This best ever gluten free white sandwich bread is so soft and delicious, just like that Wonder-ful bread we used to love!
Oh, how I've wanted a great peanut butter and jelly sandwich for so long. Do you remember a regular 'ole pb&j? The one on that super soft bread that all those gluten-eating people take for granted? It's the one my son (and possibly yours) ate almost every day of his young life because he was too picky to eat anything else, haha!
This new bread can be the canvas for the classic peanut butter & jelly. Or a perfect grilled cheese. Or a homegrown tomato sandwich with mayonnaise that gets slightly squished when you bite into it. Who's hungry for a sandwich now? I know I am!!
Creating the Best Ever Gluten Free White Sandwich Bread
After many failed attempts at trying to create this bread (at least 40) I went back to the drawing board. I researched and researched and found that what I wanted was a tighter crumb. In other words, not a lot of holes in the bread.
To get that, I had to use less liquid than normal. But in gluten free baking, especially breads, using less liquid usually means the end result is like a brick. Nobody wants that. So how in the world can we make a gluten free bread that's not only soft, but has a tight crumb and a tall rise?
Using a Tangzhong
First of all, what is a tangzhong? A tangzhong is just a mixture of a small amount of the flour and liquid from the recipe that's cooked into a paste. Kinda like a roux. In fact, it's often called a water roux. What this does is pre-gelatinizes the starches in the flour so they can absorb more liquid.
But what does that mean for our bread? Well, for starters it means the bread will be softer because it will retain more moisture. And retaining more moisture also means it will stay soft longer. And it may even rise higher because there will be more moisture to create steam! If you've ever made my Gluten Free Olive Garden Style Breadsticks or the Softest Gluten Free Rolls Ever, you've already had experience with a tangzhong.
To make the tangzhong, simply heat a small percentage of the flour with a small percentage of the liquid (in this case milk) over a low flame until it thickens and becomes paste-like. Let it cool while preparing the rest of the ingredients, and then add it to the dough when it's being mixed together.
Adding Psyllium Husk Powder
If you've been following me recently, you know how obsessed I've become with psyllium husk powder! I know it's been around a while, but it's rather new to my gluten free baking repertoire and I just love the results it offers!! Extensibility, softness, and a great rise are the attributes I find so appealing when using psyllium husk powder.
What Size Pan is Best?
For the tallest loaf, I would suggest using an 8.5 by 4.5-inch one pound loaf pan. Any bigger of a pan size and the loaf will be squat and dense. You can find this pan size here (affiliate link).
Substitutions
For dairy free--substitute the milk with dairy-free milk (almond, soy, etc) and, as always, see my gluten free flour blends page for subs in the blend itself.
If you have an allergy to coconuts, sub the coconut oil with another type of oil, such as vegetable or canola. I've tried this bread with butter (which you know I'm a fan of), but it didn't stay soft for long enough and I think it had a lot to do with the butter.
I have to say that I really love the flavor the coconut oil imparts in this bread. And when my son, who is my taste tester as he's a gluten eater, said it was the best tasting loaf I'd made, I definitely stuck with the coconut oil.
Tips for Storing the Bread
Like any good bakery bread that's not made with a bunch of chemicals to keep it fresh, a few days after baking it becomes stale. There are a couple ways to keep this bread still at its peak:
After the bread has cooled, slice it into individual slices (about ½ inch thick), place the slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet in one layer, and allow them to freeze (no more than an hour). Once frozen, you can put groups of 2 or 4 together (however many you think you'll need at a time) and wrap them in plastic wrap. Then place them in a ziptop freezer bag, sucking out as much air as possible. Freeze the bread for 2-3 months, removing slices as needed.
Trick for Removing Air from Ziptop Bags
This isn't my trick (I saw Tyler Florence do it a long time ago on the Food Network), but it's a great idea that totally works! I call my mom the Freezer Queen (she freezes everything) and she uses this method all the time.
Close the bag almost fully, leaving just about an inch still unzipped. Stick a straw in that opening and suck out as much air as possible. You may have to do this a couple times to compress the bread and make a nice seal. This is like the redneck version of one of those food saver machines, haha!
Defrosting or Refreshing a Slice (or Two)
Remove however many slices you need from the freezer and leave them wrapped in plastic wrap on the counter until room temp. This won't take long at all.
You can also go straight from the freezer to the toaster if you want to toast your bread. Just add a few more minutes to the toast cycle.
Bake a loaf of this best ever gluten free white sandwich bread and then make yourself a pb&j. Or how about a tomato and mayo sandwich? Those homegrown tomatoes we're all growing should now be ripe for the pickin' 🍅
Best Ever Gluten Free White Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- ¾ cup (180ml) whole milk
- ¼ cup (35g) Kim's gluten free bread flour blend
Dough
- tangzhong
- 3 cups (420 g) Kim's gluten free bread flour blend***
- 1 tablespoon psyllium husk powder
- 2 tbsp plus 1 teaspoon (30 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon rapid rise (instant) yeast
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1¼ cups (300 ml) whole milk
- 4 tbsp (56 g) coconut oil, solid but soft
Instructions
Make the Tangzhong
- Put the milk and flour in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat and whisk until thickened and paste like, about 5-7 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly while making the rest of the dough.
Make the Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour blend, psyllium husk powder, sugar, yeast, and salt and whisk to combine. Slowly add the milk and coconut oil and mix to combine using the dough hook. Add the tangzhong and continue mixing, increasing the speed to medium high and kneading for 5 minutes.
- Scrape the dough into a large mound in the middle of the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap (or try a shower cap or silicone lid). Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size, 1-2 hours. Refrigerate the dough until firm and easier to handle. This could take anywhere from 4 hours to overnight. To make the bread the same day, place the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes, which should firm it up enough to shape.
- On baking day, remove the dough from the fridge and knead until smooth on a well-floured surface, adding more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking. Shape the dough into a loaf shape long enough to fit into an 8.5 by 4.5-inch loaf pan. Spray loaf pan with nonstick spray and place the dough in the pan. Cover and let rise until the dough crests above the top of the pan about one inch. This could take 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. Be patient.*
- Preheat the oven to 450° F. When the dough has fully risen, slide the loaf pan into the oven and carefully throw a few ice cubes onto the bottom floor of the oven. Shut the door quickly. Bake the bread for 10 minutes and then decrease the temperature to 350° F. Continue baking for another 30 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the center reads 200° F. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Tip the bread out of the pan and allow it to cool completely before slicing.
- Serve bread within 24 hours for softest results. After 24 hours, slice bread and place individual slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet until frozen. Wrap the slices in plastic wrap and place them in a ziptop baggie. Suck out as much air as possible from the baggie before placing it in the freezer. Bread will keep in the freezer for about 3 months.
Kristen says
Hi! Thank you for creating all these recipes. I make your cinnamon rolls a few times a year and thought I would make this bread. I've made it twice now and I never get the rise I see in your video in the 1st and 2nd proofs. I proof it for 2+ hrs to get even a little bit of a rise. I live in higher elevation (Salt Lake City), would this be a factor? The cinnamon rolls always turn out perfect. Not sure what is up with the bread. I am using everything you use.
Kim says
You may need to alter things based on the higher elevation, but I'm not familiar with how to do that. You also could just be not letting it rise long enough. The cinnamon rolls take less time to rise because of the amount of yeast and sugar in them. I would suggest trying my newest sandwich bread recipe, which is a fast riser. Here is the link for that: https://www.letthemeatgfcake.com/gluten-free-sandwich-bread-recipe/ Also, for the high altitude baking, here's a link to something that might be helpful: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
Kristen says
Thank you Kim! I will try the other recipe and see how it works. Thank you for the higher elevation link too!