Gluten-Free Peasant Bread Recipe
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This gluten-free peasant bread has such a nice texture — soft and spongy, light and moist — and moreover, when sliced, the pieces hold their shape. Bread lovers, even those not adhering to a gluten-free diet, rave about the texture and flavor of this bread. This recipe comes from my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs!
For the past year, the most frequent question asked on this blog is this: Can the peasant bread be made gluten-free?
Everyone knows someone — a friend, an uncle, a cousin — recently diagnosed with Celiac disease who has had to forget bread as he/she once knew it.
You might have this friend, this uncle, this cousin. I do. And you might want to treat him/her to a loaf of freshly baked bread but you don’t know where to begin.
This is the position my mother found herself in a month ago while preparing for the arrival of her brother-in-law, who had recently adopted a gluten-free diet. Panicked by the thought of serving dinner without warm, fresh bread on the table, she called asking if I had ever successfully made the peasant bread gluten free. I answered as I have to everyone who has asked thus far: no, not yet.
It seemed like a good time to take an earnest stab at making a gluten-free peasant bread. Unfortunately, a respectable loaf did not materialize before my uncle’s arrival, but one has since.
Gluten-Free Bread Baking Tips
- For every cup of flour (128g), use about a teaspoon of xanthum gum.
- For every 2 cups of flour (128g), use 1 egg.
- Use a little more yeast proportionally to help lighten the bread’s texture.
- Use a high-quality gluten-free mix, such as C4C or King Arthur Flour. If your gluten-free flour mix contains xanthum gum, no need to add additional.
Gluten-Free Peasant Bread Recipe
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 2 loaves
Description
From my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs.
For best results, use a digital scale. It makes all the difference with bread baking.
Note: If you are using a different brand of gluten-free flour, you may not need all of the liquid. Because all gluten-free flours and mixes absorb water at a different rate, you may find your dough to be much more liquidy than mine — this is due to the flour. This is what I suggest: add the liquid a little bit at the time, mixing with a spatula to combine. Reference the video to see what the dough should look like as far as texture goes.
Loaf Pan: I have not tried this yet, but someone emailed me recently letting me know she bakes the entire batter in a 9×5-inch loaf pan, so if you don’t have the 1-quart Pyrex bowls, know that a 9×5-inch loaf pan is an option.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (500 g) gluten-free flour—my favorite is Cup4Cup, see notes above if using a different type of gluten-free flour
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) kosher salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast
- 2 cups (455 g) lukewarm water
- 2 tablespoons (42 g) honey
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) olive oil or grapeseed or other neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) white wine or cider vinegar
- softened unsalted butter for greasing
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and instant yeast. In a medium bowl, pour the water over the honey and stir to dissolve. Add the eggs, oil, and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a spatula to form a batter. (See notes above if you are using a different brand of gf flour.)
- Grease two 1-quart oven-safe bowls (or a 9×5-inch loaf pan, see notes above) with the softened butter—be generous. Divide the dough evenly between the prepared bowls. With wet hands, smooth the surface of the dough. Let the dough rise in a warm or draft-free spot for 30 to 45 minutes, until the top of the dough just crowns the rims of the bowls — this may take longer… just be patient and wait till the dough crowns the rim: it might take as long as 2 hours if your kitchen is cool. Halfway through the rising, set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 425 degrees F.
- Transfer the bowls to the oven, and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake for 17 to 20 minutes more, until golden all around. Remove the bowls from the oven and turn the loaves out onto the cooling racks. Let the loaves cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Gluten-Free
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
556 Comments on “Gluten-Free Peasant Bread Recipe”
Wow, it looks just like the original. I have never had success at baking gluten free, but your photos are encouraging me to give it another go. I have a couple good friends who have cut gluten from their diets, and I would love to treat them to something like this.
Would love to hear how it turns out, Brady!
You are an angel. Trying this this weekend. I need this bread in my life!
Good luck with it!
I have spent a lot of time playing with various mixes recommended by others, and while I understand the utility of being able to sub in this or that for changes in texture, it is SO NICE when you can use a commercial blend that just works. I am a huge C4C fan – I bought a 25lb bag off Gilt Food (Food 52 provisions also has it for a not-bad price) – and it works so well for pie crust, quick breads, brownies, blondies, cake, muffins, and at least some cookies. (Oatmeal, great, but not yet convinced for chocolate chip.) I have been hesitant to try adapting any bread recipes, but you have given me confidence to try this. Very excited for this weekend project!
SO happy to hear your confirmation re mixes. I have been down the road of buying umpteen different gluten-free flours only to stash them in the freezer where they sit unused until we move and have to throw them out. I think the mixes have come a long way, too. I am a fan of C4C as well, but I haven’t tried with bread, but I will as soon as my flour arrives. If you do make this this weekend, let me know how you adjust the recipe or if you adjust the recipe — doesn’t C4C have xanthum gum already in it? Good luck! Report back!
Wow, what an amazing post, recipe, and as always, your images just shine! Pinned!
Wish I was nibbling on some of this right now! Thank you for ALL the trials, experiments and taking such care in testing and tweaking!
You are so welcome, Averie! Thank you for your kind words.
Dosent xanthum gum have a GMO connection?
Hi Michelle, I wasn’t aware of one, but after reading your comment, I did a bit of googling. Bob’s Red Mill brand, which is what I use, is non-GMO. This is what they say on their website:
Are your products genetically modified?
No. All of our products originate from identity-preserved, non-GMO seeds. This means that the seed planted in the ground is non-GMO. We do not guarantee the complete absence of GMO materials in our products because of wind drift, pollinators and our lack of testing equipment.
Sprouting grains are necessary to break down anti-nutrients. After sprouting, dry/dehydrate, then grind into flour (yes it’s more work but saves on dr bills).
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/how-to-make-sprouted-flour-at-home/
Do not use high-glycemic GF flours, just use gluten-free whole grains (can add nut flours and/or bean flours to it, also sprouted & dried/dehydrated).
If you don’t want your GF bread to fall apart, you should use a binding agent
(see below) https://unusual-ingredients.blogspot.com/2011/09/low-oxalate-gluten-free-bread.html ) (DO NOT use xanthan gum – it’s made w/the help of bacteria that feeds on corn, wheat, dairy, or soy)
*Binding agents: guar gum, ground flax seed, chia seed, or psyllium husk seeds:
1 t guar gum per cup of Flour Mix for Sandwich bread/Pizza Crust
1/2 t guar gum per cup of Flour Mix for Cakes/Muffins/Quick Bread
1/4 t guar gum per cup of Flour Mix for Cookies
Flax seeds or chia seeds or hemp seeds – 1-2 t per recipe (experiment)
Psyllium seeds: a few tablespons to recipe. Pizza dough looks more like pancake batter, but it magically turns to pizza dough almost immediately. If you eat too much, you could end up w/gas.
Wow, Gail, thank you so much for all of this! I haven’t been on a g-f baking kick recently, but I have been meaning to experiment with psyllium seeds since reading some not great things about xanthum gum. I will be sure to look at all of these resources before attempting another loaf. Thank you!
Thank you Alexandra and Gail. I needed for health reasons (myself and doggie) to experiment with non-wheat and non-oat flours or the like (not needing to avoid gluten particularly) as an alternative to the original peasant bread which is lovely. My first experiment was very tasty, very moist, and a great color. It was dense so I would like to use something to make it lighter in texture. My flour substitutes using the non-fat buttermilk and instant dry yeast version were: 1 c. Brown rice flour and 1/4 c. each of coconut, white rice, sorghum, and buckwheat flours. In place of egg whites, I used 1/2 cup of Better’n Eggs (going by substitute direction on carton). Instead of butter for the bowl, I used solid coconut oil. I so appeciate the comments and feedback from all fellow experimenters with the gluten-free of your fabulous peasant bread.
Alexandra, this is not a question on the bread, but on the lemon-thyme shortbread. Can I substitute olive oil for the butter?? My sis is coming and can’t eat dairy. Just wondering , she loves shortbread.
Earlene — so sorry for the delay in getting back to you! I’ve been out of town.Did you try? I am not sure how to advise. My gut is telling me that something like coconut oil at room temperature vs melted might be a better option. That said, I just google olive oil shortbread and found a bunch of recipes — I say go for it! Would love to hear how it turns out.
Thank you for a VERY interesting and informative post! The bread had a finer texture than I was expecting. I love the way it looks. When I first clicked
on your site, it was like I was looking at some special domed building or the beginning of a trailer for a Sci Fi movie. I know my mind momentarily wild.
Laughing—-
Haha, totally — seriously, the surface of the bread looks like the craters of the moon or something more SciFi as you say 🙂
I love crusty, rustic breads! I too have had to pretty much all but give up breads because they make my tummy poofy 😉 My mom is extremely intolerant to gluten so were pretty much GF around here. This post made me drool and I can’t wait to make this one! OXOX!
p.s. I recently made you quinoa salad and am getting ready to post it on my blog, linking back here of course. It was delicious!
Wonderful to hear about the quinoa, Gwen! And if you make the peasant bread, I will be curious as to what you think. I think it probably can still be improved, and I’d love to get feedback. Thanks for writing in!
First of all–thank you for your beautiful recipes. I have recently “adapted” a gluten free lifestyle and have been desparatley been looking for something that somewhat looks like bread. I have been making a no-knead ciabatta bread for my family for several years and was wondering if it mighty work with gluten free bread? Is there any chance for a flavor to develop if you left the dough to sit for 18hrs? I’ll try it and let you know.
Also thought we could use your dough for pizza crust!!! Yipeee thanks for the ideas.
Ps I love the way your explain your processes—it’s so helpful
You are so welcome, Lisa! I think you certainly could adapt your gluten-free ciabatta recipe to be gluten free. I would follow the suggestions re xanthum gum and egg whites per cup of flour, and I would try any of the gluten-free flour mixes I mentioned: King Arthur, Hodgson Mills, or C4C (which I still haven’t tried for bread).
Good luck with it! Would love to hear back from you if you make any discoveries. Did you make pizza?
Did anyone try this with the Cup 4 Cup yet?
Still haven’t. Will keep you posted!
Statistically no, not everyone knows someone with celiac disease. The prevalence is incredibly low, Everyone knows someone experiencing the nocebo effect related to “gluten intolerance”.
https://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/05/why-so-many-believe-theyre-gluten-sensitive.html
Very interesting. Thanks for sending this article! Loved reading it. I should rephrase that sentence. Thanks.
For the GF bread, should the flour be GF bread flour or just GF self-raising bread? Many thanks.
Just GF bread flour. I am partial to King Arthur Gluten-Free flour. Let me know if there is anything else!
What’s your thought on using metal mixing bowls for baking (for either the GF or regular version)? You didn’t say not to, but none of your pictures show metal bowls…
Hi Tyson,
I have never used metal bowls for baking, but some people have with success. I would just be really sure to grease them well, and keep an eye on the bread while it’s baking — the different material might cause the bread to bake differently, possibly more quickly. Let me know if there is anything else!
Hi there I am just about to put my first loaf into the oven:)
My question is if I am using dried active yeast but also want to use milk. Do I sprinkle the yeast over a smaller quantity of water, then add this to the milk once it has activated to make it up to the required 1 cup of liquid? My first loaf will be a water only as I realised I’d have too much liquid with a cup of yeast/water mix and a cup of milk.
I am a complete novice so any advice would be much appreciated 🙂
Hi Steven,
Sorry once again for the delay here. How did it turn out? Next time, if you want to use milk with active dry yeast, you could do a few things: heat the milk very briefly in the microwave or in a saucepan, add the sugar and sprinkle the yeast over top. Let it sit until it foams and activates, which should take about 10 minutes or so. The only thing about this that makes me nervous is that if you heat the milk too much, it will be too hot and it will kill the yeast. You could test it with a thermometer of course, but that’s a pain, and they are unreliable. The other thing you could do is bring 1/4 cup milk to a boil and pour it into the 3/4 cup cold milk — this should create the perfect temperatur milk without requiring a thermometer. It should be warm to the touch but not scalding. If you do this, sprinkle the milk with the sugar and yeast. Hope that makes sense! Let me know if there is anything else.
I was told to test milk temperature just like you do for baby bottles, a little sprinkled on the inside of your wrist. It seems to be the perfect temperature if you do this. Ask me how I know. (Could have used my first bread as a brick, per an old Erma Bombeck article I read.)
Haha, I love it 🙂 🙂 🙂
Also what are your thoughts on using a half and half mix of rice flour and coconut flour? At the moment I have used a brand in the UK called Doves Farm, which is a mix of rice, potato and tapioca flours. It’s the only one I could find.
Steve.
Hi Steven,
So sorry for the delay here! OK, I have never used coconut flour, so I can’t speak to how it will perform. I imagine it will be nice — coconut is one of my favorite flavors. The only gluten-free flours I didn’t love were the ones made with garbanzo beans and other beans — the flavor was too potent and off putting. Hope that helps somewhat.
My daughter uses sorghum flour for cookies. I’m wondering if that would also work for flavor on breads. I’m thinking, at least for raisin bread, with the coconut flour, and a bit of almond flour, too. Just a thought.
Yes, definitely, I think sorghum is nice for gluten-free baking. Let me know if you experiment!
Have you tried this bread with buckwheat flour and egg substitute? I am gluten and egg intolerant. However I just ground a whole bunch of buckwheat kernels into flour. than you!
I haven’t unfortunately. I have, however, used Energ-E (or whatever it’s called?) egg replacement in other recipes, and it worked well. I bet it will work well here. Good luck with it! I know how challenging gluten-free bread baking can be.
Have you tried other types of eggs other than chicken? i have several friends that are allergic to chicken eggs, but can eat duck, quail, emu, or goose eggs with no problems.. each one has a different protein compound.
I just stumbled across this recipe and am so excited to try it!! One thing I have found to help gluten free bread a little “puffier” is to use carbonated water, and mix for a little bit longer than necessary. Also, any time you can add tapioca flour, it’s a good idea! Will try this for sure!
Great tips, Sarah — thanks!
I just stumbled across this recipe and am so excited to try it!! One thing I have found to help gluten free bread a little “puffier” is to use carbonated water, and mix for a little bit longer than necessary. Also, any time you can add tapioca flour, it’s a good idea! Will try this for sure!
Great tips, Sarah — thanks!
Anyone tried c4c yet? I want to make this bread and would prefer c4c since I know I already like it!
Ran across your recipe and have decided to play with it. I’ve been baking gf for 5 yrs now. I am trying Pamela’s Artisan Flour Blend (1 cup) and quinoa flour (1cup) as well as almond milk “buttermilk” and chia seed eggs (allergic to dairy and eggs). Fingers crossed it works. Thanks for the inspiration.
Sure thing! Would love to know how they turn out! Good luck.
I like this GF recipe – I like the Better Batter GF flour (contains Xantham Gum already) AND, if the whole recipe is made and baked in the #443 bowl, how long and what temps to bake??
Duck Eggs help a lot.. I didnt add the egg white per c of flour, just replace the chicken eggs with duck eggs.. helps it rise better also which is saying something as Im not only gluten free- but high altitude (8,400ft).. I did that based off your original recipe.
Great tips, Adelina. Thanks!
Hi Alexandra, I have tried this bread twice now, and while it is delicious, it is very gummy. I have made bread infrequently over the years and don’t usually have this much difficulty. And yes I’m making the gluten free version. This second time I realized I’m using #443 bowl, probably should be using 441. But I only have the one, will be heading back to the consignment shop for the smaller bowl soon. I’m making the half amount due to being the only one going wheat free. I’m using Bobs Red mill, the rice flour version. I too do not like the bean flours as much. Can you give me some ideas as to why it’s gummy? My next try will be mixing the liquids, half of each. I made the milk version both times. Thanks for your help. Please respond to my email also, thanks. Lisa
I am rising the gluten-free (cup4cup) bread as I speak, hoping it works. I used buttermilk.
I will let you know as soon as I get it out of the oven in a couple of hours.
I have the gluten-free dough in the oven rising right now. Used cup4cup flour. Here’s hoping we have success!
I will post again with my results in a couple of hours!
It turned out – used a 1 litre bowl and it was half full to start and then rose almost double, in 1 and ½ hours, which is a bit disappointing. It is quite heavy and dense but a nice flavour and a nice feel to the mouth. Here is a link to my picture./Users/wendy-lynnemackinnon/Desktop/photo.JPG
I made the original recipie using oat (1 cup), teff (1 cup) and Pamela’s bread mix (2 cups) plus a teaspoon of xanth gum and it came out lovely sponges and so yummy.
I would love to try it – but what is Pamela’s Bread Mix, pray tell?
This bread turned out better than any I have made in the past! I followed instructions to the T, but did add 1 cup of oat flour and 3 cups of bread flour. That was the only change. The family raved, even on the second day! Just as moist as can be! Will be trying the gluten-free recipe today for one of my daughters who’s gluten-free, dairy free, due to medical reasons. Will once again, follow your very thorough instructions! One question – I have arthritis in my hands and wondered if using a stand up mixer or bread machine for mixing it would work. I really don’t want to mess with the end result, so I will ask for help with the mixing if these would be a no no. Thanks again, very much for the recipe!
Thanks for this recipe! I’ve made it twice, both times with GF Jules flour which is what I keep on hand. Mine didn’t turn out as pretty as yours, but the taste was great.
Wonderful to hear this, Rachel!
My bread didn’t rise. 🙁 I still cooked it, but it’s a rock.
Did you test your yeast? I have found the following has happened when mine didn’t rise…
1) my yeast was dead 🙁
2) my water wasn’t hot enough
3) I killed my yeast with water that was TOO hot! 🙁
I hope that helps.
Thanks for chiming in here, Mary!
Any time, Alexandra! I would also love to link to your site on mine. I’m creating a monthly meal plan for those who are gluten/corn/dairy free and would love to use your recipe. Would that be okay if properly notated?
Of course, thanks so much!
Elle — I think something must have happened with your yeast. What kind are you using — active dry or instant?