Simple Bread
Update: Please see my updated Gluten Free Bread recipe!
We spent New Year's in the mountains and partied a bit too hard with our friends Peter and Patrice. Though I did not drink a drop of alcohol, I somehow ended up with a contact hangover. Everyone around me was imbibing and I must have become intoxicated by association.
As part of my "post holiday" status, I will be baking and sharing recipes that are not dessert until the urge to bake sweets returns. Of late, several people have asked me for my gluten free bread recipe. I am satisfied with it, though not thrilled. It seems though, that so many people are in need of a quick and easy gluten free bread that it is time to divulge mine. May be good for hangovers.
2½ cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1 tablespoon agave nectar
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, then add agave and vinegar
- Stir wet ingredients into dry
- Scoop batter into a small (approx. 6 x 3 inch) well greased loaf pan
- Bake at 300° for 45-55 minutes on bottom rack of oven; until a knife comes out clean
- Cool and serve
Makes 12 slices
This low carb, high protein, gluten free bread is a cinch to make. It is especially tasty toasted with a smear of creamy roasted almond butter, my favorite raspberry jelly and a sprinkle of salt.
Posted on January 2, 2008 in breads by Elana
you might also like: Gluten-Free Bread 2.0
or Nutty Bread
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Thanks for this bread recipe. I will give it a try especially since I am avoiding yeast right now. I make a yeast free foccacia from the almond meal but a slice of bread appeals. And thanks for the print this addition in order to print the recipes easier.
Is the Honeywell brand of blanched almond flour better than the Bob's Red Mill variety?
Hi M- I haven't tried the Bob's Red Mill brand; it retails for close to $15 per pound, whereas the Honeywell sells online for $6.29 per pound inclusive of shipping.
I really like Honeywell, though please let me know what you think of Bob's Red Mill if that is what you are using.
Elana
My husband always complains about how many carbs are consumed when I make bread, so this really caught my attention. I'll have to give it a try!!
Is yeast gluten free?
Is ordinary bread made with yeast and say almond flour bad for gluten sensitivity?
This site looks wonderful, I am new today to it.
Hi Helen-
I don't cook with yeast as I don't have the patience for the rising time. I do know that there is GF yeast available as many GF bakers use it in their breads. I think if you could use a GF yeast with almond flour that would be ok. Though I'm not sure how it would taste as I haven't tried this before.
I hope this helps to answer your questions.
Elana
Hi Elana-I love the recipe for this beautiful bread,i cant wait to try it.I live in Australia and our oven degrees are different from yours-the highest our ovens go are 270 degrees-what would be your advice for the degree and time i should use,thank you.
I also want to thank you for your beautiful almond milk recipe-my little girl cant have any diary and it was so hard getting her off normal milk but with your almond milk its has been great-im going to try your cashew milk next...thanks Elana....from mell
hi mel, i think she might be saying its 300 degrees farenheit which is what they use in america. in australia we use celcius so 300 degrees ferenheit is about 150 degrees celcius. hope it helps and i hope its right because im just about to put it in the oven at 150 degrees celcius. please be right. pray for me everyone.
My mother-in-law has recently been baking "friendship bread". For those who are not familiar with this bread, IT TAKES 10 DAYS TO MAKE :). She insist I take a starter, but I politely declined. The ingredients are lengthy and I do not care to indulge on the majority of the ingredients listed.
I decided to make SIMPLE Friendship BREAD. I took this recipe and incorporated 1/4 c. agave and 1 tsp. cinnamon. There was just as much love put into this recipe as its counterpart, and I enjoyed all 12 slices with no remorse.
Courtney-
What can I say other than that you leave the greatest comments and they make me laugh out of sheer happiness for you (and of course your spunky writing style puts a huge smile on my face too).
You have become so confident and creative in the kitchen it is fantastic! I love this adaptation of the simple bread and will try it out myself.
Thanks,
Elana
Hi Elana, I love your site. I tried the bread and while it's tasty, it doesn't look like yours. Mine is brown in color, not golden. Did I do something wrong? I followed your recipe (it really is easy to make). I plan on making your Blueberry Muffins and Chocolate Chip cookies this week-end. Thanks, Elana. Your site is awesome!!
Mel- Per your question, I have added an "International" section to my FAQ's which will provide you with a link that converts Celsius to Fahrenheit. I think this will help! Let me know how it goes.
Janie -As long as it wasn't burned and it tasted good, then I think it's ok. Maybe your oven is a little hotter and browned the outside of the bread. Some of the "golden" tones in the photo above are from the reflection of the silver background onto the bread. I hope this helps :-)
Hi Elana
Can either white or brown rice flour be used in the place of the almond flour for the bread?? I am allergic to wheat (gluten) and looking for all kinds of baking goodies to make. Thanks for your site its wonderful. Am from South Africa and some of the ingredients are not easily available here.
Christa,
This is indeed a frequently asked question; please see my FAQ's for the answer.
Elana
Hi Elana....I was wondering if you have any recipes for bread that has no dairy,gluten,eggs,rice,almonds or soya in it as iv just found out that my 3 year old daughter is allergic to these things and many more.
My life is so full on at the moment trying to find things for my little girl to eat,its very hard-on top of all that my daughter cant have her almond milk anymore(your recipe)and she loved it so much-i cant find any milk substitute for her.
I would be very grateful for any help,thank you from mell
Hi Mell,
I'm replacing eggs in this recipe with milled flax seeds and water. It's in the oven right now so lets see how it goes.
By the way Elana I love your site, its changing my life, lost 10 lbs already. Thank you so much.
Mell,
This is the only bread recipe I have. It does have almond flour and eggs as these are essential ingredients in the majority of my baked goods.
You may want to post your question in the forums to see if any of my other readers have any suggestions or solutions for you.
You can also just try searching google as well.
Elana
My granddaughter is unable to have almonds, what flour would you substitute?
Diane,
I only use almond flour and sometimes coconut flour in my recipes. I have only used almond flour for my bread recipe. So, I wouldn't know what you could substitute.
I address substitutions on my FAQ page.
You can also post your question in the forums.
Elana
I am enjoying looking at all the recipes that you have put together. I have been instructed by my Dr. to avoid gluten... The problem that i am finding is that most recipes that are gluten free have nuts. Which i am highly allergic to. Any suggestions?
Dawn,
You could try my recipes with coconut flour in them. Also, about 50% of my recipes are nut free.
Take a look at my salad, chicken and beverage recipes too. Or just browse around my site, I'm sure you'll find something that can work for you.
Thanks,
Elana
Thank you Elana for this recipe. I tried the Simple Bread recipe last week with fantastic results! Although I used a larger pan than the recipe calls for, and ended up with a slightly 'smaller' loaf, I was quite pleased. The best part? It stayed much fresher, much longer than most bread recipes I've tried in the past. It sat on my kitchen counter wrapped in tin foil for about a week and was lovely until the last slice. I'm going to try doubling the recipe and baking one large loaf. I'll post my results as soon as I do. Lovely site, Thanks again.
Dear Lani,
Thanks for stopping by and for your wonderful feedback. I hope you will let us know how this turns out when you double the recipe.
Thanks,
Elana
Hi!
I've been reading all over the place and realized that gluten causes my horribly horrible eczema... so I'm attempting to cut it out of my diet... problem is, I loooove baking.
I went out and bought the whole, tapioca/rice/potato flour and mixed it all up with some guar gum in an attempt to make some muffins. It went.. well.. not horribly wrong, they're edible... but not "right"
They're "heavy" and quite chewy. Looking at your picture, the bread looks like it would be pretty light and similar to normal gluten filled breads.
Does using almond and coconut flour eliminate this "heavy" chewyness?
Thanks :)
Hi Amanda,
Since I haven't eaten the type of gluten free food you mention above in over a decade, I'm probably not the one to answer your question. You could try my forums section where you might get a better answer. Sorry I can't be of more help.
Elana
Elana,
My Mom made your carrot cake for my daughter and everyone enjoyed it. My daughter was so excited as she has not had cake in over a year! I would like to make your bread recipe for her, but she cannot have vinegar. I may try it with lemon juice to see how this will work. We have not been able to find any kind of bread she can have as everything we find in the store has something she cannot eat in the ingredients. If this works she will be very happy again.
Thank you for sharing your receipes.
Debbie Wulff
Dear Debbie,
Thanks for your comment, so glad that your daughter enjoyed the carrot cake. Let me know how the experiment with the bread turns out (replacing vinegar with lemon juice). I don't think that substitution will be a problem, though am not sure since I haven't tried it myself.
Take Care,
Elana
I tried this bread last night and I like it a lot! It was yummy straight out of the oven with a little butter and agave. I had a slice today with peanut butter and jam and it was still moist and yummy! I am thinking I want to make french toast with this bread and see how it turns out. Thanks for the recipe!
Jenni,
Thanks for your comment, glad you liked the bread.
Elana
I tried Honeywell almond flour and it was great! It is like a night and day difference between Bob Mills and Honeywell. I had several failed recipes using Bob Mills because it is just too coarse. I made pancakes and pound cake with Honeywell and the pancakes looked and tasted like regular pancakes! The pound cake was a little different than a regular wheat flour one, maybe a little more dense and not quite as absorbent but, it was still very close. I was impressed. Thanks Elana for telling us about it and for recipes and...for everything!
Penny
It's 10 days since I made this loaf for the first time and now I've doubled the recipe. I can safely say that it works beautifully as a 'double size' loaf. I've just pulled it out of the oven and sliced into the middle (after letting it cool, of course!) and it's perfectly done. I did leave it in for 80 minutes, so I hope that is helpful for those trying to double this loaf. I'm sensing french toast for breakfast...
Lani,
Thanks for sharing! What size pan did you use for the double recipe? And did you bake it on the middle rack in your oven?
Thanks,
Penny
Penny -I'm glad that the recipes are turning out for you; yes, they work well with a finely ground almond flour such as Honeyville.
Lani -Thanks for your report on doubling the size of this recipe!
Hi:
I am looking for a gluten free way to make a substitute 3/4 white - 1/4 wheat dough that is organic and gluten free.
The dough is used to make fruit squares for my toddler. I have found all the gluten free flours; the ones that sound similar to what I need are not organic. The organic gluten free flours seem too light... I am looking for a firm dough base. Thanks.
Dear JoAnn,
As you can see, I use almond flour and coconut flour in my recipes; It sounds as though you are using a wide array of flours with which I am not familiar.
Further, I experiment 5 to 10 times to come up with each dish and do not have a simple substitution formula that would answer your question.
Your best bet would be to post your query in the forums --there are many experienced gluten free foodies there who might be able to help you. Sorry I cannot be of more assistance.
Best,
Elana
Hi, and thanks for your reply.
I don't use a wide array of flour... simply 1/2 organic white and 1/2 organic wheat.
I found a gluten free flour today at Whole Foods that seems to be a simply prepared mixture, unlike others which use a "wide array" of gluten free flours and other ingredients.
Thanks for attempting to help.
Jo Ann
Dear Elana,
Do you use this bread for bread crumbs in recipes? I come across recipes that sound good that require bread crumbs (ex. Parmesan Chicken) but I wanted to see if you have already tried this. I apologize if you have already answered my question somewhere else on your site. I just didn't see anything in my search. Thank you!
Jenni
Dear Jenni,
Thanks for your comment. I haven't used this bread for breadcrumbs and am not sure how it would work. If you do try it out, I hope you'll stop back by and let us know your results.
Thanks Again,
Elana
Where did I go wrong? I used the brand of almond flour you suggest and followed your instructions but my bread did not rise a bit. It is the size of biscotti. It tastes good, a bit dry, but I smoothered honey on a piece and it's good but it is so tiny. HELP........thanks!!!!!!
Dear Hannah,
Thanks for writing to me with your baking frustration. To get to the bottom of this type of matter takes a little detective work. Can you let me know the following regarding the bread:
Bread is fussy, substituting or leaving out even one ingredient could ruin your loaf.
Thanks,
Elana
1) honeywell
2) sea salt
3) yes
4) yes, wholesome raw agave
5) yes, braggs
6) That I would need to check on.
Thanks for investigating for me.
This bread looks delicious, I'm gonna give it a try...I think it could also be interesting to experiment with different nut flours too.
I have 2 questions though:
1/Why the use of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (I know a lot of GF baking recipes have these but I always wondered why)?
2/Do you think it'd work with coconut flour as well? I have some at home but don't really know what to do with it and I've been looking for a coconut flour bread recipe that doesn't use too many eggs.
Thanks ;).
Alchemille,
Here are the answers to your questions:
1) The acid (of vinegar or lemon juice) activates the properties in the baking soda; this is what makes the bread rise.
2) Almond flour and coconut flour are NOT interchangeable --at least according to my experiments; if you find they are let us know :-)
Elana
I have made some interesting breads using other flours. I have gotten the recipes on the celiac.com site. One of the breads, flaxmeal skillet bread uses brown rice flour, potato starch xanthum gum, sea salt. The other recipe that I have made is a recipe for a bread machine, which I just got. It also uses brown rice flour, tapioca flour, corn flour(I use corn meal) and flaxseed flour (I use ground flaxseed). I like this bread because it has the texture that I used to find in multigrain breads. Though it calls for 1/2 cup of powdered skim milk powder, I am lactose intolerant and I omitted it and it still tasted good.
If you are unable to find this site, let me know and I can pull up the recipe and forward it to you.
judy d -Thanks for all of your great ideas.
Hi Elana,
I love your recipes! I just made cupcakes using your coconut flour chocolate cake recipe w/ vegan chocolate frosting and they turned out beautifully! My kids loved them too and this thrills me because I am the only one in my family who is wheat/gluten intolerant and I am tired of making separate desserts for me. ;o)
Have you ever made chocolate chip cookies with coconut flour? I made them with your almond flour recipe and loved them but I am curious about coconut flour too.
Thanks
Mari
Mari,
Thanks for your comment; yes, isn't it easier when the entire family can all partake in one dish, instead of making separate things for the different dietary needs?
I haven't made chocolate chip cookies with coconut flour. I'll probably attempt to do so at some point. If you do try, let us know how they turn out.
Thanks,
Elana
I just tried this recipe using my own almond flour that I made from almond-milk leavings. (I dry it out in a dehydrator, then run through a food processor, then sift and toss what doesn't go through the sifter after to iterations of this process.) The other ingredients were exactly as in the recipe. The bread came out in chunks.
questions:
1) Am I supposed to knead the bread into one chunk? The bread came out in about 3 chunks.
2) Has anyone else had this problem?
3) Do you think an extra egg might help? I'm guessing my almond flour is particularly dry as I've squeezed out a lot of the goodness into the almond-milk (your recipe).
Any thoughts??
Thanks
Ruth
Hi Ruth,
I think your best bet is to reformulate the entire recipe if you are going to change the main ingredient. I don't think this recipe would work with almond-milk leavings and is probably why it came out in chunks.
Hope this helps and you may want to post a topic in the forums on cooking with almond milk leavings --some people may have recipes or good ideas for using this ingredient.
Elana
I've ordered 10 pounds of your favorite brand of blanched almond flour, and I'll make a batch with that for comparison. My homemade almond-milk-leaving flour *is* blanched almond flour. Once the Honeywell blanched almond flour arrives, I'll be able to compare. The taste of the bread with my home-made flour was delicious, so I'm looking forward to it!!
Thanks
Ruth
Ruth,
Yes, blanched almonds are good; however, almond flour is made from a whole almond, whereas you are basically defatting and deflavoring the almond (in making the almond milk) and using the almond fiber.
Using almond fiber to replace almond flour is analogous to having a recipe that calls for a whole peeled orange, and instead of using the entire orange, juicing it and using the pulp for the recipe minus the juice. You get the idea :-)
Anyway, I still think it's great to use the almond fiber after making the milk, I just think if you're using it, you will need to significantly alter my recipes since you are using a very a different main ingredient than the recipe actually calls for.
Good Luck,
Elana
You wrote
"In my 20’s I studied ayurvedic cooking. When my son and I were diagnosed with celiac disease, this three-year study came in handy. Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune disorder triggered by eating gluten. Out of necessity my cooking took on an entirely new dimension as we both went on a gluten-free diet."
Would it be too personal to ask what kind of symptoms you guys had..I had health issues when I was little I think due to allergies and now my 2 year doesn't seem to be as healthy as I would want for how well we eat. Now we are on a DF and GF diet. I just can't figure out if it's these two things that bother us..Thanks Christin
christin,
I had an array of symptoms. If there is suspicion of celiac it makes sense to do a celiac panel blood test before going on a GF diet. If that comes back negative, you can do genotyping just to be certain.
Elana
Elana,
On the Honeyville page of Amazon.com was this comment about the Honeyville product:
"I purchased this flour a few weeks ago and just baked with it the first time yesterday. I was very satisfied with the taste and texture of it. However, I cannot tolerate gluten or rice and after eating some of what I had baked, I had an allergic reaction. I called the company and they could not tell me anything in regards to their mills nor if there could be any cross-contamination. The lady on the phone seemed to think that the mills are shared equipment and that no precautions are taken to avoid cross-contamination. If you're buying it for low-carb prep only, it should be a good flour at a great deal. Please beware if you are using it to avoid gluten or other allergenic grains!"
I'd like to know your thoughts about this. Thank you.
Rachel
Rachel,
Please see my FAQ regarding this issue.
Thanks,
Elana
Ruth,
I do the same as you with the almond milk remains, waste not want not and it still is a source of fibre which we need.
The only recipe on this site I have had any sucsess using that is this one, http://www.elanaspantry.com/desserts/dairy-free-gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookies/
I used 2 cups dehydrated almond milk pulp and half a cup finely ground almonds.
Subbed grape seed oil for coconut oil (was out of grape seed) but otherwise used the same recipe. They where not the same but came out fine.
For others its grinding almonds with a pestle and mortar for me, wish I could get almond flour of the right consistency shipped here :/ The recipes are too good not to make.
I made this for Thanksgiving with about half a cup of raisins and a bunch of cinnanmon. And when it was almost done baking I drizzled it with agave syrup. It was so good!!
Kitty -Thanks for your helpful comment.
christin -Great comment and fabulous improvement to my recipe. Thanks for sharing!
hello elena,
i just love your site and have a child who is mildly autistic, and of course, gluten, dairy, soy, nut free and lately have also tried him on the corn and phosprous free diet which seems to have really helped but is very restrictive eg no tapioca, rice, arrowroot, tree nuts and soy. The other challenge is that I live in Spain and can only get millet, brown rice, buckwheat,amaranth (he can have tapioca in small quantities only,)is there a biscuit (his favourite is banana) and he likes it hard and bread recipe you can give me, if you could I would love it.
Kind regards
Michelle
michelle,
Thanks for your comment; your son is lucky to have such a thorough and diligent mother. Given that I bake primarily with nut flour, I'm not sure that I can help you with your biscuit request. Your best bet is probably to go to the forums; there are many helpful people over there who have great ideas for nut free recipes. Alternatively, take a look at the coconut flour recipes on my website.
Elana
i just made this wonderful bread for the first time. i have been gluten free for 1.5 years and now am cutting out flour as well (all that rice flour & tapioca flour after going gluten free never sat with me well either). i just used whole raw almonds that i chopped finely in my cuisinart and the bread came out great. thank you so much, i really love your site!
judy,
Thanks for stopping by and for letting us know this worked with the chopped almonds.
Elana
Hi Elena
I decided to give your recipe a go as now my son's diet has changed to scd but he cant have egg yolks, so I made the bread and it tastes great but didnt rise, what am I doing wrong?
michelle
michelle,
Thanks for your comment; this bread definitely won't rise without the egg yolks.
Elana
I was just about to make this when I noticed that the recipe calls for a 6 by 3 inch pan! I do not have one, I have a 9 by 5. What should I do?
I had the same issue when I made this bread for the first time. I made an extra 1/2 of the recipe (so I used one and a half times all the ingredients) and put it in my normal loaf pan. I kept the cooking time the same. The bread turned out GREAT! It is nice that it is a little bigger too as it will last a little longer than a smaller loaf.
I make this all the time and I don't have a 6x3" pain either. I've divided it up and baked it in small Pyrex bowls and I've baked it in a larger pan and flattened it out some. With my experimentation, I like it best when it's done, I cut it into 1 inch wide strips and bake a little longer until it gets a little more well done and tastes like Biscotti. I love this stuff. I put Sunbutter and fruit spread on it and that's my breakfast!
I made this in my 9x5" pan for 45 min and it turned out wonderful! Its so easy and tasty. Its the best gluten free bread I've made. I just wish I knew the nutrition facts.
I would also like to know nutrition information, especially Calories. Thank you.
Valen & Rachel B,
Elana addresses the nutrition issue in her FAQs.
I went to the link, Elana, but none of the breads on the bread list matched this one. Is there another place I can find nutrition information for Simple Bread?
Thank you so much for a simple good receipe I can make without having to buy a machine. I am just starting to explore gluten free products and I don't have a lot of time to spend looking for recipes or lengthy processing . This sounds like a great place to start. Thanks, again. Sincerely, Mary
this is the most wonderful bread, I have made it without the egg yolk as I know it has gluten in it and my son is on a gluten free diet, please advise if this is correct? anyway, i double the amount and it works really well. I also add a banana and some cocunut and it still tastes great, but I do reduce the number of eggs by 1 and as my son does not eat a lot of sweet things this works well and what is more is that it is so natural, no oil butter etc....he loves it and so do I........thanks Elena great recipe
Rachel -If you go to the link provided in my FAQ's and follow the provided directions, you can get nutrition for just about anything.
Mary -Thanks for your comment. You seem to really get the point of my site. I try to stay away from fancy equipment and keep the recipes as simple as I can. Nice to hear from you and hope you'll be back :-)
michelle -So glad you like this recipe and great adaptations! To find out more about gluten, I would recommend starting a discussion topic in the forums.
I substituted the agave with raw honey, added 1 tablespoon coconut oil, 1 cup diced dried apricots,and served it with an all natural apricot spread on top. Simply delicious simple bread!
Gail -Thanks for your comment! Great substitutions :-)
Is there anyway to figure out the total carbs per serving?
danielle -Great question, please see my faq's for that answer.
This recipe is Specific Carb. Diet legal if you sub the baking powder for soda and use honey in place of agave. The new bread recipe is not legal. So I still love this recipe!
Have you tried coconut flour? I LOVE it!!
just made simple bread and tasted a slice with some butter and cinnamon and was tasty. i am taking the loaf on a missions trip for i am not sure what i will be able to eat. i also packed almond butter and now the cinnamon. i think i might add some cinnamon next time to the batter. thanks for the great recipes.
Im following low carb - grain free way of eating.
My occasional slip offs were always with bread! Well, not anymore :))
This bread is simply delicious. I would never believe it is made without flour should I not bake it myself!
I used finely grounded walnuts and flax 1:1 and substituted agave for honey, but it worked perfectly.
I love your site and thank you for all the great recipes!!! :)
I am unable to have any type of sugar products, and I was wondering if there is anyway to make this a sugar free recipe. HELP!!! I need my bread!
Hi Elana,
I made this bread over the weekend.
Sadly I didn't have blanched almond flour and was too lazy to go to the store to get some so I substituted with a mix of Buckwheat and Sorgham instead.
I'm not really sure what happened - the "batter" wasn't batter at all - it was most definitely dough - which was a bit heavy.
I put it in my pan and baked it for 30 minutes and it came out fine, if a little bit dense.
I'm wondering if the buckwheat/sorgham combo is more dense than blanched almond flour?
I'm excited to try this again with the right kind of flour but in the event I don't have it, can you please recommend an appropriate substitute (aside from rice, please)? Maybe quinoa might work nicely? I guess I"ll have to try!
This bread is yummy -- so much better than those frozen rice breads! Thanks Elana, you are my new hero.
Has anyone used liquid stevia in place of agave nectar in Elana's GF Simple Bread? If yes, how many drops? I use NOW Brand liquid stevia and there is no bitter aftertaste.
Hello! This is the first time I am writing, though I have enjoyed your emails and recipes for awhile. My husband is "wheat sensitive". If he has too much wheat it affects his respiratory. Anyway, when I saw this simple bread recipe, I decided to try it with some almond four and some spelt. (Hubby can use spelt w/o problem) It was so delicious, I will try it again. Thanks so much for all the recipes.