“Wheaty” tasting, this gluten free brown bread recipe is sure to be a family favorite. With added whole grains and lots of depth of flavor, this versatile, wheatless loaf of gf whole grain bread keeps you full and satisfied!
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Why this is the best gluten free brown bread recipe
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 gf bread recipe was developed to incorporate those whole grains. Just like good gluten free baking requires good gluten free recipes, a whole grain gluten free bread comes only from a recipe designed for it. This is that recipe.
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.
It isn't designed to satisfy your nutritional needs for the day, though! I really prefer to do some things very well (a great-tasting, beautiful loaf of bread) rather than try to do everything and do most of it poorly.
Batter-Style Gluten Free Breads
When my son first started eating gluten free in 2004, we mail-ordered gluten free bread from Canada. That wasn't because it was so good we couldn't help ourselves. It was just all there was. I didn't know how to make gluten free bread.
Five years later, in 2009, I stumbled upon a recipe that was known as “Tom's Bread” on the Internet. I think I first found it in an online chat room, although I simply can't recall where that would have been. That was back in the days when the “gluten free listserv” was the best (and nearly only) source of gluten free product information out there.
Tom's Bread is a batter-style bread that I believe Tom himself maintains was the product of divine intervention. It relies heavily on garbanzo bean flour. But it also was prescient in its use of equal amounts of cornstarch and tapioca flour.
And Tom's bread was a batter-style gluten free bread. A couple of years later, I would go on to develop the recipe for Gluten Free White Sandwich Bread that was published in my first cookbook.
It relies on a rice flour blend, but it's also a batter-style gluten free bread. That recipe, from the second edition of my very first cookbook is still a family favorite.
These bread doughs are made in a mixer and resemble cookie dough. The dough is very, very wet, and can't be shaped in the way conventional bread doughs are shaped. Until I wrote my third cookbook, Gluten Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread, batter-style yeast bread was the only sort of gluten free bread recipe I had ever heard of.
Preparing gluten free brown bread in a bread machine?
Even though I am still asked about my favorite bread machine from time to time, I continue to insist that bread machines are a waste of money. They vary a ton from brand to brand, and one recipe will work well in one machine and not in another. Plus, the machines are crazy expensive and make an odd-shaped loaf.
A great place to begin making gluten free bread
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).
Tips for baking this gluten free brown bread
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. If you're looking for some tips and tricks on baking gluten free bread, have a look at my Ten Rules For Making Gluten Free Bread.
Here are some more things to keep in mind as you read through this recipe that's as close to gluten free wheat bread we're going to get, and then begin baking:
Mixing the ingredients for gf brown bread
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.
Choosing the right loaf pan for baking gluten free brown bread
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.
Proofing your gluten free whole grain bread dough
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!
Shaping your gluten free brown bread
Since this is a batter-style yeast bread, you'll transfer the shaggy, wet dough to your prepared loaf pan, and shape and smooth the top with a wet spatula and your moistened fingers much as you would a cake.
Baking your gluten free “whole wheat” bread
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.
Gluten free brown bread — ingredients and substitutions
Except where I've specifically indicated that I've tried the substitution, these pearls are just my best-educated guesses about how to satisfy other dietary needs beyond just being gluten free. My recipes are only reliably gluten free, by design, and not free of everything. So take this information in the spirit in which it's offered—and do your own experimentation!
Dairy-free gluten free brown bread
It's easy to make this recipe dairy free. Just replace the butter in the recipe with either butter-flavored Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening or Earth Balance buttery sticks. And use any unflavored, unsweetened nondairy milk (as long as it isn't nonfat). Done!
Egg free, gluten free brown bread
There are two egg whites in this recipe, but I've also successfully made it with one whole egg. That leads me to believe that you could make it with one “chia egg” instead. A chia egg is 1 tablespoon chia flour mixed with 1 tablespoon lukewarm water and allowed to sit until it gels.
Oat free, gluten free brown bread
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. Oat-free bakers rejoice!
The best gluten free flours for this gf bread
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:
Buckwheat flour in place of oat flour? Sweet white sorghum?
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.
Quinoa flour? Brown rice flour?
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.
Using 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!
Storing gluten free brown bread
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!
Freezing gluten free brown 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.
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.
How to make gluten free, whole grain brown bread, step by step
Gluten Free Brown Bread Recipe
Equipment
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.
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
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Thanks for stopping by!
Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Vanessa Roskam says
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.
Nicole Hunn says
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!
Dana G says
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!
Nicole Hunn says
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.
Jayne says
Easy to make. Tastes delicious.
Jacklyn says
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!
Nicole Hunn says
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.
Pam says
Can this recipe be used for a bread maker?
Nicole Hunn says
I don’t use or recommend use of a bread machine, Pam, since the instructions are significantly different from brand to brand so if I were to have one set of instructions, it wouldn’t work for a different machine. If you’d like to use your bread machine, I’m afraid you’ll just have to experiment!
Kirsten says
Five stars are not enough.
My mom used to bake whole wheat bread every week when I was a child, and I carried on that tradition with my own family until I had to give up wheat 10 years ago. WOW! The memories this bread brought back! I wouldn’t have believed it was GF if I hadn’t made it myself. I’ve tried many GF bread recipes over the years, and had very nearly given up. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Nicole Hunn says
That’s really so great to hear, Kirsten! I never want anyone to struggle with bad ingredients and bad recipes, but I am always happy to hear that someone was brought back from the brink of giving up. That’s why my recipes are so specific. They’re for those of us for whom “good, for gluten free” simply isn’t good enough, and excellent results require precision in method and ingredients. I’m so glad you are able to honor your memories with this bread!
Mary Anne says
This is really the best gluten free bread I’ve made in my search for a hearty gluten free bread! I use a pullman pan (does not have a lid though). And I have followed the recipe as written but then sometimes I substitute the 68 grams of oat flour with a mix of other dry ingredients (68 grams) – such as buckwheat flour, psyllium husks, flax seed, chia seed. It’s been fun to experiment and it always tastes great. I make this every other week. It makes great sandwiches and toast. I recommend this to everyone!
Brandon says
Hi Nicole
Thank you for the recipe
I’m from the UK, and this bread tastes very sweet. Not sure if it’s the amount sugar or the molasses.
Is it possible to reduce the sweetness of the bread?
Nicole Hunn says
Sugar isn’t just a sweetener, Brandon. It’s also a tenderizer, so if you reduce it or leave it out, your bread will be tougher
Barb says
Calories per slice? Love the bread just need to track my calories
Nicole Hunn says
I added approximate nutrition information, Barb, but it is just that, approximate, and I caution anyone not to rely on it for any health or other important concerns.
Sean says
Is there a recon you dont use your gluten greed bread flour for this recipe?
Nicole Hunn says
That blend must only be used in recipes developed specifically for it. The bread flour is not an all purpose gluten free flour, which is what this recipe calls for. For a complete discussion on the distinction, please see the bread flour post.
Sean says
Thanks for the explanation making today in a bread maker (no stand mixer)
Kara McGinniss says
I purchased ingredients to make this but wasn’t paying close attention! I bought teff flour instead of whole grain teff. Can I use that? If so, how much? Thanks!!
Nicole Hunn says
No problem, Kara. You can use it. Just measure by weight. I discuss that in the text of the post under the heading “Using whole grain teff vs teff flour.”
Cheri says
I’m interested in trying this recipe, but I’m wondering: is it possible to use a bit more oat flour and eliminate the teff? Thanks.
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Cheri, I strongly recommend purchasing and using teff, as it really gives it a wheaty taste, along with sorghum. I don’t know if you can replace teff with anything else because I’ve never tried and these things are very hard to predict. For other info on individual flours, please see the text of the post under the heading “The best gluten free flours for this gf bread”
Sandra Cesta says
Nicole, I wanted to tell you how excited my husband is about this recipe. Since we recently found all the food sensitivities he has (and hopefully will go away), making anything that resembles American food (eggs and toast)🤣 has been a challenge. I’ve made bread for many years but gluten free and with his sensitivities has been a challenge. Cue up the brown bread. For the oat flour, I used buckwheat. Eggs, I used Just Eggs. Milk, I used Ripple dairy free milk. While baking in the oven, it smelled “just like” bread. My husband is SO excited that he’s already planned his breakfast
Nicole Hunn says
That’s so great to hear, Sandra! I’ve never baked with Just Eggs, so I’m really glad to hear that it worked so well. I might have to try using it in some other recipes, since I’ve never found an egg substitute to recommend that I truly love and works everywhere. Thanks for sharing that!
Erin Driver says
I’ve made this once and husband loved it. This time I made a few substitutions that worked well. Substituted coarse ground cornmeal for ground teff, used half buckwheat flour and blackstrap molasses. It is delicious. Thank you for these recipes. Quick question for your recipes overall. When you list weights of eggs, what should be done when the measurement is off. Just use small amount of another egg? Also are substitutions more serious a topic with yeast rising breads versus your other gluten free baked recipes? For example I’ve used apple sauce instead of butter in your muffin recipes and they seemed fine. Thanks again for your knowledge.
Nicole Hunn says
If the measurement for eggs is only about 5 grams off, then it’s fine. If it’s more than that, yes, beat another egg and add just enough to make the proper measurement. Substitutions are always recommended against, Erin. A recipe is a formula, and the product of hours of recipe development based on past experience and tons of trial and error. Every time you change even a single ingredient, you change the formula. I started offering substitution suggestions many years ago only because I get a steady stream of these questions, but each substitution is a step away from the recipe that should be avoided. I don’t share a lot of information about baking science since it’s so hard to explain and no one is really that interested in it (which is fine! that’s my job!). Using applesauce in place of butter, for example, does not produce the same result at all. You may not mind the difference, but applesauce provides moisture and a little bit of pectin (although most pectin is in the skin, which you don’t use in applesauce). It isn’t fat, and fat is a tenderizer and a flavor delivery system. Using it in place of butter makes a tougher, less tender crumb. It simply doesn’t produce the same result. When people insist that it does, it’s because they don’t mind the difference. But my job is to show how to make the recipe in its best possible form, or I’d get (appropriate) complaints about texture. Gluten free baking has enough of a bad reputation, and my whole purpose is to elevate expectations. That’s why I don’t do dairy free, sugar free, etc., all of which change texture and taste. I only do gluten free, so everything tastes just how it does with conventional recipes. There are other bloggers who do other things, and I’m sure they’re very good at what they do. I encourage everyone to explore those blogs to find what they’re looking for, since no one blogger is all things to all people!
Annie says
I’ve made many gf bread recipes and found that they always lacked something. I’ve made this recipe twice and it is a winner! My husband likes it better than wheat bread (he has no issues with gluten but follows my diet).
Nicole Hunn says
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Annie, and I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed the bread. I love the gluten free diet in solidarity. That’s love!
Erin Driver says
Really appreciate the discussion about yeast at the end of the instructions. Really love the Pullman loaf pan. Thanks for that recommendation. Also made this with corn meal instead of whole grain teff as it’s not in my pantry. Bread turned out great.