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This super simple recipe for gluten free artisan bread has an open crumb and crisp crust, and can be mixed by hand in one bowl with the most basic pantry ingredients.
This is the everyday loaf of bread that rises and bakes fast, and makes just enough for our family of 5 to have bread at the table. Make it for your family, and you'll feel like you're in a restaurant with a gluten free bread basket!
My take
Nicole's Recipe Notes
This super simple bread recipe is made with just gluten free flour, instant yeast, a touch of sugar, salt, milk, and eggs. Unlike my classic gluten free bread for sandwiches or my gluten free sourdough bread, you don't need a stand mixer.
Think of it like a table bread or a gluten free crusty boule — the sort of everyday bread you can slice and make into sandwiches or tear into chunks to serve with your favorite soup. It would be perfect for making into gluten free bread crumbs too.
The crumb is open and tender, and the crust is thick but never hard to chew. Baked in a small oven-safe glass bowl, and turned over for the last 15 minutes of baking, the bread has a light brown crust that extends all around the loaf.
what's in it
Recipe ingredients
- Gluten free flour blend – I like Better Batter or Nicole's Best (with added xanthan gum) here because they support the rise of yeast bread and still make a very tender loaf.
- Tapioca starch/flour – This starch helps add stretch to your gluten free artisan bread and lets it rise higher. You add this ingredient separately even though all good all purpose gf blends will already have some tapioca starch.
- Yeast – I use instant yeast for its simplicity, but you can use active dry yeast if that's all you have; just use 25% more active dry yeast by weight (here, almost 8 grams)
- Sugar – You only need a bit of sugar to feed the yeast and produce the bubbles that help your gf bread rise
- Baking soda – Helps the bread to brown in the oven
- Salt – Adds a little flavor and complements the other ingredients; I bake with kosher salt since it's much harder to overmeasure than fine table salt
- Milk – Warm milk adds flavor, richness, and moisture to activate the yeast so your dough rises
- Egg – Eggs act as a binder, assist the rise, and give the bread a richer taste and color
How to make gluten free artisan bread
Begin by preparing a 1 1/2 quart oven safe glass Pyrex bowl. This small bowl will help create the round shape that we are seeking.
Make the dough
- In a large bowl whisk together the gluten free flour blend (including xanthan gum), tapioca starch, sugar, yeast, and baking soda. Whisk in the salt separately.
- Add the milk, beaten egg, and olive oil, and mix vigorously to create a dough that is relatively light in color. It will lighten in color as you mix.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl, and use wet or oiled hands to smooth the top.
- Cover the dough, and allow it to rise until it's about 1.5 times as large as it is right after the dough is mixed. It won't double.
- Bake the bread at 375°F for 30 minutes. Carefully turn the dough over in the bowl so the bottom of the bread is now on the top.
- Bake for about another 15 minutes so the bread is evenly brown all over and baked all the way through. The internal temperature should reach about 195°F on an instant read thermometer.
- As soon as it's cool enough to handle, transfer the bread to a wire rack and let it cool completely before you slice it or you'll compress the bread.
My Pro Tip
Expert tips
No stand mixer needed
Unlike all of my other yeast bread recipes, this bread does not have to be made in a stand mixer. Just mix the dry ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and add the wet ingredients with a mixing spoon.
Expert the dough to be wet
The dough will look wet and feel very sticky. Handle it will wet or oiled hands, and don't add more flour or your loaf will not rise very much and will be dense.
Let it cool completely
Even after you take the bread out of the oven, it will continue to cook as the residual heat and steam burns off. So let it cool completely before slicing so you don't compress and squish the loaf as you slice.
Use a serrated bread knife
Another way to avoid smashing your bread (even after you've allowed it to cool completely) is to use a serrated bread knife, and saw back and forth without pressing down hard.
Try making it in a Dutch oven
To make this bread in a 5 quart Dutch oven, increase the yield in the recipe card from 10 slices to 15 slices. To make this bread in a 3 quart Dutch oven, the original yield is fine. On a piece of parchment paper the size of the bottom of your pan, shape the dough using wet hands into a round about as tall as it is wide. Let it rise as directed. Bake at 375°F uncovered for 40 minutes for a 3 quart pan up to 55 or 60 minutes for a 5-quart, until the internal temperature reaches 195°F.
substitutions
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
Replace the dairy milk with your favorite unflavored, unsweetened nondairy milk like almond milk. Avoid oat milk or coconut milk from the can, which don't have enough moisture.
Egg free
There is only one egg in this recipe, so it can likely be replaced with a “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel). I've also made the recipe with 2 egg whites (50 g) in place of a whole egg, and it's a bit denser but the recipe still works.
Tapioca starch/flour
I've also made this recipe with an all purpose gluten free flour (specifically, Better Batter) in place of tapioca starch/flour. It works, but it doesn't rise as high and the crumb is tighter.
Instant yeast
In place of instant yeast, you can always use active dry yeast by multiplying the amount (by weight) of the instant yeast (here, 6 grams) by 1.25 or 125%. Here, that would mean 7.5 grams of yeast, so just add a bit more after you reach 7 grams. You must soak active dry yeast in some of the milk from the recipe until it foams, then add it with the rest of the milk. If you can't have yeast at all, try our yeast free gluten free sandwich bread.
Easy Gluten Free Artisan Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ⅝ cups (227 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 ⅝ teaspoons xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- ⅜ cup (54 g) tapioca starch/flour
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons (6 g) instant yeast
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (6 g) kosher salt
- 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) warm milk, (about 95°F)
- 1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg, at room temperature, beaten
- 1 tablespoon (14 g) extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Grease a 1 or 1 1/2 quart glass oven safe bowl and set it aside. If you don’t have a glass bowl, you can use a small round pan or cast iron skillet with high sides. If using an aluminum pan that isn’t dark in color, raise the oven temperature to 400°F (as written and described below, the oven temperature is 375°F).
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, tapioca starch/flour, sugar, and yeast, and baking soda, and whisk to combine well. Add the salt, and whisk again to combine well.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the milk, egg, and oil, and mix vigorously. The bread dough/batter should come together and lighten a bit in color as you mix.
- Transfer the dough/batter to the prepared baking bowl, skillet, or pan, and smooth the top with clean, wet hands or a moistened spatula. Do not compress the dough at all.
- If you aren't using a bowl or pan with high sides, using a light touch and wet or oiled fingers, try to shape the dough so that it's about as tall as it is wide, to mimic the shape in the photos of the dough in the bowl. Your dough will definitely spread more during baking, though, and may take less time to bake.
- Cover the dough completely with an oiled piece of plastic wrap. Be careful not to compress the dough, but cover the bowl securely.
- Place it in a warm, moist place to rise for about 45 minutes, or until the dough has increased to about 150% of its original size. In cool, dry weather, the dough may take longer to rise; in warm, moist weather, it may take less time to rise.
- When the dough is nearing the end of its rise, preheat your oven to 375°F.
- After the dough has risen, remove the plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the bread is lightly golden brown all around.
- Remove the bread from the oven and rotate the loaf in the bowl, so it’s upside down. Return the bread to the oven and bake until the crust has darkened slightly all around, and the bread sounds hollow when thumped anywhere, on the bottom or top, about another 15 minutes.
- The internal temperature of the bread should reach about 195°F on an instant-read thermometer.
- Turn the bread out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQs
There are several possibilities why this gluten free artisan bread recipe didn't turn out for you:
You used too much flour or not enough milk — don't be afraid of a wet batter! It needs to be wet to be light later.
You used the wrong gluten free flour blend — Your blend should contain the right balance of gf flours like white rice flour, brown rice flour, and potato flour for a strong blend that is still able to produce an airy result.
Your gf flour didn't contain xanthan gum — you need this gluten alternative to bind everything together.
Your bread didn't rise enough — rise time will vary based on temperature; let your bread dough increase to 150% of its original size, no matter how long it takes. That means that it's 50% bigger than when it started. In a 1 quart bowl, it will rise to the top.
Your bread wasn't done baking — make sure to use a thermometer so you can tell when your bread is ready, and use a standalone analog oven thermometer to gauge your oven's temperature.
Rising takes time, and lots of patience. If you follow the recipe as written, don't make ingredient substitutions, measure by weight, and allow your yeast bread dough enough time, it will rise. If your kitchen environment is cool and dry, it will simply take longer to rise. Overproofing is a function of too much rise, not too long a rise, so be patient!
No problem! If you don’t have a glass bowl, you can use a small round pan or cast iron skillet with high sides. Just try to shape the dough so that it's about as tall as it is wide, to mimic the shape in the photos of the dough in the bowl. Your dough will definitely spread more during baking, though, and may take less time to bake. If you use a round aluminum baking pan that is light in color, it won't get as hot as or retain heat as well as a cast iron pan or glass bowl, so increase the oven temperature by 25°F to 400°F.
No! Every good all purpose gluten free flour blend has tapioca starch (also known as tapioca flour) as an ingredient. This gluten free artisan bread dough is made using an all purpose gluten free flour blend with additional tapioca starch/flour for more stretch and a higher rise. Do not ever just leave an ingredient out of a recipe. Every ingredient has its purpose!
No, if your blend already contains xanthan gum, please omit that ingredient from the recipe—unless you're using Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour, which contains too little xanthan gum. In that case, add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum to the dry ingredients.
I haven't tried making this in a bread machine, so I'm not sure, but the dough is wet enough that it might work. If your bread machine makes a larger loaf, consider increasing the yield of the recipe from 10 slices to 15, or even 20 to double the amount of dough. Make sure your machine uses only one rise.
Maybe! You can try shaping it as described for baking in a Dutch oven and baking it at 400°F since a sheet pan will not retain heat as well as a pan or bowl with sides.
If you'd like to try baking this bread in a standard 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan, increase the yield from 10 slices to 15 slices to increase the amount of dough by 50%, follow the same instructions for the rise, and bake at 375°F for about 50 minutes to 1 hour. I haven't tried it, but I think it should work!
make ahead/leftovers
Storage instructions
If you plan to eat your gluten free bread throughout the week, you can store it on the kitchen counter in an airtight container, like a plastic food container or zip-top bag.
An easy way to “save” yeast breads that have dried a bit is to run the whole loaf of bread under lukewarm water from the tap, and bake at a very low temperature (300°F) for 10 to 12 minutes. You can refresh individual slices by drizzling with water and toasting them.
For longer storage, freeze this for up to 3 months. Let your fresh loaf cool completely, and then place it inside a zip-top freezer bag with as much air squeezed out as possible.
When you ready to eat it, remove it from the freezer and let it defrost on the counter overnight. Refresh it as described above.
Serving suggestions
Here are a few of my favorite ways to served this bread:
- Creamy Gluten Free Broccoli Cheddar Soup – use the bread to soak up every last drop
- Gluten Free Cream of Mushroom Soup – soup and bread, a match made in heaven
- Gluten Free Meatballs – make this into homemade garlic bread
Have made this twice now – we all love it. Would have made another but out of the GF flours (difficult getting to the store as my hubby will not let me go and insists he go with his protective gear of course). Thanks so much.
I’m so glad, Eve! I hope you get more flour soon. ?
I used Bob’s Redmill 1:1 flour and active dry yeast but followed all of the directions. I didn’t have an oven safe bowl so I used my Dutch oven but it was just too big and the dough/batter spread out thin but otherwise looked good. But when we tasted it the bread turned out really bitter and salty. I’m very confused as to why that happened.
As I explain on my gluten free flour blends page which is linked to in every recipe that calls for an all purpose gluten free flour blend, Brittni, Bob’s Red Mill flour blends generally will not work in my recipes. Using a much larger container was also part of the reason for your result, but mostly it was your flour blend. Please see my gluten free flour blend page here.
For Anne McCracken, maybe Nicole can confirm this, but potato starch and potato flour may be the same thing. If potato starch can work, look for a Kosher food area in your store, if available. There may be canisters of potato starch.
I’m afraid, no, they’re not the same thing at all, Janet! Potato flour is a powder ground from cooked, dried, whole peeled potatoes, and contains nutrients like fiber and protein. Potato starch is a completely flavorless starch, that is more like the pure starch left behind after peeled potatoes are washed. If you can find pure dried potato flakes, you can grind them into a flour and use that in place of potato flour, but with mixed results.
Absolutely delicious thank you! I mixed my own flour blend using equal parts 1-1, almond and potato and I added some dry dill and ground caraway. Such an easy and delicious recipe. Thanks again!
Hi, Claire, I’m glad you were pleased with your results using those flours. For others’ benefit, please use an all purpose gluten free flour as directed in the recipe.
This recipe is fantastic!! The bread size is a bit too small for my family. Do you think it would work if I made two of them separately but then combined them into one bowl for proofing and baking? Would I need to make any changes?
No, you cannot double the recipe and proof and bake them in the same bowl, Kim. For a similar recipe in a larger size, I recommend using my recipe for gluten free white sandwich bread, linked in the recipe. Here’s another link.
So. I’ve never made bread before and after receiving this recipe in an email, I decided to jump into the fray. It tastes fabulous!! But it didn’t rise and it was very dense… I take full responsibility for all of that. I’m sure my milk wasn’t warm enough, pretty sure my pan wasn’t the right size. And I’m not sure if 375° in a convection oven is the way to go. Plus, I don’t think I baked it long enough but it was already pretty brown after 30 mins. All of that aside, I baked bread today! Yay me!! And I was slathering hot, fresh, out of the oven bread with gobs of fresh butter and shoving it in my mouth. Absolute Heaven! I’m making this again tomorrow and I’ll do things a little differently. Thank you for such a tremendously wonderful bread recipe – and all your recipes. They are the absolute best!
It sounds like you didn’t allow the dough to rise long enough, and then you baked it in a too-hot oven, and didn’t bake it long enough. A convection oven temperature should be lowered 25°F from the directed temperature for a conventional oven. It runs about 25°F hot. Baking in a too-hot oven bakes the outside very quickly, and the inside doesn’t have a chance to bake fully before the outside is overbaked. So imagine if you fix those issues how much you’ll like it! ? Thank you for disclosing the issues up front, by the way. I often am told a recipe was followed “to a T” even when it wasn’t. ❤️
Hey Nicole i love the smell of fresh baked bread i only had a Corning ware dish so used that couldn’t turn it over but it looks like it worked guess i will have to wait for the cool down to find out
Hi Nicole. The Better Batter flour recipe asks for 2 TBSP potato flour. I cannot find it anywhere where I live. Will the Artisan Bread recipe still turn out without it?
I’m afraid you can’t make the mock Better Batter without potato flour, Anne, no. I can only suggest that you try making the mock Cup4Cup blend instead.
Hi Nicole I live in Australia and we don’t have Better Batter flour. Which one of your flour blends would you recommend I make for an all purpose flour? I get confused with the mock better batter and better than mock and cup for cup?♀️ My daughter and I are both Coeliac and I’ve tried so many different flours.
In these uncertain times of Co-vid 19 I just want to bake but sometimes the results of my efforts are discouraging…. scones in particular just aren’t the same anymore! I have your bread book and GF on a shoestring but not sure which flour to try. Please can you advise? Also I’m in Queensland with high humidity a lot of the time.
Hope you are keeping well
Regards Christina Wharton
Hi, Christina,
If you’re able to get the ingredients, start with the mock Better Batter. If you can’t find some of the more difficult ones, like pure powdered pectin or potato flour, then try the Better Than Cup4Cup. I really do explain it all on the gluten free flour blends page, so just read through that carefully and it should soothe your worries.
I tried this tonight, and was surprised at how well it turned out! Even with my oven doing crazy things with the temp, the bread was soft and delicious, with a great texture. Thanks, Nicole!
I’m so glad, Sadie! I really like that it’s so simple, and that it doesn’t make too much bread. I’m so happy you’re enjoying it too.