May is celiac awareness month, which always makes me think of the day that my husband was diagnosed. It was not easy news to hear…but we are so thankful that we did! It changed our lives drastically. Total kitchen makeover. Our eating, cooking, baking had all changed in an instant. A life changer for sure. You can read more about our journey here. One thing Kevin and I were certain we would never eat again…a good slice of warm, soft bread. Boy, was I wrong!
I found this glorious bread recipe on The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen and it was love at first sight. It looked so hearty and healthy. No eggs or dairy either! I knew I had to give it a try. I did change the flours up a bit, using what I had on hand. I came up with a combination of sorghum, oat, and buckwheat flour. There is also no xanthan gum in this recipe. You actually use ground chia seeds and psyllium husks. They both get thick and gooey, working their magic in keeping this beautiful bread nice and tender.
The biggest test for me…what was the bread like the next day? I was expecting it to be dry and crumbly, like most gluten free bread. You have to heat them up to get them soft again. Not this bread! It was still so moist the next day. I was shocked. And even more in love. My new favorite gluten free bread has arrived!
gluten free vegan multigrain bread
makes 12 slices
- 2 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon organic cane sugar
- 1 1/4 cup sorghum flour
- 1 cup certified gluten free oat flour*
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
- 1/2 cup arrowroot starch or tapioca starch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup ground chia seeds
- 1/3 cup whole psyllium husks
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
topping
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Prepare 9×5 loaf pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray or lining with parchment paper. Set aside. In medium bowl, whisk together the warm water, yeast and teaspoon of sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes to proof and become foamy. While the yeast is activating, sift together the sorghum flour, oat flour, buckwheat flour, arrowroot starch, and salt.
When the yeast is ready, add the olive oil, maple syrup, ground chia seeds, and psyllium husks to the yeast mixture. Stir and let sit 2-3 minutes. It will start to thicken up very quickly. Pour the wet ingredients into bowl of electric stand mixer. Add the flour mixture and start mixing on low. When the flour is completely incorporated, mix on medium-speed for 2 minutes. Add the sunflower seeds at the end of mixing time.
Scoop bread dough into prepared loaf pan. Smooth out the dough with a rubber spatula or wet fingers. Cover with damp cloth and let rise for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size. After the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a water bath on the lower rack in the oven (I filled an 8×8-inch pan halfway with water). Lightly brush with a tablespoon of olive oil and sesame seeds. Place in oven on middle rack and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove bread from oven and place on cooling rack. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing the bread from pan. Allow bread to cool for about an hour before cutting (it will be too gummy if you cut it too soon). Once cooled, slice and serve. Store in ziploc bag or air-tight container.
*To make oat flour, just place 1 cup gluten free oats in a blender/food processor and blend for a couple minutes until you have oat flour.
Recipe adapted from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen
What can I use in place of the psyllium husks?
This looks so good!! I just bought psylium husks, so will be making this for sure!
Mine turned out!!! Yay! I used ground flax seed instead of psyllium husks. I cooked mine for 40 mim.
Awesome Rebecca!!!
how much ground flax??
1/3 cup
Do you have a suggestion for anything instead of oat flour? Despite trying every kind of GF oats, I just can't do it. :
I don't claim to know a whole lot about substituting gf flours, but just off the top of my head: maybe more buckwheat flour? Possibly quinoa flour? If you sub something and it turns out too dense (but otherwise good), I would suggest adding some quinoa flakes (different from the flour, sold as hot cereal); I sometimes like to add nut flours to my muffins, and the quinoa flakes help balance the heaviness of the nut flours. Good luck! 🙂
Hi Anonymous. I have issues with oats as well so I used (approximately) an extra 1/2 c of Sorghum, 1/4 c buckwheat and 1/4 c Tapioca to replace the oat flour. It turned out amazing! Soft and moist. Also as above, Quinoa flakes and flour could work well. I haven't tried it yet but I going to next time I make this bread!
My daughter can't eat oat either so I used 1 cup of millet flour instead of 1 cup of oat flour and it turned out great. I also increased the cooking time because 45 minutes wasn't enough. The middle of the bread was still uncooked. Finally, I don't have a stand mixer so I used my hand mixer with the hooks and it did a great job. This it the best vegan gluten free bread I've tasted!
Sounds fantastic! I'm eager to try it, but going to wait until cool weather — not only b/c I don't want to heat up the oven in the middle of summer, but also b/c my 13-y-o autie angel would definitely get into the bread before it cooled. I can't keep him out of fresh-baked goodies!
This bread turned out great, especiallly right out of the oven and for the first 24 hours (like most fresh bread). It is one of the best gluten free sandwich type loaves I had to date. For those interested in subsitutions, in lieu of the psyllium husks, I used of teaspoon of xantham gum added to the flour mixture and 1/3 of a cup of ground flax seeds (I used golden but any variety would do.) I added the flax with the ground chia to the yeast mixture and then followed the rest of the directions. I also do not have a stand mixer, so I used an electric hand mixer to briefly beat the wet ingredients once thickened. I combined wet and dry using a wooden spoon.
My bread did not quite double in size during the rising period, though it did rise substantially. My end result was a bread slightly denser looking than Sarah's pictured here, but still delicious. This could be a result of the lack to psyllium husks or just a woe of GF baking. I hope this comment helps! And thanks again Sarah for all your great recipes.
Thanks for sharing, Adelaide! I'm so glad you enjoyed this bread too and that your alterations worked well for you.
What can be used instead of yeast?
Oh my! I burned the top of my bread a little but it doesn't matter the inside and the bottom it was so good. I loved the way it turned out because i have a quirky way of purposely toasting a piece of bread long enough for the edges to be black. O_o This bread wasn't as burnt as my toast but I think i will use my big oven instead of my counter one for my husbands sake. He hates burned anything. HAHA. Thank you for the recipe.
Just made this with a few substututes…I used millet for the buckwheat because I can't seem to get a reliable source of uncontaminated bw flour, 1/3 ground flax for the psyllium husk (I have psyllium husk powder and wasn't sure if it would be the same measurement), and subbed hemp seeds for the sunflower seeds and added 1/2 Tbs of xanthan gum. I have to say this has a better texture than most other vegan breads I've tried to bake. My 3y/o is eating a sandwich right now and seems to really be enjoying it. I really like the addition of the seeds….extra protein is always good!
I’ve been gluten free for 6 years now (vegan longer than that) and this is the first really good bread I’ve had. AND no gums. This will become a staple, for sure
I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out fantastic! Talk about fibre for the microbiome! It rose beautifully and smelled amazing as it baked. Sliced with no crumbling – the slices hold together and don’t break apart ever even if sliced quite thin. And it toasts nicely. My first success with GF yeast bread! Finally I have an organic, GF, healthy bread made with whole grain flours that I like, especially sorghum, and no rice flour, which is fantastic. I will now be baking my own bread. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Thanks, Carole! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
This is amazing bread!!! Great flavor, great texture, very moist!! I simplified the recipe and combined ALL the dry ingredients, including the yeast. Then I added the water (120-125 degrees F), oil and maple syrup. I don’t have a stand mixer, so I simply mixed it well with a wooden spoon until it seemed well mixed. I put it in the loaf pan, let it rise, and then baked it. It won’t last a day around here!!!