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Soft, Fluffy Teff Bread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)


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5 from 11 reviews

  • Author: Felicia Lim
  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Yield: 12 servings 1x
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Description

This incredibly soft and fluffy teff bread has a deliciously nutty and earthy flavor, and comes together very easily. It tastes delicious and looks uncannily similar to whole wheat bread. This teff flour bread is perfect for making sandwiches, avocado toast, or simply toasted and spread with jam. Totally gluten-free and dairy-free too, but no one would care!


Ingredients

Units Scale

Instructions

  1. Grease and Preheat: Preheat the oven to 350F and arrange the oven rack to the middle third position. Grease an 8″ x 4″ nonstick metal loaf pan with oil.
  2. Combine Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk the gluten-free all-purpose flour, xanthan gum (if using), teff flour, psyllium husk powder, baking powder, salt, instant yeast, and sugar together.
  3. Add Wet Ingredients: Add the vegetable oil, apple cider vinegar, and warm water, and mix well until combined. Add the beaten eggs and mix for another minute until you get a dough that looks like thick cake batter (the dough will be sticky and wet, but that’s exactly the texture you want).
  4. Transfer Dough to Pan: Transfer the teff bread dough to the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top with a wet spatula.
  5. Let Dough Rise: Cover the pan with kitchen towel and let the dough rise for approximately 30 to 40 minutes in a warm, draft-free place, until it has roughly doubled in size. (Tip: I like to place the pan in the microwave with the microwave switched OFF while the dough rises.)
  6. Bake Until Ready: Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until the teff bread is dark brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped.
  7. Cool Completely: Let the freshly baked loaf cool for at least 10 minutes in the loaf pan, before removing it and letting it cool fully on a wire rack.

Notes

Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend: I recommend using a good-quality gluten free all-purpose flour blend that uses lighter flours/starches (such as rice flour, corn starch, tapioca starch or potato starch) to ensure a fluffier final texture. I do NOT recommend using a gluten-free blend with heavier flours (such as garbanzo bean flour) as that will result in a denser final texture.

Xanthan Gum: Xanthan gum is the substitute for gluten in gluten-free flours, and helps to bind the ingredients together. If your gluten-free flour blend does not already include xanthan gum, make sure to add it in.

Teff Flour: Since this is teff bread recipe, teff flour is essential. However, if you would to make this bread but don’t have access to teff flour, a few good alternatives would be buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, millet flour, sorghum flour or amaranth flour.

Psyllium Husk Powder: Psyllium husk powder helps to give the ingredients extra binding power, and it makes to bread dome beautifully. Make sure you use the powder version. For best results, I do NOT recommend substituting this with anything else. (If you only have access to whole psyllium husks, you can use your high-speed blender or a coffee grinder to grind the psyllium husks into a very fine powder.) 

Baking Powder: In addition to instant yeast, baking powder will help this teff flour bread rise even more. If you have Celiac disease or are gluten-intolerant, make sure to use certified gluten-free baking powder.

Instant Yeast: Yeast is required for the dough to rise and create beautiful pockets of air in the bread. I like using instant yeast because no prior activation time is required. However you may also use active dry yeast if you prefer (the difference is that instant yeast can be mixed directly with the dry ingredients, while active dry yeast requires rehydration for it to be activated).

Sugar: Sugar is necessary as the food for the yeast to feed on so it can be activated and produce the gases to form air pockets and make the dough rise. The sugar will be consumed by the yeast, so the bread will not be sweet once baked.

Sunflower Oil: I like using sunflower oil because I always have a bottle of it on hand. However, you may also use another vegetable oil such as extra virgin olive oil, melted coconut oil, or avocado oil. Alternatively, if you are not lactose-intolerant, feel free to use melted butter instead.

Apple Cider Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar creates an acidic environment that activates the baking powder to create gases that will help the dough rise more. If you don’t have ACV, you may also use white vinegar or lemon juice in equal quantities.

Warm Water: The water needs to be warm to activate the yeast. Make sure that the water is between 105 to 115F (if it’s too cold, the yeast will not be activated, if it’s too hot, the high temperature will kill the yeast). If you prefer, you may also use warm non-dairy milk (such as almond milk, cashew milk, rice milk, soy milk or coconut milk) instead of water. Alternatively, if you are not lactose-intolerant, feel free to use normal milk instead.

Eggs: The eggs help to bind the ingredients as well as gives the bread more lift. If you are allergic to eggs, or prefer to make this recipe completely vegan, you may use aquafaba or an egg-replacer.

Storing/Freezing: To store, place the cooled teff bread in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To freeze, wrap the cooled loaf in various layers of plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months. Let frozen loaf thaw overnight in the refrigerator before slicing.

  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Rising Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 55 mins
  • Category: Bread
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American