An easy, gluten free vegan French bread recipe using the water from chickpea cans (aquafaba) as egg replacers. Crusty on the outside and soft in the middle!
I’m pretty excited about this post today because it’s been a long time coming!
Easily my most popular recipe that I’ve ever shared on A Saucy Kitchen has been for my gluten free French bread recipe. It’s easy, it doesn’t require 50 different types of obscure gluten free flours, and above all it’s just really good! I’ve made that bread countless times this past year, and I’ve heard from a decent number of readers on here, Pinterest, and on Instagram about how much they loved it as well.
Let me just back up for a moment first and say that one of my absolute favorite things that I’ve really grown to love since starting this blog is being able to share allergy free recipes that most people can enjoy. Food intolerances are no joke. It’s always a pleasure to stumble across recipes that fit the diet criteria and look good.
So when I got a reader comment on the last recipe asking about potential egg substitutions it got me thinking about making a gluten free vegan French bread. When it comes to egg replacers I usually stick to things like banana and pumpkin. Chia seeds and flax seeds are well known vegan egg replacers, but I can’t seem to get the texture right in baking. Same with gelatin – great for granola, not so much for breads.
Eventually, another reader came along (Thanks, Jessica!) and suggested possibly using aquafaba as an egg replacement which got me thinking. I had recently heard about aquafaba being some sort of miracle egg replacer in vegan baking that I decided to try it out myself.
What is Aquafaba
Aquafaba literally means bean water – as in the water that you and I used to pour down the sink when draining a can of chickpeas. This website answers a lot of the questions you might have on aquafaba, but basically what you need to know is that the water from the chickpea cans mimic the proteins in egg whites making it a really great egg substitute for things like meringue or mousse. How cool is that?
As a rule of thumb 3 tablespoons of aquafaba is equal to 1 whole egg. However, this can depend on what you’re cooking and the consistency of the water. Ideally you want the water to be thick and a bit slimy – basically like real egg whites. Since the original recipe calls for egg white specifically this is perfect for our recipe!
About this recipe
Just like the original version the dough will look pretty wet and unusual compared to regular gluten filled doughs. You will have to spoon the dough into your bread pans so don’t be alarmed that you did something wrong.
Make sure that your yeast is still good before adding it to the dough. If the sugar-water and yeast mixture doesn’t foam that means that either your water wasn’t warm enough or the yeast is off. Best practice for storing yeast is to keep it in a cool, dark place like the fridge.
This bread is best on the first day, but you can keep it 2-3 days covered.
If you try this, let me know how it goes in the comments, or tag me on instagram with #asaucykitchen so I can see what you made!
Have you made anything else with aquafaba? I’d love to know your own experience working with it!
Gluten Free Vegan French Bread
An easy, gluten free vegan French bread recipe using the water from chickpea cans as egg replacers. Crusty on the outside and soft in the middle!
Ingredients
- 2 cups |320 grams rice flour*
- 1 cup |110 grams tapioca flour
- 1 tablespoon psyllium husk or xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 11/2 cup |360 ml lukewarm water between 105-110 degrees F
- 2 tablespoons quick rise yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar or any kind
- 2 tablespoons | 30 ml olive oil
- 5 tablespoons | 75 ml aquafaba
- 1 teaspoon | 5 ml apple cider vinegar (you can substitute for another vinegar if you don't have ACV
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir together your flours, psyllium husk, and salt.
- In a small bowl mix your hot water and sugar together and stir until the sugar dissolves. Make sure that your water is warm enough for this step so that your yeast proofs and the bread rises. Once the sugar dissolves, gently stir in your yeast. Set aside and let the yeast foam up for a few minutes.
- In another small bowl add the aquafaba, oil, and vinegar and whisk until you get a slight foam.
- Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and mix with an electric mixer. Once the two mixtures are fully incorporated, add the aquafaba mixture and continue mixing for another couple of minutes.
- Grease or line two loaf tins or one french bread pan and spoon your batter into each tin.
- Cover and stash in a warm place for at least 30 minutes. Since our kitchen is usually freezing, I like to stow my dough in the microwave for the rising process which keeps the dough free from drafts.
- After your dough has risen (about 30 minutes) preheat your oven to 400F/ 200C. Bake for 40 minutes, turning the dough about half way through for an even bake.
- Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack and then enjoy!
Notes
This is best enjoyed fresh - as is the case with most homemade gluten free breads this can become chewy over time
Nutrition Information
Serving Size:
slice Calories: 124Sodium: 168mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 1gOther Aquafaba recipe/What to do with the chickpeas
Rainbow says
Hi, I have questions! 🙂
The GF flour I have has xanthan gum in it and is a blend of brown rice, sweet rice, rice and also has tapioca starch in it. Will this work or does it need to be solely rice flour with no additives? Also, do I still add xanthan gum if my flour has it included already? I really don’t want to mess up my bread and can’t wait to try this recipe! Thank you it looks amazing!!!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Rainbow – it’s hard to say for sure without trying it out myself, but based on those ingredients I think it should work here pretty well! As for the xanthan I recommend leaving it out to begin with. If after you’ve added all of your ingredients together and your dough still looks too much like batter without any shape to it then go ahead and mix in the xanthan. Hope that helps!
Ellie says
Which brand do u have? Was it Bob’s red Mill? And did ur bread work out. I realized your flour mix already had xanthan gum in it. 🙂
(Sarah missed that part)
Millie says
Hello!! Reading the recipe I see 1 1/2 cups of water, is that right? It seems like a lot of water. Is it 1 1/2 cups or 1/2 cup??
Sarah says
Hi Millie! It is 1 1/2 cups!
Carol says
I just made your gluten free flour mix – can I use that in this recipe? What modifications would I need to make for this? Thanks! 🙂
Sarah says
Hi Carol! While I haven’t tried this recipe exactly using a flour blend I do think that it would work. The rice/tapioca flour kind of act like a really basic flour blend.
I actually also have a gf/vegan focaccia that’s very similar to this recipe that uses a flour blend if you wanted to check that out too https://www.asaucykitchen.com/gluten-free-focaccia/ You could always make the focaccia base without all the toppings and it will be pretty similar to this.
Hope that helps!