Learn how to make this soft and chewy gluten free bread recipe! It’s easy to make without too many ingredients and too many complicated steps. If you’ve been missing bread in your gluten free diet then look no further with this recipe!
Bread
Who doesn’t love it? Fresh out of the oven, crusty, artisan bread slathered with butter, or drizzled with olive oil? Gimme all the bread.
It’s the perfect accompaniment to pretty much any main dish while also being just as satisfying on its own.
It’s also the destroyer of diets with its carb filled goodness and an actual source of pain for the millions of people who are afflicted with Coeliac Disease or gluten intolerances. Historically, gluten free breads have been…well…sad. Dry, crumbly, tasteless, not to mention expensive. Thankfully, as time goes on and the demand for gluten free products increases we’re getting better at making do sans gluten without compromising taste and texture.
Homemade Gluten Free Bread Recipe
Altogether this bread is made up of about 10, fairly basic ingredients without too much effort.
Unlike a lot of really great gluten free recipes this bread only requires two different types of flours: rice and tapioca. Since I first made this bread years ago rice & tapioca flour have become one of my favourite combos whenever I’m looking for an easy GF flour blend (like in these Yorkshire Pudding).
Yeast Prep Steps
- Whisk together most of your dry ingredients: flours, salt, xanthan gum and baking powder. Set that bowl aside.
- Dissolve the sugar in warm water.
- You want your water to be warm to the touch, but not hot. Too hot and the heat will kill the yeast which will prevent the bread from rising.
- Stir in the yeast and then let the mixture sit aside for about 5-10 minutes as the yeast foams up.
Dough Steps
- Whisk the eggs, oil and vinegar in another small cup or bowl. You don’t need to mix too much, just enough to get the egg whites slightly foamy.
- Add the yeast-mixture and the oil-mixture to the flour mixture and combine.
- The dough is going to look very wet and very unusual. As long as you mix until no lumps of flour remain you’re alright.
- Spoon the batter into a prepared loaf pan, cover and set aside in a warm place. Let rise at least 30 minutes. The bread should have risen by at least 30%.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. Let cool for at least 15 minutes and then enjoy!
Tips
- Since there is no gluten to over work, don’t be afraid of mixing this bad boy up. If you have a stand mixer, that’s perfect. If you don’t have a stand mixer, give yourself a good arm workout and put some elbow grease into it. I tried this out with an electric handheld mixer, and while it did eventually work, I wouldn’t use it again because my dough kept getting stuck.
- The fully mixed dough will look very wet. The first time I made a gluten free dough, I was concerned I had messed up somewhere along the lines because my dough was sticky, wet, and needed to be spooned into my bread pans.
- I find this to be true with baking in general, but especially when working with yeast please make sure to use room temperature ingredients so that the yeast has the opportunity to rise properly.
Can I Make this Egg Free?
Yes! I have a Gluten Free Vegan French Bread recipe you can make! Instead of egg whites, that recipe uses aquafaba (the goopy liquid found in cans of beans). Weird, but it works!
Can I use different flours?
- You can use brown or white rice or a combination of the two.
- You can use arrowroot starch in place of tapioca flour.
- Beyond those changes I haven’t played around much with other types of flours. I do think you could probably use potato starch as well in place of the tapioca but I can’t say for sure yet. I am currently working on a grain free/paleo bread so stay tuned if you’re interested in something like that. (Update: Everything Bagel Almond Flour Bread)
Do I have to use xanthan gum?
Xanthan gum does a couple of things in this recipe: it helps hold on to moisture (something gluten free goods are often desperate for) and provides added structure which is something that gluten would normally provide. Without xanthan or some kind of binder gluten free goods can be dry & crumbly.
If you can’t buy or use xanthan you can use guar gum instead. Both of these can usually be found in the baking or gluten free section of major grocery stores. If all else fails you can always find these on Amazon.
Why didn’t my yeast mixture foam up?
Your water was too hot or too cold. Too hot will kill the yeast and too cold it won’t fully activate.
Your yeast is already dead. Yeast has a shelf life of about 4 months. It can last longer than that but there’s no guarantee. If it’s been awhile since you last used it you may need to buy more.
Can I use sugar substitutes or leave out the sugar all together?
The sugar helps us to see that the yeast is working as it’s what makes it foam up. It’s not actually 100% necessary for the bread, though a little sugar does help with the flavour. If for whatever reason you can have or don’t want to use sugar just leave it out.
- Sugar subs like erythritol & swerve won’t work for the yeast.
- Honey, maple and coconut sugar all work.
If you have any more questions please let me know in the comments below!
Easy Gluten Free French Bread
Learn how to make this soft and chewy gluten free bread! It's easy to make without too many ingredients and too many complicated steps. If you've been missing bread in your gluten free diet then look no further with this recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 cups rice flour (white or brown) (280g)
- 1 cup tapioca flour (120g)
- 2 tsp xanthan gum*
- 1 tbsp gluten free baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water, (360ml) between 105-110 degrees F, 40-43C
- 2 1/2 tsp gluten free quick rise yeast
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 egg whites, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (you can substitute for another vinegar if you don't have ACV
Instructions
- Whisk together your flours, xanthan gum, salt and baking powder.
- In another bowl or jug mix together hot water and sugar. Stir until your sugar dissolves then add the yeast. Let the yeast foam up for a few minutes.
- While the yeast is foaming up, beat together your three egg whites slightly. Mix in the oil and vinegar.
- Pour the yeast mixture to the flour mixture along with the eggs and mix it all together. Make sure to mix everything until no lumps remain.
- Grease or line 2 (8x4 inch) loaf tin or one french bread pan and spoon your batter into each tin. Cover and stash in a warm place for at least 30 minutes. I like to stow my dough in the microwave or a warmed but off oven for rising process because it keeps my dough free from drafts and disturbances.
- After your dough has risen by about 30% (about 30 minutes) preheat your oven to 400°F/ 200°C. Place in the middle and bake for 35-40 minutes, turning the dough about half way through for an even bake.
- Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes until you're ready to slice and serve.
Notes
Recipe lightly adapted from Food.com
Can I make it egg free?
- Yes! You can find the egg free/vegan version of this bread by clicking through to the link here.
Can I use different flours?
- You can use brown or white rice or a combination of the two.
- You can use arrowroot starch in place of tapioca flour.
- Beyond those changes I haven't played around much with other types of flours. I do think you could probably use potato starch as well in place of the tapioca but I can't say for sure.
Can I use sugar substitutes or leave out the sugar all together?
- The sugar helps us to see that the yeast is working as it's what makes it foam up. It's not actually 100% necessary for the bread, though a little sugar does help with the flavour.
- If for whatever reason you can have or don't want to use sugar just leave it out. Sugar subs like erythritol & swerve won't work for the yeast.
- Honey, maple and coconut sugar all work.
Do I have to use xanthan gum?
- Xanthan gum does a couple of things in this recipe: it helps hold on to moisture (something gluten free goods are often desperate for) and provides added structure which is something that gluten would normally provide. Without xanthan or some kind of binder gluten free goods can be dry & crumbly.
- If you can't buy or use xanthan you can use guar gum instead. Both of these can usually be found in the baking or gluten free section of major grocery stores. If all else fails you can always find these on Amazon.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size:
1 Calories: 115Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 174mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 2gMore gluten free bread recipes you might enjoy:
Pat says
I made this bread and it was really good. I am a low carb lifestyle and bake with almond flour a lot to keep the carbs down. You mentioned other flours to substitute, but thought I would ask if I can substitute some of the flour, perhaps the rice flour for almond flour. I also like the taste of almond. I believe it is the tapioca flour that gives it the chewiness which I like. I could perhaps reduce the tapioca slightly and more rice flour. I am not asking for exact measurements, just an idea of what you think. I bake all the time. I wanted to try a gluten free yeast bread as opposed to just low carb flours that do well with yeast. Thank you for your recipes. I will be trying more including your soda bread. I see a lady said she subbed some almond flour in that recipe.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Pat! Good question!
I think you could absolutely swap out some of the existing flour for almond flour. I agree that replacing some of the rice flour with almond flour is the way to go.
As a starting point, I would try replacing half of the rice flour with almond flour by weight which would be 1 cup rice flour (140g) + 1 1/2 cup almond flour (144g). If you’re using measuring cups to measure out your ingredients, make sure to lightly spoon the almond flour into the cups (as opposed to scooping and pressing the flour into the cups).
I wouldn’t be surprised if the bread comes out more on the heavy side with this amount of almond flour since it’s a higher-fat flour, but I think it’s a good place to start if you actually want to get an almond-like flavor through. If you wanted to play it a bit safe, you could try using 1 1/3 cup rice flour (190g) + 1 cup almond flour (96g).
I’m really glad you enjoyed the bread – thank you so much for taking the time to come back to leave a comment letting me know your thoughts! If you haven’t already seen the newer recipes yet, I have been doing a lot more bread-baking this past year using psyllium husk and it’s been a total game changer for baking gluten-free bread! You may already know, but I thought I’d mention it just in case: https://www.asaucykitchen.com/tag/psyllium-husk-recipes/ If you enjoy baking bread and you haven’t tried working with psyllium yet – I think you’d really love it!