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With a soft and tender crumb, this easy white gluten free bread recipe is the original and best, made in just 4 easy steps. It bends and squishes, tastes like the “real thing”, and has a beautiful bakery-style crust.
This is the bread that readers make every week for school lunches, and that bakery owners have told me they sell to customers in their gluten free bakeries!
“This is my new everyday sandwich bread. Dense but light, smells incredible, tastes great, and could not be simpler to bake. Thank you so much Nicole.”
4 Easy Steps To Gluten Free Bread
This recipe is as easy as mixing the ingredients, beating them until smooth, letting the loaf rise, and baking it. It calls for a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to make a smooth, cohesive dough that rises cleanly and evenly.
1. Combine the dry ingredients, then add wet.
Whisk together the dry ingredients except the salt (gluten free flour, xanthan gum, instant yeast, cream of tartar, and sugar), then whisk in the salt. Add all the wet ingredients (warm milk, melted butter, apple cider vinegar, and egg whites) to the bowl.
2. Beat the dough well.
Beat everything with the paddle attachment until the dough starts to look fluffy and whipped in appearance. It will be like a thick batter, not something you can knead with your hands.
3. Let the dough rise, then bake.
Transfer the raw dough to a greased prepared loaf pan, and smooth the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until it's about 50% bigger than how it started (it won't double). Bake on the middle rack OR top oven rack (whatever is appropriate for your oven) for about 50 minutes at 375°F until it the internal temp is about 205°F.
4. Let cool, slice and enjoy!
Let the loaf of bread sit briefly in the pan, then place it on a wire rack to finish cooling. If you don't let it cool completely, you'll squish the bread as you slice it and you won't get clean slices. So try to be patient!
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
Replace the butter with block-style vegan butter. Melt and Miyoko's Kitchen brands are my favorite.
If you use Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, reduce the salt to 1 teaspoon. It has more moisture than butter, so your loaf may sink a little as it cools.
Use your favorite unsweetened, unflavored dairy free milk that appears similar in thickness to cow's milk.
Egg free
Try one “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel) in place of the 2 egg whites or aquafaba. Some readers have had success using 1 egg's worth of Bob's Red Mill egg replacer.
Xanthan gum-free
To try replacing xanthan gum with psyllium husk, I'd recommend using 20 grams of psyllium husk powder.
Instant yeast
This recipe calls for instant yeast (also called rapid rise or breadmaker yeast). To use active dry yeast instead, you need 1.25 times more, for a total of 10 grams (about 3 teaspoons). Soak it in some of the milk until it foams, and then add it with the milk. You can also use this gluten free sourdough bread recipe for a similar loaf made without commercial yeast at all.
Adding seeds
For some flavor and crunch, sprinkle the top of the risen bread dough with seeds. Add sesame, chia, quinoa, sunflower, or pumpkin seeds, and maybe even some finely chopped nuts.
4 rules for gluten free bread baking
Rule # 1: Follow the recipe as written: If at all possible, avoid ingredient substitutions at first.
Rule # 2: Measure ingredients by weight: Volume measurements (cups) for dry ingredients like flour are always unreliable. A simple digital kitchen scale is cheap, and easy to use. And then ignore the volumes!
Rule #3: Be patient during rising: Yeast rises more slowly in cooler temperatures, but will still rise. Overproofing means too much rise, but not too long a rise. It takes however long it takes!
Rule # 4: Use an oven thermometer: Most ovens run hot (mine included), often by about 50°F. Use a simple, cheap oven thermometer to gauge your oven's baking temperature properly, and replace it often. Otherwise, your bread will rise in the oven, then fall as it cools.
My Pro Tip
Expert tips
Try a Pullman loaf pan
A Pullman loaf pan is a narrow pan with high sides and usually a lid. That's how you bake a loaf of perfect square slices and no dome on top.
You can make a single loaf in a 1-pound Pullman loaf pan or a longer loaf with double the ingredients in a 2-pound pan.
For the 1-pound pan, grease and/or line the lid with plastic wrap and cover it during the rise. Then bake for about 40 minutes with the lid on, remove the lid and finish baking until done.
For a 2 pound Pullman loaf pan, double the recipe and be sure to mix the ingredients with a bit of extra care.
Remove the pan after 10 minutes
To avoid a soggy crust and caved sides, cool air should circulate all the way around the bread. Let freshly baked bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer it to a cooling rack and remove any paper liner.
Use a serrated knife
Use some kind of serrated bread knife for slicing cool bread to avoid squishing or tearing as you cut.
Gluten Free Bread Recipe
Equipment
- Stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment (See Recipe Notes)
Ingredients
- 3 cups (420 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (See Recipe Notes)
- 3 teaspoons xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- 2 ½ teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast, (See Recipe Notes)
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons (12 g) kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups (12 fluid ounces) warm milk, (about 95°F) (See Recipe Notes)
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (plus more for brushing if using seeds) (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 (50 g) egg whites, at room temperature (See Recipe Notes)
- Toasted sesame seeds for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- Grease or line a 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan, or a 1-pound Pullman-style loaf pan (with a lid) and set it aside. You can also line the bottom and sides of the pan with a piece of parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the flour blend, xanthan gum, instant yeast, cream of tartar and sugar. Whisk together with a separate, handheld whisk. Add the salt, and whisk again to combine.
- Add the milk, butter, vinegar and egg whites, and mix with the paddle attachment on low speed. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl as necessary during mixing.
- Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and mix for about 3 minutes. The dough will be thick, smooth and quite wet, and should become slightly whipped in appearance.
- Scrape the dough into the prepared loaf pan. Using a wet spatula, smooth the top.
- Cover the dough with lightly oiled plastic wrap (and the lid of a pullman pan on top if using), and allow it to rise in a warm, draft-free place for 30 to 45 minutes or until it’s about 150% of its original size. That means that it's about 50% bigger than when it started (it won't double).
- The dough may take longer to rise properly in colder, drier weather and less time in warmer, more humid weather. Be patient!
- When the dough has nearly reached the end of its rise, preheat the oven to 375°F. The dough is starting to overproof if the top of the loaf starts to break and craters start to appear.
- Remove the lid if using, and the plastic wrap. Using a sharp knife or lame slash the top of the loaf about 1/4-inch deep. If using the optional seeds, brush the top of the risen bread gently with melted butter, and sprinkle with the seeds.
- If using a Pullman pan, grease the inside of the lid of the pan, and slide it into place on top of the pan.
- Place the pan on the middle rack OR top oven rack (whatever is appropriate for your oven) of the preheated oven.
- Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. If using a Pullman pan, remove the lid after about 40 minutes of baking and return the pan to the oven to finish baking.
- The loaf is done when the internal temperature of the bread reaches about 205°F on an instant-read thermometer and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean (not wet).
- The outside will form a thick, brown crust (thinner and less brown if you've used a pullman pan with a lid), and the loaf will sound somewhat hollow inside when you tap it firmly but gently with your forefinger.
- Remove the loaf from the oven, and allow the bread to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan. Transfer the bread from the pan to a wire rack, remove any parchment paper, and allow the loaf to cool completely. Slice the cool loaf into 10 equal slices with a serrated knife.
- Wrap the cooled loaf and any slices tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.
- To freeze this bread, cool completely and then wrap tightly, and freeze. Defrost the whole loaf at room temperature, still wrapped.
- You can also slice a cooled loaf and wrap each slice separately, and freeze. Defrost as many slices at a time as you need in the toaster.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQs
Here are some common reasons:
• You're not using the correct gf flour blend or you're not using the correct amount (you must measure by weight for accurate results);
• If you used active dry instead of instant yeast, you didn't use enough (you'll need 25% more active dry yeast) or didn't proof it in some of the milk first
• You didn't allow enough time or the proper conditions for proofing and/or you killed the yeast by trying to proof the bread in what you thought was a warm, but not hot, oven;
• You didn't measure your ingredients by weight, including water, so the hydration ratio is wrong.
It's done when the internal temperature of the bread reaches around 205°F on an instant-read thermometer, if not a little higher. The outside will form a thick, brown crust, and it will sound hollow when you thump it on the bottom with your thumb or forefinger.
The most common reasons for gluten free bread sinking after cooling include:
• Too much proofing; the bread rose higher than it could support itself. Raw gf bread dough tends to take on a pock-marked appearance when it's overproofed, so watch carefully.
• Too much yeast, so the bread rose too quickly and the dough couldn't support the rise and still hold its shape
• Too much liquid, leading to too a rapid overproofing, and too much liquid to properly bake off in the oven
• A too-hot oven that baked the outside to burning long before the inside of the loaf was cooked through enough to support the structure.
Readers who live at altitude report that their “regular” altitude adjustments work just as well in my gluten free recipes as they do in their conventional recipes. This King Arthur Flour guide for high altitude baking is useful.
Try making it in a 7-cup food processor, using a plastic blade if you have it. Pulsing the ingredients just enough to make the dough smooth, but not so much that it heats the dough, which can kill the yeast and even begin to cook the ingredients. Some readers have reported being able to make the recipe by hand, but the dough will not be as smooth and may not rise as well.
make ahead/leftovers
Storage instructions
Cool completely, then wrap unsliced bread tightly in an airtight wrap at room temperature, and it will last for about 2 days.
Refresh bread that feels a bit stale easily. Wet the slices with lukewarm water and toast it on a very low setting to warm it up and allow the bread to absorb the water.
Freezing
Freeze the whole, cooled loaf without slicing it. Or slice it fully, and then wrap each slice separately in freezer-safe wrap. To slice the loaf and then freeze it all together, add pieces of parchment paper between slices so they don't stick together.
Remove as many slices as you need from the freezer, and refresh them in the toaster. There's no need to defrost them first.
Gluten free bread machine bread
I don't love bread machines, but many of you need to use them. To make this recipe in a bread machine, make these small changes:
- Replace 2 egg whites with 2 whole eggs, and melted butter with olive oil
- Limit to only one rise
- Use the “homemade bread” setting and set it to: 20 minute rest, 20 minute mi, 1 hour rise, 1.5 hour bake
- Begin with the wet ingredients in the loaf pan, and top with dry ingredients except yeast; make a hole in the center, and add the yeast
- After the mixing cycle is done, smooth the top of the dough
- Bake for 1.25 hours and check for a temperature of at least 205°F, or keep baking
My daughter and I have made this bread now 3x’s. The flavor and texture is amazing…except that the bottom is super gummy on the bottom, about 3/4 of an inch all the way across. We followed the recipe exactly- even using an oven thermometer in multiple places and this time I took it out at 215 instead of 200, still gummy. We let it rise for 8 hours instead of 4, same result. We used the Better Batter all purpose flour and followed the recipe and cook times otherwise. Help! what are we missing?
It sounds like you haven’t let the bread rise fully, Megan. There are also other variables, like oven temperature (you must check oven temperature independent of your ovens internal temperature with an oven thermometer as almost every oven runs about 20 degrees off in one direction or another), measuring by weight, ingredient substitutions, ingredient temperature, that you’d have to take into account as well. Everyone believes they have followed a recipe precisely, but it’s rare that that is true.
Can I use active dry yeast by red star?
Please see the text of the post under the heading “Instant yeast vs active dry yeast.”
This was my first attempt at this bread, and I’m super happy. My only question is, why do my GF breads bake so quickly? You said 45 minutes to 1 hour of baking and mine was done in about 35-40. I did an internal temp and it was over 200 degrees so I took it out. The crust always browns so quickly as well. I mean……its good. But a little dense. Thoughts? I’m thinking of trying my new 2 lb. Pullman pan next time. I just used a regular loaf pan this time. And wow……it raised quickly. I always proof in a slightly warm oven when the house is cool.
It sounds like you didn’t allow the bread to rise for long enough. That’s a very short rising time, and it’s not recommended to proof the raw dough in an oven, no matter how low you think the temperature is.
Hi
Is the sugar essential? I’m British and general we don’t use sugar in sandwich bread but only in sweet breads like brioche.
Can I reduce the amount or leave it out or is it necessary?
Thank you.
Yes, every ingredient in the recipe is essential. Sugar feeds the yeast.
The recipe says 375 for baking but the video says 350. Which is it please? :)
Bake the bread at 375°F.
Is a Pullman pan a must or will it work in a regular loaf pan?
The recipe instructions in the recipe card are for a regular loaf pan. Please see the first step, where it specifies the pan.
I am getting ready to bake my first loaf. I am assuming the ‘dough’ has just enough stickiness to not ooze through the Pullman loaf pan holes?
This is real bread dough, Patricia, and it doesn’t ooze. As discussed in the post, it’s softer and more wet than traditional gluten containing bread dough, but it isn’t a liquid.
I have tried to make this bread several times, following the directions to a “t” but it never rises the way the directions say it should and the bread comes out super dense! Should I add more yeast? Or try a certain brand? I bought new yeast packets, thinking that might be the problem, but it didn’t help. Help!
Check first whether you’re making ingredient substitutions (especially flour blend) and measuring by weight, not volume. Other than that, it’s likely just a matter of not letting it rise for long enough. Rise can happen very slowly in cooler temperatures, so it requires a lot of patience. Overproofing is a matter of too much rise, not too much rising time. It takes how long it takes!
I have 8.5 by 4.5 inch Lodge cast iron pans that would make a wonderful crust. Can I use them? Or make 1 1/2 the recipe for 2 pans?
I’m afraid I’m not really sure how much each of those pans would hold. If they’re tall enough, it may take a full recipe in one pan. But, this is a very wet dough, since it’s a batter-style gluten free bread, and I don’t recommend baking loaves of bread in cast iron. The bottom will almost certainly burn before the inside is fully baked.
Hi, when proofing is it possible to leave in the fridge for a full 24 hours before baking? I want to make ahead of time, but wonder if it’s possible. Thank you.
Hi, Nora, I’m afraid you can’t do that as the dough will overproof. This is specifically designed as a batter-style gluten free bread which only has one single rise. If you’d like recipes for loaves of gluten free that call for a refrigerator rise, you’ll need to purchase my book Gluten Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread. You can find it wherever books are sold.