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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.
I’m excited to try this, and I was also chuckling at your “beginnings” because they were exactly ours: daughter diagnosed in 2003, desperate to find anything that resembled bread, scouring the “listserv” for the Tom’s recipe….it’s like you were living with us! ;-) Thanks for making being GF look simple these days — we know it wasn’t always that way! Wishing you continued success!
Oh my gosh, Caroline, you remember Tom’s bread?! I was so excited about that, and I’m afraid now it would turn my stomach. :(
Could I substitute coconut milk or rice milk? I can’t have cow or goat milk.
Please see the post, Judy! I review substitutions there.
I made this bread to day I followed your recipe as stated and waited til it had gone cold to slice .I have to say it’s the best brown bread that’s gluten free that I have ever made it’s really delicious ,I am sure I will be making it again . I didn’t have oat flour just oats so I used my food processor to bring it down .Thank you for the recipe
I never buy oat flour, Desley! I’m too cheap for that. I always spin oats in the food processor. :) So glad you loved the bread!
I followed the recipe to the letter, weighing everything and your recipe for Better Batter flour. It raised and baked beautifully. Fell almost immediately when I put it on the cooling rack. It tasted so good! I just wished I could get GF bread to stop falling when it comes out of the oven. It tastes so much better than anything I’ve bought.
That’s usually due to a too-hot oven, Millie. The outside rises and bakes very quickly before the inside has a chance to provide enough support. So when it comes out of the oven, it falls as it cools. You need an oven thermometer!
I made it today and it turned out great. The loaf looks and tastes wonderful. And so EASY! I used teff flour because that’s what I had on hand.
Hi, Debbie,
I had a feeling ground teff would work, too. Thanks for letting us know! And I’m so glad it worked out so well. ?
Could I ask you how much teff flour you used?
Thanks!
Please measure by weight. The weight does not vary whether it’s whole or ground.
Could I use an equal amount of teff flour in place of whole teff?
Is there a substitute for the oat flour? Thanks.
Please see the section on ingredients and substitutions in the post, Elle!
Could I make this is in a bread machine?
As I state in the post, Deb, I don’t recommend use of a bread machine. They all work quite differently, from brand to brand, and they make an odd-shaped loaf.
Will this recipe work in bread machine on the gf setting?
As I state in the post, Barbara, I don’t recommend use of a bread machine. They all work quite differently, from brand to brand, and they make an odd-shaped loaf.
What is it about the KAF GF flour blend that makes it inappropriate for bread recipes? That’s the blend I have on hand, and I normally have good luck when using it for things, but don’t want to use it on this bread recipe if it doesn’t work well for bread. I’m pretty new to GF, so I don’t know enough to weigh why Better Batter would work well for bread but the KAF stuff wouldn’t. Help?
Hi, Lene,
I’m not entirely sure about all the science behind it, but it won’t work for GF yeast bread, I’m afraid. If you’d like to know more, try contacting Better Batter directly at contact@betterbatter.org.
xoxo Nicole