This Gluten Free Sandwich Bread recipe produces a delicious loaf with a soft centre and crispy, golden crust. Free from all grains, dairy, yeast, and nuts, it slices and freezes well.
Recipe Development
This particular recipe has evolved slowly over many years. It has its roots in one of the first recipes for bread that I found online and liked soon after going gluten free. That one doesn't even seem to be available online anymore, so I'm glad that I had saved it. It's in a Macgourmet recipe program where I used to copy favourite recipes out and save them on an old laptop. This was in the days before everyone was on Pinterest. Anyway, I was glad to still have the recipe. I often go to that program as a resource to develop new gluten free recipes from old family favourites.
Gelatine in Gluten Free Bread Recipe
The original recipe involved dissolving three tablespoons of gelatine in water and incorporating that into the egg whites. In the interest of simplification, I discovered that I could achieve excellent results without that step. In fact, the bread is less gooey without it. I also like the nice, golden crunchy crust achieved without the gelatine.
Xanthan Gum in Gluten Free Bread
In another attempt to push the boundaries, I attempted leaving out and then drastically reducing the xanthan gum. While I was able to reduce it a little, I found that it was necessary for the bread to rise to its full potential (literally.)
Egg Yolks in Gluten Free Bread
Then I thought, Why couldn't we use some of our egg yolks in the bread? The original recipe didn't, but lots of breads have egg yolks in them. Adding three here worked just fine!
Organic Raw Sugar
I also tried leaving out the sugar. If you feel strongly about cutting carbs, you could omit it, and the recipe will still work. The organic, raw sugar is just there for flavour. Now I'm all for cutting down our sugar consumption, but I feel that a little sweetener takes this bread from okay to fabulous!
How to Separate Eggs
Separate your eggs carefully. If you get even a speck of egg yolk in with your egg whites, they won't beat up to the fluffy volume required for this recipe.
Separate each egg white into a small dish or cup before adding it to the large bowl where you'll beat them. This way, if you get any yolk mixed in, you won't be wasting a lot of eggs. Just put the messed up one away for another use, and start again with another egg and a clean cup. Crack the side of your egg against a sharpish edge such as the corner of your countertop or sink. I wouldn't recommend using the side of your mixing bowl, in case any bits of shell fall in.
Then, carefully insert your thumbs into the cracked side of the egg. Gently pry it open over your egg white cup. Pass the egg yolk back and forth between the two halves of egg shell allowing the runny "white" part to fall into the container. (It will be more clear than white before it's cooked.) You can watch this process at the beginning of the video on Gluten Free Angel Food Cake.
What to Do with Egg Yolks
You'll have six egg yolks leftover after making this recipe. You can use three of them to make Hollandaise Sauce. You can replace one egg with two yolks in a Sweet Potato Frittata. Or, just add them, for that matter! You'd don't have to be extremely precise with frittata or scrambled eggs.
More Gluten Free Breads
You might also like these recipes:
- Easy Gluten Free Bread
- Simple Crusty Artisanal Gluten Free Bread
- Gluten Free Garlic Bread Sticks
- Brioche
- Gluten Free Bagels
- Hot Cross Buns
Not sure whether you need to eat gluten free or not? Or do you really need to avoid all grains, dairy, or even nuts? This is a good elimination diet (*affiliate link) developed by a doctor to help you sort it all out. You might also find my story helpful.
If you love this recipe, please give it 5 stars!
Recipe
Gluten Free Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 9 egg whites
- 1 ½ cups potato starch
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 4 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup lard
- 3 tablespoons organic raw sugar (turbinado)
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 ½ cups water
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Separate your eggs, putting the whites into the bowl of your mixer to come to room temperature as you measure out other ingredients.
- Preheat your oven to 400F.
- Grease a metal 9" X 5" X 2 ½" loaf pan, or use a nonstick one.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the potato starch, coconut flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Beat the egg whites at high speed until stiff. (Carefully transfer them to another large bowl if you have only one bowl for your stand mixer.)
- In a separate large bowl, beat the lard at slow to medium speed. Add the sugar. When that has been incorporated, beat in the three egg yolks.
- Add the dry flour mixture to the lard mixture and beat to combine.
- Add the water and vinegar. Beat.
- Add one-third of the beaten egg whites and beat on slow speed to mix in.
- Gently fold in remaining egg whites. Transfer to prepared loaf pan and bake right away.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 400F.
- Reduce heat to 375F and bake for another 45 minutes.
- Allow to cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing from pan. Let bread cool completely before slicing.
- Slice and freeze what you won't be using in a day or two.
Charles says
Please could you assist me by informing if I can omit the Coconut flour for white rice flour.
Can you even use al.ond flour
Cathy says
Coconut flour acts very differently from other flours, so I don't recommend substituting it with anything else.
White rice flour would probably work in place of the brown rice flour in this recipe.
I hope you find a bread recipe that works well for you. I'm constantly working on developing new ones, so stay tuned!
Tina says
The recipe sounds great but one slice actually has 238 calories???
Cathy says
Yes, my slices are more than 1/2" thick. This bread does lend itself well to slicing thinly, so you could shave off a few calories that way. Most of the calories come from healthful fats and proteins rather than carbs, so the number doesn't concern me too much. A little keeps me satisfied for hours.