This gluten-free French bread truly hits the spot. It satisfies any bread cravings you may have, and you can make it in under an hour. My recipe is adapted from Carol Fenster’s recipe in Gluten-Free 101. It’s a small book, but contains some great bread recipes and is well worth the price. She also has some recipes on her site Savory Palate. One important part of baking this bread is a trick that Carol discovered—putting the dough into a cold oven and turning it on to bake. The dough rises as the oven warms and produces a nice French bread crust.
I love Carol’s original recipe and only decided to vary it because I was out of her flour mix. Since I was going to play with the flour ingredients, I decided to also make it dairy free. I think you could play with the flour mix yourself and get good results if you follow the instructions. Being in a hurry and having several interruptions when I made this, I’m not sure it turned out as well as it could have. One loaf in particular ended up with some very large air pockets which I did not have with the original recipe. However, the flavor was terrific.
A French bread pan is required to give the loaves their shape and help them bake properly. When I finally bought one, I wondered why I had waited so long. If you don’t find one at a store, you can find French bread pans at Amazon.
- 1 cup sorghum flour
- 1½ cup potato starch
- ½ cup tapioca starch
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon guar gum (or xanthan)
- 1½ Tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- 1 cup warm water (105 – 115 degrees)
- In the bowl of your mixer, combine the dry ingredients.
- Add the olive oil and egg whites and mix to incorporate.
- Add the vinegar and most of the water. Beat for 2 minutes, adding the remaining water if needed to make a soft dough.
- Spoon the dough onto the pan and carefully shape with a spatula. Because the dough is soft, it will go through the small holes in the pan. Don’t press hard when shaping.
- If you like, you can brush the top with beaten egg white.
- Use a sharp knife to cut several slits in the top of each loaf.
- Place the pan in a cold oven on a middle rack. Turn the oven on to 425 degrees and begin timing for 30 – 35 minutes.
- Cool the loaves on a wire wrack before slicing.
This recipe is linked to Slightly Indulgent Mondays at Simply Sugar & Gluten Free.
Disclosure: This post contains one or more affiliate links. If you click on a link and buy something, I receive a small percentage of the sale.
That bread looks terrific! Thanks for posting your version, I will have to give that a try. I love big airy holes in my bread!
Ginger
@FreshGinger on Twitter (where I saw your post)
Wow. That looks great. The photos are making my mouth water.
Mmmmmmmmm…….
OK, if you’re going to keep tempting us with these amazing baked goods you need to start selling them! I’d like to order some. I can eat every ingredient you used and they look amazing!!!!
Wow, I am impressed! This looks great! I will definitely have to try.
Yes, that is a great recipe. When I make it, I line the french bread pan with parchment paper so it doesn’t come through the little holes.
Yummy! My MIL is GF, so I'll be saving this one for one of her visits.
Linda – this looks like real bakery bread!! I love it. You always amaze me with your talent in the kitchen.
Thanks so much for participating in Slightly Indulgent Mondays!
One member of my support group makes French bread for us occasionally … as you can imagine, she's very popular.
I like that you can make it in under an hour. It looks awesome. I'd like a piece with some Boursin and a glass of wine please!
Thanks, Linda!
Shirley
I just tried this and I really like it. I dislike the texture of rice flour based breads and this is a terrific alternative.
Fred, Thanks again for letting me know. I love this bread, and have recently gotten hooked on making it in the form of rolls.
This bread looks wonderful! My question is about the pans. I have a french bread pan. I have tried a GF french bread one time before – and was so frustrated with trying to get the baked dough out of the little holes – I haven't wanted to use the pan since.
Any tips for cleaning the pan?
Thank you for a wonderful website!
Dawn
Dawn, I haven't had problems with that. I don't know if the difference is my pan or my recipe. My pan has a non stick finish. I do get a little dough in the holes, but it comes right out when I wash it. You could also use the dough to make rolls. Just scoop it onto a cookie sheet, then you wouldn't have the problem with the holes.
Ok, so I decided to make the French Bread rolls first (because that just seemed easier – and no pan to worry about cleaning!).
Loved it (as did my daughter)!!
Oh my gosh…this is the first time in years that I have had bread that was chewy like that, but soft on the inside. I used to love the artisian bread at Italian recipes – tearing off chunks and dipping it into the olive oil/spice mixture they give you.
I gave one to my friend to try – she thought it was really good too – said it tasted like gluten bread to her! (she is not GF – but she tastes alot of what I make – I am always curious as to what a non-GF person says).
While I am content with the rolls (so easy to use an ice cream scoop to portion) – I will one day try the french bread and use my pan.
mmmm mmmm yummy!!!! Thank you for sharing!
Dawn
Dawn, I'm so glad you tried it and enjoyed it. Thanks for letting me know!
This looks like just what the doctor ordered! Thanks for sharing!
I am ready to try this bread, and have a cupboard full of gf ingredients, but have never bought guar gum. Does anyone know what the difference is between guar and xanthum gums? I suppose that after 5+ years gluten free, it's time for one more ingredient in my stash…
Carol – This recipe will work fine using 2 tsp. of xanthan gum and no guar. I had forgotten that I used both gums in this recipe. I'm going to update the post.
Linda:
I saw this recipe and I have been wanting to make french toast with french bread (that's the way my husband and I have always made french toast, even before going gluten free). I wanted to make the bread on the bread machine, so I combined this recipe with one that came with the bread machine to make a recipe that would work on my machine. It turned out great! I used to bread to make corn flake crusted french toast! So yummy!
Linda, this bread looks great. I have just recently gone gluten free after my 3-year-old son began having digestive trouble, so I am still trying to figure out ingredients that can substitute for other as we slowly build up our gluten free pantry. Can you tell me if it is possible to substitute cornstarch for the tapioca starch? Will it change the texture and flavor? And what about substituting tapioca flour for the sorghum flour? Thanks.
Tawna ~ You can sub cornstarch for tapioca starch and it should work well. Tapioca starch ads chew to breads. Tapioca flour and tapioca starch are usually used interchangeably. The flour is pretty much a starch so I wouldn't sub it for sorghum. Instead I would try rice or millet flour. Good luck!
I tried this recipe today and it was a complete failure! I don't know what I did wrong. I noticed that the french rolls recipe calls for millet starch, but this recipe doesn't and I didn't know how much that could affect the outcome, but I have never tried that one either, so I have nothing to compare it to.
I was very careful when measuring the ingredients. I used Bob's red mill for everything and some of the items are labeled a bit differently (I'm new to GF baking so this could be the problem). Both the Potato & Tapioca are labeled "Finely ground flour" not starch as in the recipe. They have the texture of starch, so I used them.
Anyway, my dough came out very thick and lumpy and gluey and I kept having to add more water to even get it to hold together. Then it was very hard to spread in the pan and still very lumpy and gluey. Not at all like the description in the recipe.
I cooked it for the full 45 minutes and it was VERY brown on the outside but both loaves fell immediately and were still basically raw on the inside — that same gluey consistency.
I was very disappointed because I have been CRAVING bread ever since I read this recipe a little over a week ago and I really want to make some bread that tastes like real bread again. Can you give me some hints? I did use 2 tsps of xantham gum instead of xantham/guar gum combo it calls for.
Thanks for the help.
Peggy ~ How disappointing! I think your problem is that you used potato flour. It is very different from potato starch and is usually used in very small amounts. The tapioca flour is okay though. It can be used interchangeably with tapioca starch. Bob's Red Mill sells potato starch which I have seen in some regular grocery stores or try ordering from AllergyGrocer.com. I hope you give it another try. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Thanks for the information, Linda. I will try that change and let you know what happens. I'm so looking forward to a great piece of bread again and to be able to make a loaf for my son, who was a complete bread addict before he found out that he also had a problem with gluten. He will be thrilled to have french bread again.
Thank you for the new version of dairy free, soy free and gluten free for this french bread. This is such a fast recipe, I can't wait to try it.
These look great! I can't have eggs either, will these recipes work with an egg substitute as well? Any specific one you'd recommend? Thanks!
Sorry, I haven't tried any of my recipes with an egg substitute. You'll have to do a little experimenting!
Can other starch combinations work? I have a potato allergy, and I am trying to find a GF recipe that doesn't use potato starch. Could corn starch be used instead of potato starch? Or is there a different combination of starches (corn, tapioca, etc) that could be used successfully instead?
Ross ~ I haven't tried other starches so I can't say for sure. I would try substituting corn starch for the potato starch. If you want, you could increase the tapioca starch a little and decrease the corn starch by the same amount.
I just made this and it is great! I have a small oven though so cooked faster.
Linda ~ could you tell my why you use cider vinegar in this recipe and not regular white? I used it in another GF bread recipe and we didn’t like the strong vinegar smell & taste. So many of the GF bread recipes call for the cider vinegar.
Elaine, apple cider vinegar is considered to be very healthy. I personally don’t use white vinegar except for cleaning. However, any type of vinegar really should work. It’s the acid in the vinegar that acts as a dough enhancer.
so when the recipe calls for 1tsp. xanthan gum and then 1tsp of guar gum but xanthan is in ( ) does this mean 2 tsp xanthan gum or is the xanthan’s are two different things?
Hi Sarah. It means that you can use xanthan gum if you don’t have guar gum. That would be a total of 2 tsp. xanthan gum.
Hoping for some help…we’re taking our son off wheat/gluten. Just tried this, but used Bobs Red mill all purpose GF flour…first off — should this make two good sized loaves? Or is this just one long loaf? Cuz mine only seemed to make enough for one long traditional french bread loaf or two small ones (like a hero sandwich size). Also, it came out very dense and heavy. Not at all airy inside. is the bobs? can I not use that? (I’m trying to find recipes I can use with that since then I don’t have to mix my own).
Hi Melissa. As the picture shows, the recipe makes two loaves, about 12 inches long, maybe a little shorter. I use a standard French bread pan. I don’t use the Bob’s Red Mill flour because it contains bean flour which my family doesn’t like. It may be that the flour mix doesn’t have enough starch in it for this recipe. If you want to experiment, you could try using less of the BRM flour and adding some corn starch. I hope that helps!
Is rapid rise yeast the same as instant yeast?
Yes, they can be used interchangeably.
This may be the best bread I’ve had in 4 years! For the starches, I used 1 cup each of potato, corn & tapioca and I used 2 tsp guar gum and no xantham. Thanks for the wonderful recipe. Hope I don’t “nibble” too much and not have enough to make the stuffing
I’m glad you like it! And thanks for letting us know what changes you made.
THANK YOU! I known for my bread baking – but since becoming gluten free have been totally frustrated by my inablility to make myself good bread. This does it. Followed the recipe exactly – which I almost never do. Bent a metal fish cooking pan from my grill set to make a french bread pan and to my great surprise – it is wonderful. Thanks again.
Oh, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! That’s a creative way to make a French bread pan!
WOW, WOW, WOW Linda, those pictures make that bread seem irresistible. I really am not a fan at all of Sorghum flour but you seem to balance it off nicely with out starch that even our crazy palate family would like it. I actually have this pan and never have been able to use it successfully. Going to try it again with your method to.
YUM! I just made this today using millet flour and 2 tsp of xanthan gum, my loaves turned out perfectly! I think my life is now complete, I can have cheesy garlic bread again and enjoy a caprese salad with a good piece of bread. I have made many failures, this one was a winner and will be my new go to. I love the fact that it uses ingredients we can easily find, no special orders or mixes we won’t use for something else. Thank you for sharing.
Leslie, I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s one of my favorite recipes too.
I’ve made this many times now, and I wanted to let you know how much I love it! It’s definitely the most gluten-like bread I’ve baked since going gluten-free, and I’ve pretty much tried them all! Thanks again!
PS–for those without loaf pans, I have had great success shaping my own “loaf holders” out of tin foil. Helps the loaves keep their shape
Karen, thanks for letting me know and for the foil tip!
Thanks for the tip about the foil. I would be trying your idea.
I made this to use in our Christmas morning french toast. It worked for our french toast. But for some reason it was very dense. I used a cup each of sorghum flour, cornstarch and tapioca starch. And I mixed it in my stand mixer with the paddle. Any suggestions?
Becca, I’m sorry it didn’t turn out better for you. Try beating it longer, maybe 3 – 4 minutes and make sure your yeast is good. 1 1/2 tablespoons of instant yeast should give it plenty of rise.
Hi there, I’m hoping you can help me — I’d like to try making this tonight. What attachment do you use on the mixer? I have a paddle, whisk and dough hook. Thanks!!
I went ahead and made it with the paddle. Great texture, great crust but it tastes bitter/metallic to me.
I did use tapioca flour rather than starch because I realized way too late that I didn’t have the starch.
Any ideas on what is causing the bitter taste?
Joanna, the paddle was the right thing to use. I don’t know why it would have a metallic taste. You should be able to use tapioca flour and starch interchangeably (but potato flour and starch are very different). My guess is that it was one of the flours (starches) causing the problem. Are any of them not major brands?
Hi Linda, thanks so much for the speedy response. My mother-in-law figures that one of the flours was rancid. The potato starch and tapioca flour I used were both from the natural food store bulk area. I’ll buy some Bob’s or other name brand and give it another try. And while I have your “ear”, do you think lemon juice could work in place of the apple cider vinegar? I always find the cider vinegar imparts a strong flavour for such a small amount.
I can’t wait to try making this again with fresh flour, maybe even tonight!
Thanks for the great recipe.
Sorry, things got crazy here and I never answered your question about the lemon juice. Vinegar is added to breads as a dough enhancer. I really don’t know if lemon juice would work the same way. I know it is a substitute for vinegar in many cases because both are acidic, but I have never seen it used in a bread recipe. Did you try it?
Hi Linda, you have impeccable timing — I’m about to attempt the bread again for the third time.
Last time I did try lemon juice, it didn’t work well. The bread was absolutely tasteless, I won’t bother with that again! A few other changes that may have affected the result — I also used the instant yeast as called for, but the last time I used regular yeast and activated it. I used a tad less water, too the second time. All together the bread was dry and flavourless and the texture not nearly as good as the first time using the cider vinegar, bit more water and the traditional yeast. Could there be any difference using the different yeast styles?
So I’m trying again this afternoon. I’ve infused some olive oil with garlic and rosemary from my garden and I’m going to add some chopped olives, maybe sprinkle the top with some flaked Celtic sea salt.
I guess I’ll use the cider vinegar again and see how it all works out.
That’s interesting. Thanks for the update. The yeast shouldn’t make that much difference. I always use instant yeast and love that I don’t have to proof it. The amount of water you may have to vary even from batch to batch. Try to remember the consistency of the dough when you get one to turn out the way you really like it, and then add enough water to reach that consistency each time.
Here are some dough enhancers we use in place of vinegar. The vitamin C is very acidic, strengthening the cell walls, which allows for greater expansion. I haven’t tried these on GF dough, but it’s worth a try!
1) Vitamin C: Crush a 100 mg tablet per loaf. (You can also purchase it as Ascorbic Acid or Vitamin C powder)
2) Soy lecithin: 1/2 Tb. per loaf
Hi there,
This bread looks to die for! I have never had much success with bread though. I tried a version of this recipe last night and it turned out much denser than the picture. The problem was that I only had one pack of instant yeast in my pantry and I tried to convert the recipe accordingly. So today I went back to the store to buy more yeast and I will try it as is.
My question is: how long am I supposed to mix it in the mixer? Is it like normal bread where you need to “knead” it for a few minutes, or should I just mix until combined?
The other thing that might be helpful if you ever get the chance, is to post a picture of the dough once you have added the water so I can get an idea of how much water will yield the right texture
Gluten free bread is a whole new beast to tackle!
Hi Laura. You should mix the dough 2 – 3 minutes. It will be wet but still hold it’s shape. That’s a good idea to get a picture of the dough. I’ll do that next time.
I’m fairly certain that this recipe will not work for me. my oven has uneven temperature, so i keep a pizza stone in the oven at all times which it takes a longer time for my oven to reach maximum temp. I suspect the bread then , too, should take longer to cook properly.
I’m also concerned that the bread will be flavorless.
The bread has good texture but I don’t like the way it smells and my daughter says it has an aftertaste. Could that be because of the sorghum flour? Could I sub with millet flour instead of sorghum?
The way to bake this bread was nice and simple and no problem with oven temp. worked great
I’m glad the bread worked for you, but sorry to hear that you didn’t like it. It is probably the sorghum. I have made this with 1/2 cup sorghum and 1/2 cup millet and it works great. I’m not sure how it would work with a whole cup of millet. If you try it, hold back some of the water, you might not need as much.
Ugh…this is still a struggle… still don’t like the smell and flavor.. any suggestions?
I totally love how this recipe from start to finish is quick… I don’t like sorguhm flour and I believe that is the problem. But, if I switch out the sorgum flour, it won’t have any flavor. Help
You could try swapping the sorghum for a combination of other flours. How about buckwheat or quinoa? You could mix one of those with millet or rice flour. Of course, at this point, anything you try is experimental. I can’t say how it will work with the recipe. Just keep an eye on the amount of liquid you use to get the dough to the right consistency.
I just made my second loaf… Husband loves it. I did make one change I didn’t have sorghum flour and used buckwheat, light. It came out just fine… Thank you so much for this recipe.
I like the idea of using buckwheat! I’m glad it worked for you. Thanks for letting me know.
Can you please tell me if I can make this bread in my bread machine (which has a GF cycle)?
Warmly,
V.
Sorry, you need to use a French bread pan and an oven to make this.
Hi Linda!
I saw your bread loaf included in Shirley’s round up. I was instantly blown away by your picture. What an amazing French bread loaf!! I think this is the most amazing loaf of gluten free French bread I’ve seen. Looking forward to trying your recipe!
Hugs,
Megan
Thanks, Megan! It really is a great bread, but it’s best while it’s still fresh and warm.
I just pulled this out of the oven and it’s so crusty! (That’s something I haven’t replicated well in a while.) I changed up the flour mix a bit – used millet since I was out of sorghum, and it was still delicious (I do like how tender sorghum is, though).
I love using my pan (mine’s a baguette pan instead of french bread – just 3 skinnier loaves) – it bakes so evenly.
Thanks again for the great bread!
You’re welcome, Trish. I’m glad it turned out well for you. Thanks for letting me know!
what is the nutrional value of this lovely looking french bread?
I consider breads like this purely comfort food and a treat. It does contain whole grain sorghum (which I mill fresh). In this recipe I reduced the starch a little more and added some millet flour. http://glutenfreehomemaker.com/2009/10/french-bread-rolls-again/
Looking for the ‘click’ button for saving a recipe to the recipe box. Please advise me where it is on this page.
thank you
My old recipes have to be manually updated to include the Ziplist button. I’ve done this one for you so you should be able to save it now.
I was so excited when I found this recipe and I was even more excited about having almost all the ingridients at hand, so I quickly began making this deliciously looking bread! Unfortunately, I found out after the fact that potato starch and potato flour are not the same thing!
So my kitchen smells more like delicious baked potatoes instead of bread! Lol After 35 minutes and looking absolutely beutiful golden and crispy on the outside, the breads turned out heavy and were still wet inside. I baked it a bit longer but it only got gummier. 
That’s said, I am not giving up….. I will definitely give it another go with potato starch!
Thanks for posting!
Oh, definitely give it another go. Using potato starch will make a big difference, and this bread is worth it.
I have made the bread twice. I bought all new ingredients as in recipe, and new instant yeast, though my xanthan gum and guar gum are old. The first time it failed was because I left out the egg whites by accident, the second time…not sure. I didn’t measure the instant yeast, it comes in a packet, but everything else was meausred, but I forgot to cut slits in the bread, so I had the same problem as Miranda with it being heavy and doughy on the inside. I had all the right flours. Can you have too much yeast? Does the xanthan and guar gums make it raise too? I am not ready to give up!
Thanks!
Hi Marilyn. I think the problem was not enough yeast. A packet contains about 2 1/4 teaspoons and the recipe calls for 1 1/2 Tablespoons. Try it again measuring the yeast.
Great recipe, thank u so much
great recipes, will try it.
I had a similar experience to Peggy (7/31/2010). I used Active Dry Yeast and after reading about the difference between that and Instant Yeast, I adjusted, using 1 3/4 TB of yeast. The dough was fairly firm, so I added a bit more water. I shaped the dough in the pans (it was firm enough that it didn’t go through the holes) and put it into the cold oven.
I also used EnerG Pure Potato Starch Flour after checking with the kitchen staff at the health food store and they said that was the right stuff.
My oven heats up quickly and wondered if that was the problem? I read directions to a similar gluten-free french bread recipe and it says to let the dough rise 30 minutes before putting it in the oven. It seems like doing that might have helped in my case, as the bread stayed exactly the same size as I shaped it out of the bowl. It’s very dense & heavy, with almost no air holes.
What do think may have gone wrong? I’m new to baking bread and scratching my head.
Your photo looks so good, I’d like to make any needed adjustments and try again.
Thanks,
Debra
Hi Debra. I’m sorry to hear you’re having problems with this recipe. It sounds like you may need to add more water. The dough should be soft and sticky. I also think that letting it rise first would be worth a try if your oven heats up quickly. Mine takes about 15 minutes to reach 400°. The reason for putting it in a cold oven is that it helps create that hard outer crust you get with French bread. A hard crust is no good if the bread doesn’t rise, though! I hope that helps.
Can’t find tapioca starch. Can I use potato starch?
Bread looks so good, would love to try this recipe.
Thanks!
Hi Angie. Not using tapioca starch will change the texture. Tapioca gives the bread a nice chewiness. I would order it online if you can’t find it in stores. It’s usually pretty easy to find, though. Even regular grocery stores often carry it.
Thank you for the info. When I checked my pantry for the ingredients I saw I had tapioca flour and on the bottom of the bag is said “Also known as tapioca starch”. I just learned something!
Am about to start making this bread. Very exited. Will let you know how it turns out.
Thanks again for the quick reply!
Happy Baking!
Looking for a French Bread recipe that is gluten free and yeast free. It was made with baking soda instead of yeast. Know the recipe exists, because had a loaf of this bread when in a small village in France. Anyone have any ideas? Thx
Not sure what took me so long to try this recipe!!! Just made it today (as rolls since I don’t have the right french bread pan yet) and they were perfect! We loved them. Thanks again for a wonderful recipe!
Dana, I’m so glad you finally gave it a try. It really is a great bread. Thanks for letting me know.
I made this bread for a dinner party last weekend. Even my non-gluten free friends thought it was really great. They were amazed to hear that I made it from scratch!
Yay! I’m glad to hear that everyone enjoyed it.