My Favorite Gluten Free Bread Recipe- Egg Free and Dairy Free Too!

Is there anything better than fresh baked bread? Before going gluten-free, I would have never attempted to bake a loaf of bread. Then again, I was in my early 20’s and more concerned about hanging out with friends and starting a career – I wasn’t doing much cooking in general, never mind making anything from scratch. But then came the realization that gluten was having really bad effects on me. Back then, there were almost no gluten free products on the market. No one even knew what “gluten” was! I hit the bookstores and discovered Bette Hagman’s gluten free cookbook. For those of you not familiar with her (AKA The Gluten Free Gourmet), she really was a pioneer in gluten-free baking and cooking. Before the internet was what it is now, her original cookbook was the Bible for understanding what gluten is, what other types of flours are out there, and what to do with them. Without her cookbooks, I would have starved in those early days! 

Through the years, I have baked what feels like a million loaves of bread and, truth be told, disliked most of them. I kept finding one or two recipes that were pretty good. But then I would discover another food sensitivity, or my son would be diagnosed with another allergy, so I needed to start from scratch once again (pun intended). Through experimentation, and lots and lots of failure, I’ve somehow come up with bread recipes that are not only edible, but actually tasty! My non-allergic son loves this bread and he has no food restrictions, except for his personal boycott of vegetables. This bread contains no gluten, milk, egg, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, tapioca starch, flax seed, other seeds. I’m sure you could make it corn-free as well, by using potato starch instead of corn starch, and guar gum instead of xanthan gum. (I think those are the only potential corn-containing ingredients.) This gluten free bread recipe is one I’ve tinkered with dozens of times over the years to get the best taste and consistency. And in my humble opinion, I think it’s perfect. Feel free to tell me if you think I’m crazy. 

This bread that tastes SO good when still warm out of the bread maker and slathered with buttery spread. It is also great for any use – sandwiches, grilled cheese (dairy or non-dairy), french toast (with or without eggs or dairy), or anything you need bread for! I make this a couple of times every month and keep slices in the freezer for use on demand. It does not use any egg replacer or substitute. I used to hate that other gluten free breads couldn’t be used for grilled sandwiches because the bread was too dense and thick, crumbled, or was too hard (or too soft even). I’m happy to say that this bread can fulfill all of your bread needs – it has for me! 

To save time and avoid measuring out all the dry ingredients every time I want bread, I make several batches of the dry mix at once. This will last me for two to three months. I set up six zip-top plastic bags, opening them up and folding the edges outward and down so that they stay open. Prop them up in large mixing bowls so they won’t fall over.  Then get out all of the flours and dry ingredients involved, and measure out the right portion of each dry ingredient into each bag, assembly-line style. Store the bags in the refrigerator. Then, when you want to make the bread, all you need to do is add warm water, oil and yeast into the bread machine and you’re done! No need to measure out all of those flours and starches each time. 

This recipe calls for a bread maker. I understand that not everyone has one, but think it’s totally worth the investment. In fact, this bread is practically the only thing I cook in mine, and I still think it was worth getting because I use it at least twice a month. You can make this in the oven too, if you allow time for the bread to rise before placing into the oven. Check out my tips below the recipe for help with using a bread machine. I hope you’ll like this gluten free bread recipe as much as we do!

Please try out some of my other allergy-friendly bread recipes too, like Banana Bread, Allergy Friendly Pancakes, and Gluten Free Biscuits!

Gluten Free Bread Recipe for Bread Maker – Egg Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free, Soy Free, Flax Seed Free, Tapioca Free, Vegan

1 c. millet flour

1 c. arrowroot starch

1/2 c. sorghum flour

1/2 c. potato starch or corn starch

3 T. granulated sugar

2 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tsp. sea salt

1 + 1/2 c. warm water

3 tsp. olive oil (or oil of choice)

2 tsp. bread machine yeast (or one packet of bread machine/rapid rise yeast, which is 2+1/4 tsp.)

In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients (millet flour through sea salt).

Heat the water to between 120 to 130 degrees (or the temperature specified on the yeast package, if different). Pour water into the bread machine pan, and add the oil. Pour the dry ingredients on top of the wet ingredients in the pan, so that they form a big even layer over the wet ingredients (you don’t want to mix them at this point). Make a little indentation with a spoon on the top of the dry ingredients, and pour the yeast into it.

Place the bread pan into the bread machine and program the machine to the 1.5 pound gluten free cycle (if it has one) or the “quick cycle”. You want there to be only one mixing cycle in the program. During the mixing phase, if there is flour around the edges of the pan, make sure to use a spatula and scrape down the sides to incorporate all the ingredients.

Once the bread is done cooking, use potholders to take the pan out of the machine and place it on a cooling rack. Cool in the pan for five minutes, then turn the bread out onto the cooling rack (using potholders again!) to cool completely. Bread slices a lot better when the loaf is cool, and you can get thinner slices if you can wait for the loaf to cool completely. Or, you can just hack at the warm loaf and devour the yummy goodness – nothing is better than this bread when it is freshly made and still warm!! It has an almost buttery taste to it when warm that is just divine. Mmmmm….

Tips:

Let all dry ingredients and the yeast come to room temperature before using. This ensures that the water remains at the correct temperature for the yeast to activate. 

If you can, remove the mixing paddle right after the mixing cycle ends (at the beginning of the rising cycle). This isn’t necessary, but it will prevent the big hole in the bottom of the loaf from the paddle when it is baked in there. That means more full slices of bread for pretty sandwiches! 🙂

Read the owner’s manual for your bread machine to learn about all of the bread cycles, or learn how to program your own cycle. Gluten free breads act differently than wheat-filled breads. Gluten free breads do not need two mixing cycles, which is standard in most bread makers. Too much mixing may take out too much air from the dough and result in a denser loaf. I have a Breadman Pro bread machine which has a gluten free cycle. If your machine does not have one, choose whatever cycle has only one mixing time and only one rising time. Gluten free breads do not need to rise twice. I just made this bread in a different machine and chose the “white – rapid” cycle. It had the shortest cooking time and only one rising time, and it worked out just fine. 

If you don’t want to use a bread maker, let the bread rise in a warm place before baking in the oven. If anyone tries it this way, please reply and let us know how long you let the loaf rise and how long it cooked for. Thanks, and happy gluten free bread making!