Picture the gluten free white sandwich bread you’ve been missing in your life, and know that the wait is over. It’s that simple. This soft and tender bread bends and squishes, and has a lovely bakery-style crust.
This recipe is straight out of the brand new second edition of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring: 125 Easy Recipes for Eating Well on the Cheap, my very first cookbook. If you’d like to see inside the book, please click here for a preview video of every single page.
A history of gluten free bread
When I nailed the recipe for this gluten free bread way back in 2010, I knew lunch would never be the same again. In the very best way.
When the first edition of the very first Gluten Free on a Shoestring cookbook came out, I was downright terrified that someone would take it upon themselves to post this entire recipe online, without permission. The horror!
It was truly revolutionary when I first created it, even though now it seems like old school gf bread. And I felt super protective of this recipe that I’m sharing with you today.
Now, I won’t lie: when I first learned that my son had to be gluten free for life, I distinctly remember saying, “wait, so you’re telling me he can’t have a cupcake at a birthday party?” 🎂 (Clearly, we’ve come a long way since then!)
Of course, it quickly became clear that bread 🍞 was going to be the biggest day to day issue with going gluten free. Especially in our bread-obsessed culture, we all define ourselves by whether we eat bread, how much we eat of it, and what type of bread we eat.
This batter-style bread doesn’t look or behave anything like conventional yeast bread when it’s raw or even when it’s baking. That didn’t matter to me at all when I first developed the recipe.
In fact, it wasn’t until I completely took this gluten free white sandwich bread recipe for granted that I had the courage to start developing the more advanced recipes for Gluten Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread.
I still have such vivid memories of researching every possible additional ingredient I could add to this bread to help support the dough during its rise. I finally settled on apple cider vinegar and cream of tartar, plus egg whites, and of course xanthan gum (you simply can’t make gluten free bread that doesn’t fall apart without it). Before that, I wasted a ton of expensive ingredients.
But it was all worth it. Every failed recipe attempt eventually led to this bread, its brown bread cousin, and eventually to a whole new, truly revolutionary way of making gluten free bread.
If you have any experience baking conventional yeast bread, this bread dough will seem completely unfamiliar to you. This batter-style gluten free yeast bread dough is more like a loose cookie dough than it is conventional bread dough. You need a mixer paddle attachment to mix it, most definitely not dough hooks!
The one drawback of this bread is that I’ve never made it with total success with a bowl and spoon. Mixing all of the ingredients until they’re truly smooth and fully incorporated is just really hard without a stand mixer—but if you are able to make it happen please let us know in the comments!
I had always wanted to try making it in a Pullman loaf pan (affiliate link—feel free to shop around!). That was the only way to see if I could get those perfect, no-dome slices.
My Pullman loaf pan is a 2-pound pan, and this recipe makes a 1-pound loaf. Simply double the recipe and be sure to mix the ingredients with a bit of extra care. The baking time was nearly the same, as the pan is much longer but also considerably more narrow.
Ingredients and Substitutions
As always, unless specifically indicated otherwise, I haven’t made this recipe with any substitutions. These are mostly just my best-educated guesses for how to accommodate other dietary restrictions. Proceed with caution when modifying any recipe!
Dairy-Free: That one’s easy. Just replace the butter with Earth Balance Buttery Sticks and reduce the salt to 1 teaspoon. Use any nondairy milk you like, just be sure it’s not nonfat and is unsweetened. I really like unsweetened almond milk here.
Egg-Free: That’s a little harder since the recipe calls for egg whites, not a whole egg. I’ve never tried this recipe with any substitutions to make it egg-free, but I’d recommend trying a “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel). If you try it, let us know how it goes!
Click Play ▶ And Watch Me Make This Bread
Then it’s up to you to turn these simple ingredients into a “normal” lunch for your family. What are you waiting for?
In the meantime, if you’re waiting for the right ingredients or just need a sandwich while the bread rises, I’ve reviewed 8 gluten free brands of bread that I really like. Have a look!
HELLO! I’m Nicole! I make gluten-free food enjoyable & affordable. If they can make it with gluten, we can make it without. That’s a promise!
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Hi Nicole,
I love your site and have been gf as long as I can remember (diagnosed Celiac at 19mos.). I love Udi’s whole grain bread but it is pricey and I’ve always wanted to try making my own so I tried yours after a different recipe flopped last week. Your bread has the BEST flavor of all I’ve tried, but mine came out a bit gooey and dense inside. I used King Arthur GF flour, and added 1/4 cup of psyllium husks and a few tablespoons of flax seeds. I let it rise overnight in the fridge and a few more hours in the pan in my sunny kitchen. Any idea what went wrong? Thanks so much!
Hi, Jacque, you can’t use King Arthur Flour in my recipes successfully, or psyllium husk. If you follow the recipe as written, including using one of my recommended flour blends, you’ll have success. Whenever you modify a recipe like that, you’re really creating a new formula!
Hi! Do you use rapid rise yeast in this recipe or regular? Thanks
Lori, the recipe calls for instant yeast. That’s the same as rapid-rise.
Hi Nicole, l made the loaf last night (using only my arm strength). Best bread ever. Thanks for sharing.
So great to hear, Sandra! Thanks for letting us know how well it worked out for you.
I received my copy of your book today- beautiful, your husband is a lucky man!
I can’t wait to try a few recipes.
Haha thanks so much, Jacki! With any luck, he’ll see that here. :) So glad you’re enjoying the book.
Nicole,
Complicated here, I’m GF my husband is vegan, I see you substitutes and I will try them!
I am wondering from a nutrient stand point can I put in add ins? Flax, chai, sunflower something other then plain white which we don’t eat very often?
I don’t recommend that, Loretta. I’d try the gluten free brown bread recipe I posted recently here on the blog. Just use the search function.
Hi Nicole,
Thank you for sharing these wonderful gluten free recipes!
can we use the Mock Better Batter for this recipe? or does it have to be the original Better Batter?
Nope, Charlene. You can always use mock Better Batter anywhere you’d use Better Batter! Nice, right? 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe. I have been trying for a year to make gluten free yeast bread with out any luck. I made this and it turned out wonderfully. I do not have paddles on my mixer. I used regular beaters and it turned out great.
I’m really glad to hear that, Lisa. Thanks for letting us know how well it turned out.
Looks fantastic Nicole!!
Thanks, Mena!!
Wow, I can’t wait to try this recipe! We don’t have Better Batter in the UK. Would you recommend a plain flour blend or a bread flour blend as being the better option? Thank you! I’ll definitely let you know the result…
Please follow the link in the recipe to my flour blend page. I have a recipe for mock Better Batter that will work in this recipe!
Dear Nicole, thanks for your quick response; I thought I had accidentally deleted this comment, so I sent a duplicate comment after I finished baking and cooling the bread (which as you know by now is terrific!). That said, I will go with weights over volume going forward. I pre-ordered your book, so looking forward to baking many more items from your kitchen. Myra
Hello! I made this for the first time today. FYI, I was checking on volume vs. weight (with weight winning), and when measuring out the kosher salt the 2 tsp weighed one half of the recipe (6 g vs. 12g in your recipe). I decided to err on the low side to avoid it being too salty. It came out terrific!!
I have a question for you. Your recipe says to bake at 375, but the video says 350 degrees. Just wondering which one you prefer? Thanks for all your hard work in creating these recipes!
Oh my gosh does it really? It’s definitely 375°F. Thank you so much for catching that. I’ll see if I can edit and re-upload. It’s 375°F, but I guess I’m so used to baking things at 350°F!!
I’ve never attempted bread before so I’m excited to try this! I have a couple questions. Does it matter if you use whole vs. skim/lowfat milk? And salted vs. unsalted butter? Thanks so much!
Yes, you cannot use skim milk, Deb. I always use whole milk, as it has the absolute best flavor. And the recipe calls for unsalted butter, so please use that!
what do you use instead of reg. stainless beaters in your mixer. I have a Kitchen Aid. It has a big coated whisk that might work.
You cannot use whisk attachments, Gayle, as I explain in the recipe. You must use a paddle attachment.
Hello there! FYI, I’m trying your recipe today and noticed that your measurements from utensils to grams is a bit off. I measured 2 teaspoons of kosher salt to see how it measured in grams and only got 6 grams, you list 12 grams. Same thing for the sugar (the grams are almost double what my utensils measure out). The weight of the yeast compares to volume exactly. I usually trust weight over volume, but in the case of the salt I decided to go with the just the 6 grams as I don’t want it too salty, but my sugar is already in the mix with everything else (I weighed the gf flour mix) so I hope it’s not too sweet. I’ll see how it comes out, and will post later, but wanted you to know.
Hi, Myra, there is no discrepancy as you describe. The point of using weight measurements instead of volume measurements is due to the lack of standardization in volume containers, and the inevitable human error that leads to discrepancies in volume measurements. Please measure by weight and ignore the volume measurements, as they are by nature approximate. And I really don’t recommend tinkering with this recipe, particularly an essential ingredient like salt, which serves multiple purposes.
Hi Nicole,
I’ve made this recipe many times (using Better Batter) from your first book (I love all the GFOAS books btw) but have never used a Pullman loaf pan. I also want that wonderful square shape so perfect for my GF deli meats and cheeses. Do you cook the bread with the cover on or off? Also, the smaller pans are 9x4x4. Does that work for the 1-pound loaf? It’s just me so I don’t need two pounds of bread. I’ll already freeze half a pound of it anyway. Wanted the check before I bought one. Thanks in advance for the clarifications.
Hi, Diana,
I’m afraid I don’t know if a Pullman pan as you describe would hold the same volume of bread dough as a standard 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan. You’d have to refer to the information provided by the manufacturer of the pan you are considering. I can only tell you my own experience. Sorry! Oh, and you definitely use it with the cover on! Otherwise, you won’t get the square top. :)
I have an old Sunbeam electric mixer that doesn’t have paddle mixers, just regular metal one. Will they work with this recipe?
I’m afraid not, Carole!
I do not have a stand alone mixture, why can I not use dough hooks with my hand blender.
I am not able to mix by hand because of arthritis.
I have 2 of your books they are wonderful.
I’m afraid dough hooks just don’t work with these batter-style breads. Sorry, Dorothy!
I made it with regular beaters on my mixer and it turned out just fine. The consistency before baking wasn’t the same as the pictures showed, but it was great
I cannot remember if my gf flour has xanthum gum or not is it ok to still add it?
Hi, Rachel,
I’m afraid you really need to know if it has xanthan gum as an ingredient. If you just add it, you could easily be adding way too much!
Will have to try this! Thanks for sharing.
It’s interesting you use egg whites and yeast as leavening agents, as well as that you incorporate the salt immediately with the yeast. Not only does salt retard yeast fermentation, but so does the low pH of the apple cider vinegar (although I understand the vin will result in more lift).
Do you feel the egg whites causes the crumb to be denser and drier? I found this out the hard way — seems counterintuitive but that’s my observation at least.
Anyway, as a millennial gluten free cook I totally admire your work.
I actually don’t incorporate salt with the yeast, Sophia. I whisk the yeast separately after the other dry ingredients have been incorporated, but I have actually made it by whisking everything together and it works just fine. The point of adding salt to yeast bread is, in fact, to both add flavor and to retard the yeast production. And the egg whites provide some more lift, and are also added in part for their drying properties since these batter-style gluten free yeast bread doughs require a near-excess of moisture, as traditional gluten free flour blends are hydrophilic. This recipe is as old as the sands of time (since 2010!) and I promise it definitely works exactly as written!
Nicole, Is this a repeat of your first book or new recipes.
Hi, Karen, as I describe in the post, this recipe is an original from the first book, but as with every recipe has been tweaked a bit and has a photo in the new edition.
You said to double recipe for larger loaf, does that include the yeast, sorry if this is a lame question
It’s not a lame question, Linda! Yes, you double every ingredient. I generally don’t recommend doing that with these batter-style bread recipes unless you’re using a powerful stand mixer with a paddle attachment, though, since it’s doubly important that all the ingredients get mixed properly. But other than that, go for it!
I cannot eat apples, among other food types, what may I use instead of Apple Cider Vinegar? Also, the secret to making a pie crust that won’t fall apart is, sour cream? Thank you.
Hi, Sandra, You can try another vinegar if you like! And I have a recipe for extra flaky gluten free pie crust that uses sour cream, if you’re interested. Just use the search function here on the blog to find it.
Thanks! Have you tested this recipe with a bread machine?
I don’t use or recommend a bread machine, Pearl, as they vary significantly from brand to brand and make an odd-shaped loaf. Not to mention that this recipe is so simple that I’m not sure why you’d need one!
Have used your cook book many times since my purchase years ago and it has helped me make creative and delicious meals! Just have one quick question, when you use Better Batter, this recipe for example, are you adding the xanthan gum because the Better Batter I purchase has xanthan gum in it? Thank you!
Hi, Margie, as the recipe states, if your blend already contains xanthan gum like Better Batter, then leave out that ingredient! So glad you’ve enjoyed the first edition of my book. :)
How do you think this will come out in a bread machine with a gluten-free setting?
I don’t use or recommend a bread machine, Dianna, as they vary significantly from brand to brand and make an odd-shaped loaf. Not to mention that this recipe is so simple that I’m not sure why you’d need one!
I wonder if aquafaba (liquid from from a can of chickpeas) would be a good egg whites substitute.
I’ve wondered about that myself, Robin!
I understand that it is a perfect substitute Robin. 2 TBLS aquafaba for 1 egg white.
Is there any way to substitute the egg whites? I’m allergic to eggs. Thanks!
Please see the last section about substitutions, Beth!
Have you ever made this in a bread machine?
I don’t use or recommend a bread machine, Jeana, as they vary significantly from brand to brand and make an odd-shaped loaf. Not to mention that this recipe is so simple that I’m not sure why you’d need one!