Easy Gluten Free Bread Recipe | Tender and Springy GF Bread (2024)

With a soft and tender crumb, this gluten free bread recipe is the original and best. It's the white sandwich bread you've been missing since you started on your gluten free journey.

It really is an amazing recipe if you're on a gluten free diet. It tastes and behaves just like regular bread. It's easy to make and if you follow the recipe closely, you'll get perfect bread every time.

This soft and tender gluten free bread bends and squishes and tastes like the “real thing”, and it has a lovely bakery-style crust to boot.

The original gluten free bread recipe

Use it for yummy sandwiches, grilled cheese, or classic peanut butter and jelly. You can toast it for a bit of crunch, and if you're craving something sweet, sprinkle on a bit of sugar and cinnamon. This gluten free sandwich bread is incredibly versatile — just like bread should be.

Yes, it's been copied and republished by others with “tweaks” to try and make it unique, but that actually ruin the bread. But this is the original, unadulterated recipe that I came up with way back in 2010. And it's quite simply the easiest and the best gluten free bread recipe you'll find.

A batter-style gluten free bread recipe

This batter-style gluten free 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. So don't be surprised when you're making this gluten free bread and you see it's a batter, not a dough. Don't worry – trust the recipe and keep baking.

I still have such vivid memories of researching every possible additional ingredient I could add to this gluten free bread recipe 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 xanthan gum).

Before that, I wasted a ton of expensive ingredients, including all different kinds of gluten free flours. But it was all worth it. Every failed recipe attempt eventually led to this awesome bread recipe.

What is the dough like?

As we discuss in our beginner's guide to gluten free baking, if you have any experience baking conventional yeast bread, this gluten free 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 a dough hook!

The one drawback of this recipe is that I’ve never made it with total success with a bowl and spoon. And believe me, I've tried! Mixing all the ingredients until they’re truly smooth and fully incorporated is just really hard without a stand mixer.

It’s a bit fragile once it’s risen, so handle with care. If you’d like to add seeds to this gluten free bread, do it after the dough has risen. Just brush the top lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with seeds. But be gentle or you'll ruin the rise.

The best gluten free flour blend for this bread recipe

You've got a lot of choices when it comes to gf flours, but my go-to gluten free flour blend for this recipe (and many others) is Better Batter.

It's an all purpose gluten free flour blend with just the right proportions of rice flour, potato flour, xanthan gum, and other ingredients for baking more than just the best gluten free bread.

I highly recommend that you stick with Better Batter for this recipe. However, if you're interested in trying a different blend for this recipe, consider the other options on our all purpose gluten free flour blends page.

Letting the gluten free bread rise

To speed up the rising process, some people recommend letting the dough sit in a warm oven. I want to make it clear: I absolutely never recommend using an oven to proof bread.

Believe me, it's not because I like sitting around waiting for my bread to rise. Instead, the reasoning is very simple: When you use a warm or hot oven to proof bread, you could easily kill the yeast, and dead yeast = no rise.

For best results when making this easy gluten free bread recipe, please don't use a warm oven for proofing. Instead, choose a naturally warm, draft free spot and let the yeast do its thing. And keep in mind that, if your environment seems quite cool (but isn't truly cold), your yeast bread will still rise, just more slowly.

Tips for baking the perfect gluten free sandwich bread

I've put together my top tips to help you get perfect gluten free bread every time. Trust the recipe and follow these tips for flawless gluten free sandwich bread time and time again.

Use the best bread pan for baking gluten free sandwich bread — the Pullman loaf pan

I had always wanted to try making it in a Pullman loaf pan. That was the only way to see if I could get those perfect, no-dome slices that are truly made for sandwiches.

Baking in a Pullman pan (which is that taller, narrow pan with a lid that slides on) also tends to make softer bread. The moisture in the bread is trapped inside the pan during baking, and the bread absorbs it as it bakes.

The photo above is a loaf baked in a 2 pound Pullman loaf pan. The photos below are of the bread rising in a 1-pound Pullman loaf pan.

You can make a 1-pound Pullman loaf, or a 2-pound Pullman loaf. The baking time is nearly the same, as the pans are much longer but also considerably more narrow.

For the 1-pound Pullman pan

For the 1-pound pan, you don't do anything different to prepare the bread dough. When it's ready to rise, use the Pullman cover instead of plastic wrap, then bake for about 40 minutes with the lid on. Remove the lid and allow the top to brown.

For the 2-pound Pullman pan

For the 2-pound loaf pan, double the recipe and be sure to mix the ingredients with a bit of extra care. The instructions are the same as for the 1-pound pan for rising and baking, just baked in a 2 pound Pullman loaf pan.

Choosing the right yeast for gluten free sandwich bread

Yeast is an essential ingredient for most bread recipes, but when you head to the grocery store, you may notice a few different varieties, including instant yeast and active dry yeast.

Is yeast gluten free?

Let's get this out of the way first: Most types of yeast are gluten free, but as always, you'll want to carefully check ingredient labels to be sure the one you're choosing is safe. Yeast in a single-cell fungus that converts sugar and starch into carbon dioxide and alcohol, which is what causes baked goods to rise. So, in its natural state, yeast is naturally gluten free.

However, always choose a certified gluten free yeast, as other types may be processed in a factory that processes yeast on the same production line as gluten-containing ingredients, resulting in cross-contact contamination.

Instant yeast vs active dry yeast

Two of the most common products you'll find on the shelf are instant yeast and active dry yeast.

My homemade gluten free sandwich bread recipe calls for instant yeast, which may also be labeled as quick rise.

If you'd like to substitute active dry yeast instead, you can, but you'll need to take a few extra steps. First, multiply the weight of instant yeast by 1.25 for the right ratio.

Because active dry yeast has a thicker coating around the yeast, you'll need to help break it down. You can do this by soaking it in some of the milk for this recipe until it foams.

Once foamy, add it and the rest of the milk when the recipe calls for it.

Use a pan liner or cooking spray

There's no question that you need a pan liner or cooking spray to stop your bread welding to the sides and base fo the pan. If you're not using a pan liner, make sure your non stick cooking spray is gluten free! I like to use coconut or olive oil.

Don't let the bread cool completely in the pan

Let your homemade gluten free sandwich bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, but then transfer it to a cooling rack so it doesn't get soggy from escaping steam.

Bake your gluten free bread in the center of the oven

You'll enjoy a consistent baking temperature and better airflow, and you'll keep your bread from hitting the roof of the oven.

Use a bread knife or serrated knife

If you don't have a bread knife, be sure to use some kind of serrated knife for slicing. Otherwise, you may squish or tear your bread.

Gluten free white sandwich bread recipe 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!

Gluten free dairy free bread

Making this bread dairy free is easy. Just replace the butter with vegan butter. Melt and Miyoko's Kitchen brands are my favorite.

You can even use Earth Balance Buttery Sticks and reduce the salt to 1 teaspoon.

Avoid using the soft vegan spreads though, this bread recipe calls for butter, so use the plant butter blocks for the best dairy free results.

Use any dairy free milk you like, just be sure it's not nonfat and is unsweetened. I really like unsweetened almond milk here, as it doesn't impact flavor and still contains enough fat so the rest of the recipe doesn't require any adjustment. Full fat canned coconut milk is never an appropriate substitute for dairy milk, as it has very little moisture.

Egg free gluten free bread recipe

This is 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). Alternatively, aquafaba may behave more like egg whites. If you try either, let us know how it goes!

Storing gluten free sandwich bread

This easy gluten free bread recipe produces incredibly tender bread that stores easily on the kitchen counter. Just keep it sealed in an airtight container at room temperature, and it will last for about 2 days.

I also recommend that you don't pre-slice any gf bread before use, unless you're going to freeze it. Doing so may cause it to dry out prematurely, so leave the loaf whole and slice as needed.

Adding seeds

If you want to dress your bread up a little, and turn it into a fancier-looking bread, or give it a bit more flavor and crunch, you can sprinkle the top with seeds. Do it after the loaf has risen and is ready for the oven.

Lightly sprinkle the seeds over the top, but don't push them down too much as the risen dough is quite fragile. Add sesame, chia, quinoa, sunflower, or pumpkin seeds, and maybe even some finely chopped nuts.

Freezing gluten free sandwich bread

Another wonderful thing about this gluten free sandwich bread recipe is that it also freezes fabulously! This means you can enjoy a yummy gf sandwich at a moment's notice.

For freezing, slice the bread into individual portions. Make sure each slice has cooled completely, and then wrap tightly and freeze.

When you're ready for a sandwich, remove as many slices as you need and refresh them by popping them right in the toaster (no need to defrost first).

Get more gf bread information

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. I've also compiled my top 10 secrets to baking gluten free bread.

I'm happy to share everything I know with you! If you're ready for the next step, I'm there for you, too. When you're ready, join me in learning about baking with my gluten free bread flour blend, which calls for some additional ingredients that you'll have to order by mail, but the bread is next level!

Gluten Free Bread Recipe FAQs

For lots of general tips on gf yeast bread baking, please see how to make gluten free bread. You'll find 10 rules and lots of FAQs. Here are some specific questions that are frequently asked about this white gluten free bread recipe:

How to make white gluten free bread for sandwiches, step by step (below)