Gluten-Free & Alternative Flour
Breads using non-wheat or gluten-free flours as their primary base
- Hydration
- 90–130%
- Structure
- Psyllium / xanthan
- Flour blend
- 3–5 flours typical
- Bake
- 175–200°C, 45–70 min
Buckwheat & Teff Breads Recipes
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Create a recipeAbout Gluten-Free & Alternative Flour
Gluten-free bread is structurally a different problem from wheat bread, not a substitute version of it. Wheat-bread structure comes from gluten, a stretchy protein network that traps fermentation gas, expands during oven spring, and sets into a chewy crumb. Gluten-free flours like rice, sorghum, buckwheat, teff, chickpea, almond, oat, cassava, and corn lack this protein, so the structure must be rebuilt from other materials: hydrocolloids (xanthan gum, psyllium husk, guar gum), starch-protein matrices, egg foams, or active fermentation in batters too wet to be doughs. The breads that result, including Brazilian pão de queijo, Ethiopian injera, Indian dosa, and modern artisan gluten-free sourdoughs, are excellent in their own right. They just cannot be made by simply swapping flours one-for-one in a wheat formula.
Characteristics
Hydration runs dramatically higher than wheat bread. 90 to 130% is normal for free-form gluten-free loaves, because the flours absorb water aggressively and the resulting "dough" is closer to thick batter. Psyllium husk (whole or ground) is the single most reliable structural ingredient at 3 to 6% of flour weight. It forms a gel that mimics gluten's elasticity and gas-trapping. Xanthan gum at 0.5 to 1% supports softer crumbs. Most successful formulas use a blend of 3 to 5 flours plus 1 to 2 starches (tapioca, potato, arrowroot) plus a hydrocolloid plus binders (eggs, vinegar). Single-flour gluten-free breads almost never work. Bakes are gentler at 175 to 200°C and longer at 45 to 70 minutes because the high hydration takes time to set into a stable crumb.
Tips for getting it right
Don't shape a gluten-free bread the way you would a wheat one. There's no gluten to develop, so kneading is pointless and over-mixing breaks the hydrocolloid structure. Mix until evenly combined, then leave it. Trust the batter even if it looks alarmingly wet. Gluten-free dough that "looks like wheat dough" is far too dry and will bake into a dense brick. Whole psyllium husk gives more structure than psyllium powder. If you can only find powder, use 75% of the husk weight. Most gluten-free breads benefit from a final proof under plastic in a warm spot rather than open-air proofing, because the surface dries out fast. Cool fully before slicing. Gluten-free crumbs are far more crumbly when warm than at room temperature.