can you share my address with those who need it?
Thanks!
Can I please have your email address Mary? Mine is rcf722@yahoo.com
Sally, my husband has multiple food allergies, so I also would appreciate having your recipe. My address is gabelle671@aol.com. Thanks.
Sally I would also like a copy of your recipe. My email address is
busybee629@hotmail.com
Thanks
Sally, can I get your recipe also. My email is myninabc@yahoo.com.
Hi Mary Frances,
Thanks for the great site! I have learned so much but I’m ready to give up on finding a bread recipe that does not have gluten, oats, casein, egg white, yeast or vinegar in it. Like another subscriber, there are times I crave bread. So far, I’ve only learned to make a fairly good cornbread free of the above list. I’d appreciate having Sally’s address, too, to see if she has some ideas for me to try.
Many thanks!
I am just starting my son on the GFCF diet so today was my first trip to the grocery store. I bought a small loaf of bread for $5.75 and I am thinking that I better learn how to bake it. Could someone tell me where to find xantham gum? Is it in the grocery store? Is it a necessity for this recipe since regular bread recipes do not use it?
Thank you.
@Cindy: Xanthan gum or guar gum is essential to gluten free baking. They give the dough the structure that it needs to rise, which is what gluten does in regular bread recipes. Grocery stores that carry a wide selection of gluten free flours often carry xanthan gum too. However, I’ve found that it is cheaper to order it directly from the Bob’s Red Mill website.
Do you know how long your bread machine lets the loaf rise for and bake? I have a black and decker machine and it doesn’t have an 80 minute setting. It does break down the mixing, resting, rising, and baking times so if you could tell me yours I might be able to match it to one of the ones I have. Thanks!
@Anna: The first knead is 2 minutes, the second knead is 18 minutes, then a 12 minute rise, followed by a 48 minute bake. Since I don’t use the blade in my machine, I guess I’m getting a 32 minute rise, then a 48 minute bake.
Thanks, while I was making this bread the power went out in our area and it ended up a runny mess. I tried again his morning and it worked! Thanks again!