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“Wheaty” tasting, this gluten free brown bread has added whole grains and lots of depth of flavor. This versatile, wheatless loaf of gluten free whole grain bread keeps you full and satisfied, and makes the best hearty sandwiches.
My take
Nicole's Recipe Notes
This recipe will satisfy that craving for a thick slice of whole wheat bread. Like way back when the waitress used to ask what sort of bread you'd like (white? wheat? sourdough?) and you'd order wheat.
This good, hearty gluten free whole grain bread has a thick but tender, bakery-style crust that will satisfy that craving for the wheat bread you're missing. If you've ever wondered if you can “add some gluten free whole grains” to our other gluten free bread recipes, this is your moment! It's as if you could make gluten free wheat bread.
Hearty and wheaty-tasting, with just the right amount whole grain teff and oats and a touch of molasses, this recipe was developed to incorporate those whole grains, unlike our classic white gluten free bread, or even our gluten free sourdough bread.
A good starter recipe
If you're new to making gluten free bread, or to making bread in general, it's best to begin with a batter-style bread like this wheat free but wheaty-tasting brown bread.
Batter-style gluten free bread recipes have only one rise, and they tend to rise quickly because the dough is super wet. High hydration means that yeast grows readily.
In fact, most recipes for gluten free bread that you'll find elsewhere on the Internet (and in cookbooks that aren't, well, mine), are in this style. I hadn't made one of these recipes in years—and then I started working on the second edition of my very first cookbook.
They don't have the yeasty taste that you get from a slow refrigerator rise, and they don't have the same chew. But they make a lovely sandwich. And they're a great starting place if you're hesitant to make yeast bread (gluten free or otherwise).
Expert Tips
This multigrain gluten free bread recipe even has some real depth of flavor because of the addition of oat flour, whole grain teff and molasses.
Mix the dough until smooth
This recipe, like all of our batter-style gf bread recipes, calls for mixing in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. If you don't have a stand mixer, I don't recommend a handheld mixer, which just doesn't offer the right style of attachment. Instead, try a food processor fitted with the steel blade.
Try a pullman pan
My favorite loaf pans for baking bread, lately, are 1.5 pound Pullman-style loaf pans. You begin baking the bread with the Pullman cover in place to prevent the loaf from rising into a dome, then remove the cover for the remainder of the baking time so the loaf can cook through and brown properly.
Be patient during rising
Yeast bread will rise at a large temperature range, including anything that might be considered room temperature (from warm to cool room temperature), just more slowly at lower temperatures. In warmer temperatures, this loaf may rise fully in 45 minutes; in cooler, drier temperatures it may take much longer. Please be patient!
Bake in a hot oven
This bread bakes at 375°F, a slightly higher temperature than you would bake a cake, to encourage “oven spring,” which is the initial rise of yeast bread in the oven, and to help the loaf bake through and brown fully.
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy-free
It's easy to make this recipe dairy free. Just replace the butter in the recipe with either Miyoko's Creamy brand vegan butter or Earth Balance buttery sticks. And use any unflavored, unsweetened nondairy milk (as long as it isn't nonfat).
Egg free
There are two egg whites in this recipe, but I've also successfully made it with one whole egg. I think 1 chia egg (1 tablespoon chia flour mixed with 1 tablespoon lukewarm water and allowed to sit until it gels), 1 flax egg, or 50 grams of aquafaba (the brine in an unsalted can of chickpeas) should work.
Oat free
You can replace the oat flour in this recipe with quinoa flakes or cream of buckwheat. And I now have a full discussion of replacing oats in gluten free baking.
Gluten free flours
I always prefer a base of Better Batter classic blend gluten free flour as a base for my gluten free yeast bread. In this recipe, we're adding gluten free whole grains with teff (or teff flour) and oat flour. You can try replacing the oat flour with a variety of other whole grain, gluten free flours. Here are a few suggestions:
Replacing oat flour
I think that buckwheat flour would work well in place of oat flour, as would sweet white sorghum flour. Make sure your sorghum flour is fresh, though, as it spoils more quickly than other flours.
I wouldn't suggest using quinoa flour in place of oat flour here, as quinoa flour tends to be bitter. Brown rice flour doesn't have the same “chew” as oat flour, so I don't recommend it, either.
Whole grain teff vs teff flour
This recipe calls for whole grain teff, not teff flour. I have wondered whether it would work with teff flour, though. And whether whole grain teff could be replaced with, say, chia seeds. I bet it could!
Gluten Free Brown Bread Recipe
Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (350 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (I used Better Batter; click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- 2 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- 3 tablespoons (38 g) whole grain teff, whole or ground into a flour
- 9 tablespoons (68 g) certified gluten free oat flour, (I just grind old fashioned gluten free rolled oats into a powder)
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (9 g) instant yeast, (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 ½ teaspoons (9 g) kosher salt
- 5 tablespoons (70 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon (21 g) unsulphured molasses
- 2 (50 g) egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (12 fluid ounces) warm milk, (about 95°F)
Instructions
- Grease and line a standard 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan or a 1 1/2-pound Pullman loaf pan and set it aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the flour, xanthan gum, teff, oat flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, sugar and yeast.
- Whisk with a separate handheld whisk to combine well. Add the salt and whisk again to combine.
- Add the butter, vinegar, molasses, egg whites and milk, and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until the dough starts to come together, then mix on high for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with a wet spatula. Cover the dough with oiled with plastic wrap or the top of the Pullman pan.
- Place the covered pan in a warm, draft-free area to rise until the dough is about 150% of its original volume.
- When the dough is nearly finished rising, preheat your oven to 375°F.
- Remove the plastic wrap and place the loaf pan in the center of the preheated oven. Remove the plastic wrap. If using a Pullman pan, keep the cover in place.
- If using a standard loaf pan, bake for about 30 minutes or until the loaf is firm enough to take out of the pan.
- If using a Pullman pan, bake for 40 minutes before removing the pan cover.
- In both cases, remove the bread from the loaf pan and place it on a rimmed baking sheet. Return the bread on the pan to the oven, and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned, and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
- Remove from the oven, allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
If you'd prefer to use active dry yeast in place of instant yeast, you'll need 25% more, by weight, and to hydrate it before mixing the yeast into the bread mixture. Here, that would mean 125% of 9 grams of instant yeast, or just over 11 grams active dry yeast. Mix the active dry yeast with a couple tablespoons of the warm milk, and let it activate, then add it with the rest of the milk when the recipe calls for it. Nutrition information is per slice assuming a whole loaf sliced into 10 pieces and is approximate and not to be relied upon.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQs
No! Anything with the word “wheat” in the title will contain gluten, one of the 3 main sources of gluten.
Only this recipe for brown bread is gluten free. Other brown breads that aren't specifically developed to be gluten free will contain gluten.
This bread has whole grains added to our regular all purpose gluten free flour blend that lend a wheaty chew and a beautiful brown color.
Your bread is done baking when it sounds hollow if you thump it on the side somewhat forcefully with your fingertips, and the internal temperature reads about 190°F on an instant read thermometer.
It's underbaked! Many ovens run hot or cold, so you should always gauge oven temperature by virtue of a simple, inexpensive, freestanding oven thermometer that you replace often. If your oven runs cold, it may take an exceedingly long time to bake, and won't bread as well.
If your oven runs hot, as many do, it will bake the outside too quickly and give the loaf the appearance of being baked through even though the inside doesn't have the structure to support the outside as the bread cools. Always test your bread for doneness as described above before removing it from the oven entirely.
Storage instructions
Never store gluten free bread in the refrigerator, as it tends to be drying. This bread will stay fresh covered tightly on the kitchen counter at room temperature for a day, but I wouldn't risk more than that. You know what they say about day old bread!
For longer storage, I recommend slicing this loaf of gf brown bread when fresh, and fully cooled. Then wrap it tightly in freezer-safe wrap and freeze it for up to 2 months—longer if your storage wrap removes all air from contacting the bread.
This bread is the first ever (and i’ve been looking now for 18 years) that made me think there
might be hope for a decent GF bread. The consistency, crumb, crust all just perfect
to my old bread making days.
My question is this, I thought it lacked a lot of flavor…..Is it possible to add more molasses
as this reminds me of my old oatmeal bread recipe that I dearly loved and often made.
So glad you enjoy the brown bread, Linda! I don’t recommend adding more molasses, no, since that will add more moisture. You can try adding some dried herbs if you’d like for additional flavor, but I wouldn’t add anything with moisture.
Not sure if I commented on this recipe before but we LOVE this. I’m on a low fodmap diet and I’ve made this bread at least twice a month over the past year. I have “played” with the recipe. Where it lists 68 g of oat flour, I substitute a variety of other ingredients totaling 68 g (mix of buckwheat flour, psyllium flakes, ground flaxseed, chia seeds). And I use a whole egg cutting back on the oil a bit (I use 60 g of olive oil, not butter). And I use King Arthur Baking 1 to 1 GF flour with good results. I do use a pullman pan but it does not have a lid. This is the best GF bread recipe I’ve made and I’ve been trying a lot of them!
So glad you have had such success with this recipe, that it’s been so adaptable, and that you’ve even been successful using King Arthur’s gluten free flour blend. I have not had success using that blend, particularly with yeast bread, so that’s really useful info. I recommend against blends that have failed for me not because I don’t want them to work, but because I don’t want anyone to waste their money on something that I have experienced doesn’t work. I’m always happy when someone is willing and able to share a success story!
Hi Nicole. I’m just trying to gather my ingredients to try this recipe. Is there a reason that you used Better Batter and not your own multi-purpose four blend?
Hi, Tatiana, I reference Better Batter in this recipe because when I created it my own flour blend didn’t exist! I do bake now with Nicole’s Best. Be sure to follow the xanthan gum usage guide for the amount of xanthan gum to use, which in the case of yeast bread like this is 1 teaspoon xanthan gum per cup of flour. Here, that would be a total of 2 1/2 teaspoons!
Nice tasting bread BUT baking GF bread in the past with success, something seemed odd to let it rise 150% of original dough value. I let it rise to touch the plastc wrapand let it stop there. I have a “tunnel”, big hole. I should have went with gut. I’m not sure why instructions would be like this. The dough fit to one half the height of a 9×5 pan. So I believe this was a plentiful rise, if not too much. I’m told that a tunnel means it’s over proofed.
Please tell me I can bake this bread again and have a successful beautiful loaf by letting it rise less. I realize through experience that it finishes rising in the oven. Thanks much.
150% of the initial size is 50% more, not a full doubling, Sandy, which is to avoid just what you described.
My bad then. Thanks for explaining it. Maybe for people like me that didn’t understand, the instructions should say let rise just to top of pan. Regardless, I salvaged part of the loaf and toasted a few sliced this AM. It is a good bread and will definitely try again. Thanks again
I’m afraid rising to the top of the pan isn’t an accurate indicator if someone is using a larger pan, which happens frequently, regardless of my specifying the size of the pan. I’ve tried explaining it all different ways!
Is this recipe adaptable for a bread machine.
I’ve never tried this recipe in particular in a bread machine, Mary, so I’m honestly not sure. Sorry!
Can this recipe be adjusted for rolls or perhaps a muffin tin?
No, this dough isn’t appropriate to be made into rolls, Emilie. You could try making it in a muffin tin, but I would recommend using the search function to find some of my rolls recipes instead.
Do you have any low sodium options to recommend? I’m gluten intolerant and have recently had to drastically reduce my sodium as well. I’d love to find a good bread recipe that can work for both of my issues.
Hi, Vanessa, I’m afraid I don’t specialize in low sodium or really know how far you can reduce the salt in this bread recipe and have it still work and taste good. Salt acts to add flavor but also to inhibit yeast activity, so it isn’t a simple change in yeast bread. Sorry I couldn’t help!
We LOVE this bread! Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Do you think it would work to add sunflower seeds? We just returned from Europe, where so much of the bread is seeded. Missing it . . .
Thanks for your hard work! You bless us all!
You’re very welcome, Dana. I think you should be able to add seeds, but I wouldn’t add too many. I can’t promise results since I haven’t tried it, though.
Easy to make. Tastes delicious.
First I want to thank you for all of your wonderful recipes that you share with us!! I’m wondering if I can use the Caputo Fioreglut gf flour that I ordered to make your pizza crust recipe in place of the teff flour in this recipe. I read where you commented to someone else that they needed the teff flour for the wheaty flavor it provides, that’s why I wondered if the Fioreglut would work. Thanks so much!
Hi, I’m afraid I don’t recommend that, no, Jacklyn. Caputo uses wheat starch, which doesn’t taste like wheat at all, I’m afraid.