Amazing Gluten Free Bread Recipe Without Xanthan Gum (2024)

Published: Jan 14, 2016 · Modified: Feb 26, 2024 by Christine · This post may contain affiliate links · 136 Comments

The title of this recipe sure sets the bar high, doesn’t it? Well, I promise, it will live up to its name! This Amazing Gluten Free White Bread Without Xanthan Gum is everything you’ve been wanting in a gluten free bread and more. It takes the qualities like texture, aroma, and appearance and combines that with a bread that's actually delicious to eat as well. And with no xanthan gum!

It doesn’t get any better than that.

Want more yeast bread recipes? Check out this buckwheat bread, this flaxseed bread, this millet bread or this sorghum bread!

Ingredients & Substitutions

Since brands of flours and starches sometimes produce different results, here are the specific brands I use and recommend and then an alternative if a substitute will work equally well. (I use Nuts.com flours and starches for almost everything, the exception is this Buckwheat bread and flour)

• Tapioca starch - Tapioca starch and tapioca flour are the exact same thing, the names are interchangeable. I recommend the 5 pound bag from Nuts.com as it is a great price and will last you a very long time - in fact, find out how to store it here.
• Sorghum flour - I would not recommend substituting the sorghum flour as it has a distinct protein and fiber content. I haven't tested another flour.
• Potato starch - Starches are an important part of gluten free baking (as I talk about in my baking class) but a lot of the time, they can be substituted pretty easily. Cornstarch or more tapioca starch would also work well.
• Brown rice flour - I use the brown rice flour from Nuts.com because it works great and the price is right. I haven't tested out a substitute for brown rice flour so I wouldn't recommend it.
• Egg whites - I've gotten a lot of questions about these egg whites over the years (this recipe was originally published in 2016!). The only thing that I would recommend for the egg whites is aquafaba. It's not an exact match as far as flavor and taste, but it works well as a substitute for the egg whites.
• Brown sugar - For the brown sugar, I recommend Imperial brown sugar as it never fails in delicious flavor or quality. As a substitute for the brown sugar, I would recommend Swerve brown sugar.
• Vegetable oil / olive oil - These can be used interchangeably. In my baking masterclass I use a combination of both olive oil and vegetable oil, but I've also tested just the vegetable oil - either way works just fine in this recipe.
• Active dry yeast - There are different types of yeast - you may see bread machine yeast, instant yeast, quick rise yeast... but the one for this recipe is active dry yeast. I recommend the Fleischmann's brand as it never disappoints in quality and a beautiful rise.
• Salt - I've had readers ask me if this is an essential ingredient or what they can substitute for it. Since I haven't found a salt alternative that tastes great in this bread, if you're following a low sodium diet, then the salt can be cut down to ¼ teaspoon. I wouldn't advise completely eliminating it but it can be cut down for diet reasons.
• Apple cider vinegar - This is another ingredient I get a lot of questions on. Apple cider vinegar is important for helping with the rise. It combines with the baking powder to activate and contribute to a nice tall rise in the bread. There is no substitute for this. White vinegar is not the same and will lend a hint of vinegar to the bread whereas apple cider vinegar won't.
• Chia seeds - Chia seeds and flax seeds are important because they are the xanthan gum replacements. Use ground chia seeds for the best results (ground seeds are smaller so you won't bite into a seed!). I use the 365 brand of whole seeds and then ground them with a coffee grinder to a fine ground.
• Golden flax seeds - I use and recommend the Bob's Red Mill brand of golden flax seeds. Flax seeds can also be used, but I recommend ground flaxseed so there's no 'seed' pieces in the bread. I would suggest storing them in the refrigerator (same for the chia seeds) to prolong the life of them.
• Baking powder - The baking powder helps with that gorgeous rise. I use Clabber Girl as it's a gluten free product I trust. I would not recommend substituting the baking powder.

Measurements for each ingredient, plus detailed directions for making the bread are in the recipe card below.

Step-by-Step to the Best Gluten-Free Bread

Mixing this bread batter is best done by breaking everything down into small steps... if you're more of a hands-on, visual person, we make this in my baking class so that might be worth checking out here.

The first thing is to separate the eggs (image 1), eggs are easiest to separate when they're cold so do this step first, then set the bowl aside to warm up while prepping the remaining ingredients. Steps 2-5 show preparation of the yeast proofing in the warm water, making the chia seed/flax seed mixture, mixing the dry ingredients, and making the brown sugar mixture.

Image 6 is the egg whites after they're whipped.

🍞Making the Gluten-Free Dough

Image 1 above is what the batter / bread dough will look like after adding the wet ingredients (yeast/brown sugar mixture) to the whipped egg whites. Then you'll add the flour to this mixture (step 2). Once you mix that for 2 minutes, you'll end up with batter that looks like image 3. Image 4 is an overhead view of it - the batter is thin. Not thick like bread dough. But that's how it's supposed to be.

Baking

After fully mixing the batter, scrape the bread dough into a prepared loaf pan. A 9"x5" bread pan is recommended. Alternatively, you could use a Pullman loaf pan.

Allow the dough to rise until 50% larger or around 30 minutes - it should not hit the top of the loaf pan. Place the risen bread in a preheated oven and bake for around 45 minutes. You'll want to use an instant read thermometer to be sure the temperature reaches 205 F. Once it does, remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before turning it out of the pan to finish cooling completely, which is between 3-4 hours.

Storage Tips

After the bread has cooled completely, store it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Any longer than that and you'll need to freeze the loaf for longer storage. The best way to freeze this bread is to slice the loaf first, then freeze. I go over this more in my masterclass below.

Homemade Gluten-Free Bread FAQs

Other Yeast Bread Recipes

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Recipe

Recipe originally published 1/2016.