How-To: Baking Awesome Gluten-Free Bread

Fresh off the bread-baking spree launched by my precocious 9 year old daughter’s solo foray into the art of gluten-free yeast bread, I’ve fielded lots of questions this week about the nuances of this sometimes elusive prize we call homemade gluten-free bread. Believe it or not, baking gluten-free bread is actually easier and faster than baking gluten breads, so there is just no reason you shouldn’t master this delicious (and simple!) skill.

The questions centered around 3 topics, so I thought I’d break them down for you in one place to make it easier for your reference.

GF Bread in a Bread maker:

Do I recommend it? Absolutely! It takes a lot of the nervousness out of trying to make gluten-free bread from scratch, and works great if you don’t already have a stand mixer.

Is one necessary? Absolutely NOT! In fact, I prefer baking my breads with my stand mixer and oven, as it gives me more control over rise time and bake time. I sometimes find that I need to add time to my breads in a bread maker, so it’s just easier for me to leave the loaf in the oven to bake longer, when necessary.

What brands of bread makers do I recommend?

They don’t have to be expensive to work well, but I do recommend buying one with a gluten-free bread setting so that you don’t have to manually program around the second rise and punch-down cycles which you never want with gluten-free breads.

Here are some more of my tips on Baking gluten-free bread with a bread maker and here are my Recommended GF Bread Makers.

Best GF Bread Recipes:

I have lots to choose from! Here is a sampling; search the “RECIPES” tab for others you may want to try, too:

Gluten-Free Beer Bread

Sandwich Bread & Bread Baking Video

Braided Bread

Flatbreads (or Pita or Naan)

Hamburger Buns

Bread Sticks

Baguette

Pumpernickel

GF Bread Troubleshooting:

What if the bread won’t rise? What if it sinks? What if it’s rubbery on the bottom? These kinds of questions are all addressed here, in my Tips for Baking Better Gluten-Free Bread!