Dan the Man has created the best gluten-free bread recipe ever.
I’ve been on a quest to find Pete A a decent gluten-free loaf for years. Every attempt has been an abysmal failure. Most have a cake-like texture, and only just pass muster if toasted. The closest I ever managed was a gluten-free soda bread, but even that was solid and heavy in a pumpernickel kind of way.
What Dan Lepard has now given us is a chewy, elastic, tangy bread which keeps well for several days. His secret ingredient – psyllium husk – mimics the gluten in wheat, and almost unbelievably, this recipe actually “proves” like real bread. (Note that I used psyllium husk and not psyllium husk powder – the former was readily available at our local health food store.) The finished loaf is chewy with a crunchy crust and a non-stodgy middle, unlike the tapioca based breads which were hitherto the gluten-free standard. Another nice thing about this recipe is that it uses readily available ingredients – just make sure you buy gluten-free cornflour, as many are wheaten. Here are some photos, so you know what to expect.
The dough works together easily in the mixing bowl, after a good minute or so of stirring. A mixer or breadmaker really isn’t needed here. It will seem quite wet at first, but the moisture will be absorbed during the first hour of resting.
Shape the rested dough into a baton (basically flatten it out into a disc and then roll it up), and place it into an oiled loaf tin. Allow to rise another hour and a half, during which time it will just about double in size.
Tah-dah! The finished loaf…
Pete A was so wonderful – he arrived at 10.30pm to pick up his loaf (the man works way too hard), ate a slice on the spot, and said, “How have you done this? It tastes just like bread!”
I received these messages from him over the following days:
Day 1 : ”Just had a lovely Enzo lunch; bread oil balsamic. Bread getting a little tough in an Italian way so all perfect. No toasting needed yet.”
Day 2 : “Just had lovely French toast. Bread no tougher. Still ‘Italian’ ”
I can’t remember a time when baking was more rewarding than this. Dan Lepard’s recipe is here – follow it to the letter, and it will treat your gluten-free friends and family to a taste that they’ve probably been missing for a long time.
Edit 23/5/09: Here’s a photo of tonight’s Kalamata olive and rosemary loaf :
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More gluten-free recipes here…
Update: 10 Nov 09: Gluten Free Christmas Cakes
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Wow they look amazing! I am just visiting via Dan’s forum to see your bread and I think they look fabulous and real and I will have a go and hopefully can do something like this for my gluten free friends.
Thanks Zeb! I hope they enjoy them as much as my friends have.. :)
I can vouch for the bread…my 2 GF members of the family were most impressed…..mind you that was celia’s version and I have yet to bake it !!
I’m really glad they enjoyed it, Jules. Sorry to arrive at your place with that slightly manic look, but I was pretty excited! :)
This truly is The Best Ever but I cannot agree that your past efforts have all been failures. The Soda Bread was very good too – although less like ‘real’ bread it was a great thing in itself.
I haven’t tasted ‘real’ bread for about 15 years so I’m really not in a position to say just how close this is to a bread with gluten but it’s indistinguishable to the extent I can distinguish.
Be well.
P
Wow that actually looks like real bread. Can’t wait to try it. I will be one happy camper if it is a good gf bread as that is one thing that I really miss and always end up indulging in anyway (and suffering later.
Hi there! It’s not quite real bread, but it’s the closest thing I’ve ever found. Since we bake all our own bread (wheaten), I’m really fussy about it and up until now, most gf bread recipes I’ve tried have basically been cake. They’re passable if toasted, but only just. The exciting thing about Dan’s recipe is the texture – it’s chewy and elastic, reminiscent of a dense, woodfired loaf. Thanks for reminding me – I need to make my friend Pete A a couple more loaves! :)
This looks great, I’m going to give this a go, but haven’t ever baked bread before so need to buy a loaf tin – could you please advise what size you used ? Thanks,
Karen, I used a Chicago Metallic 21.5 x 11 x 7cm tin (8.5 x 4.5 x 2.25″). If you’re in Australia, I bought mine here : http://www.everten.com.au/product/chicago-metallic-commercial-bread-tin.html
Cheers, Celia
Hi again, one more question before I start baking… in regard to the psyllium husk, did you use the same quantity (25g) as the recipe? or put in extra to make up for the fact it wasn’t ground ? Thanks, Karen.
Karen, I used the same quantity as in the recipe, because I’m bad at reading instructions. :) I didn’t notice until after that it was supposed to be a powder..
Hope it works well for you!
Celia
OMG !!!! I have to write to and let you know, I agree…this truly is the best gluten free bread EVER! I’ve made it twice in the past week. Its more dense than your pic (no holes) and doesn’t rise as much… but the taste and chewy texture great. I’m so impressed :-)))
Karen, I’m so happy it worked well for you! It is dense, but it’s chewy and elastic and non-cake like, which is almost revolutionary for gluten free bread… :)
Thanks for taking the time to let me know! What can I say, Dan Lepard really is the man…
Celia
PS. If you’re specifically looking for gluten free, these peanut butter cookies have been really popular with our friend Pete.
Help!
Trying to make the Dan Lepard bread recipe (my first attempt at gluten free bread since I’m wet behind the ears, diagnosed a few weeks ago) but I don’t know how to make the conversion from grams to cup measurements. I bought a cookbook on gluten free baking, which has both measurements for its recipes. BUT on one page it says a half cup of potato starch equals 30 gms, on another page it says the half cup of same item equals 60 gms. ARRRGGGHH!! I assume that because of different densities/weights, the flours will not all measure the same from grams to Cup measurements anyway. Can anyone give me the correct amounts for this bread recipe?
Rody
Rody, I’m sorry, I don’t know the cup measurements either. I always use scales whenever possible – it’s well worth investing in a cheap set if you’re going to be doing lots of baking in the future. For what it’s worth, 30g is about 1oz. You could also try asking on the Dan Lepard forum – someone there might have made the conversion to cups. There is a thread on the topic here.
Celia
Hi All
A very big thank you for this recipe. I have been diagnosed for the last two years and coming from a Greek background bread is a must in my kitchen. I came across your site by accident last night and went out this morning to buy Psyllium husk (it wasn’t totally powdery more like almond meal) anyway, I split the dough into two mini loaves and just took them out of the oven. Do you think I could wait for them to cool down I have walking in circles in the kitchen so I finally had a slice with butter, thought I didn’t taste it that well and just having a second slice. For the first time in two years I feel “normal”. I will wait and see what it’s like in the next few days but I will also be making an olive and rosemary one tomorrow. Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!
Renee, I’m so glad it worked well for you! If you want to pass that feedback onto Dan Lepard, who invented the recipe, you can do so here – I’m sure he’d appreciate knowing that you found it useful! :)
Okay, I’ve read the reviews, and the photo looks amazing, but where is the recipe?? I would love to try to re-create this loaf.
Thanks!
Hi there, the recipe can be found here, it’s also linked in the post above (the hyperlinks show up underlined and in green).
Cheers, Celia
I’m so pleased to have found your site! Living in Far North Queensland where the temp today is 37odegC, baking is quite hard!!
Have tried Dan’s recipe today with reasonable success except that it didn’t rise at all after the first proving – could this be because of the heat factor and therefore should I just cook it after the first rising? Having been a Coeliac for 25 years, I’ve tried all sorts of bread and even though it hasn’t risen much it tastes great!! Many thanks Meg
Meg, from memory, the dough did most of its rising during the second rise, so definitely don’t bake after the first! It’s not reacting in the same way as yeast and gluten, which can be a bit off-putting. I remember it also taking quite a while for the second rise to finish. So glad you liked this bread – our friends were very happy with it too.
You might want to ask a question on Dan’s board – the thread for this recipe is here – and Dan will probably be able to advise you more…
Cheers, Celia
If you are a diagnosed Coeliac you should joim the Ceoliac Society. It has many benefits and you’ll learn things which you were unaware of.
http://www.coeliacsociety.com.au/
I have been a diagnosed Coeliac for 15 years and have learned over the years, that you should buy a good set of electronic scales.
Good cooking utensils are vital too. The Coeliac Society of Australia, sells a ‘proper’ heavy based loaf tin to its members.
Accuracy is the most important part of GF cookery, totally different to non-GF cooking, that’s why you should weigh ingredients, rather than cup cups as a measuring device.
You should weigh your liquids too.
1 gram = 1 mil
This is a good conversion site
http://www.calculateme.com/index.htm
I was really excited, until I read the first ingredient in the list: soya flour. I can’t have soy, and really don’t know what else to substitute. Flours made from other pulses cause the same viscious migraines that soy does. Can you suggest another flour that could be used? Thanks very much, Carol
Carol, best to ask Dan Lepard directly – you can do that on his forum. Here’s the thread:
http://www.danlepard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2454
Kind regards, Celia
By “cornflour” do you mean very finely ground cornmeal or corn starch?
Dan’s recipe is UK based, so it refers to what I think the US calls cornstarch. Not the yellow ground powder, but white flour, used for thickening soups etc.
Hi there – the loaves are currently rising and the dough felt very elastic so I am quite hopeful. I added raisins and cinnamon to one. Just a little side note about trying to convert grams to cups. From what I could glean from the internet – 300 grams of flour equals about 2 1/2 cups. That must be wrong because I had to add an extra cup of liquid to make my dough resemble anything close to your picture. A little worried because I know measurements are so important with GF baking……but still hopeful :)
Hi Joy, I hope it went well! I’m sorry I’m not sure of the cup measurements for the cornflour, but I do think the amount of water flour absorbs will vary from place to place.
[…] found this bread through the wonderful Fig & Lime Cordial blog. Check out Celia’s posting. The recipe belongs to a master baker, Dan Lepard who lives in […]
Joy I know what you mean, I followed the recipie to a tee and found the resulting dough VERY crumbly, certainly not anything resembling a ‘soft dough.’ So I had to add a bunch more water.
It’s currently rising so we’ll see how it turns out, but I’m not too hopeful.
Ben, I’m not sure what’s going on for you and Joy, but I suspect it’s a difference in the cornflour (note that cornflour in the UK is known as cornstarch in the US)? If your loaf doesn’t work, or if you’ve got feedback on how it turns out, please consider leaving a post on Dan’s forum – he checks in there regularly, so he should be able to give you some advice.
http://www.danlepard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2454
Corn flour in this recipe….is that corn starch? I noticed once before in a recipe I found in a UK cookbook they used corn flour but to us N. Americans it meant corn starch :)
Lindsay, yes, cornstarch! The white stuff that looks a bit like talcum powder. :)
I have made two loaves of this bread now, and straight out of the oven it is beautiful and very much like wheat bread, but when it has cooled its becomes more brittle and crumbly, is this normal? It just about holds together as sandwich bread.
Any tips on how to make it softer and less waxy? I followed the recipe exactly and it rose and baked perfectly both times, and looks exactly like the pictures. It tastes lovely, its just the texture I’m struggling with.
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
Kathy, I found it got quite chewy as it cooled, but not brittle and crumbly. It isn’t a soft bread recipe though, and it has a firm, fairly hard crumb. You might want to drop Dan a note on his forum and ask him what he thinks… http://www.danlepard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2454
Thanks a lot! I’ll drop Dan a line then. Its not super crumbly, maybe my expectations were just a little optimistic :)
This bread is amazing!!! I now want to make a fruit loaf or hot cross buns. Any ideas on how to modify the recipe?
Manuela, you could try adding fruit and mixed spice for a fruit loaf, although I’m not sure how to get a good hot cross bun texture from this dough. You might want to ask on Dan’s forum, he might have some suggestions: http://www.danlepard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2454
Cheers, Celia
[…] seeds, boiling water) and added in some psyllium husk for good measure (which I first read about here). Both ground chia seeds and psyllium husks mimic gluten by creating gel-like strands when mixed […]