All Purpose Whole Grain Gluten Free Bread Dough

All purpose whole grain gluten free bread. Something I never thought I would ever be able to achieve.

You see, gluten free bread is tricky. There are so many things that play into making a good bread. It has taken me years to learn what ingredients are going to work.

Throw in learning about the benefits of freshly milled whole grains and I knew I needed to keep experimenting. There was a time that I thought I would never be able to make a whole grain bread especially being on a gluten-free diet.

I just didn’t even think that was possible.

But just like I tell my girls…. if there’s a will there’s a way!

And I am so excited to share the way with you all. 

Make sure to check out my other gluten free bread recipes, Gluten Free Sandwich Bread and Gluten Free Sourdough.

When a dream becomes a reality.

I had this dream to be able to make an all purpose whole grain gluten free bread dough, that then could be turned into many different things. Let’s not re-invent the wheel right? It’s time to stop the madness of gluten-free living being hard!

I wanted to create a recipe that I can shape into bread one day and possibly donuts or pizza dough the next, with a few minor substitutions.

That’s when I started experimenting. I knew I could do it but it would take some work.

For the past 6 months I have been using this all purpose whole grain gluten free bread dough in all our favorite gluten-free recipes with great success. We have made cinnamon rolls, pizza dough, donuts, french bread, dinner rolls, hamburger buns, crescent rolls, and soft pretzels. It has turned out fantastic in all of them. My girls want me to still try pizza pockets and I still want to try making babka bread with it. 

I am confident that any form of bread product will work great with this recipe!  

Let’s talk about why whole grain?

You may be wondering, what’s the difference between whole grain and buying your flour? I too wondered that about a year ago. 

Until I had a video shared with me by the Bread Beckers, called The Bread of Life. I have linked the video so you can listen, but in this post I am not going to go into the details of everything. However, if you have a non-celiac gluten sensitivity, you may want to watch the video. 

What I will say is after hearing her story, the link between our sick nation and our food made sense. It gave me an even greater drive to get back to getting ingredients in their rawest form and cooking with that.

After watching the video, it all made so much sense. The problem was, we can’t have gluten. I have been formally diagnosed with Celiac Disease at a young age and as an adult have had the genetic testing done that shows I do carry one of the genes, HLA-DQ2.5 haplotype, commonly known to be linked to autoimmune diseases such as Celiac Disease. The other commonly known gene to be linked to Celiac is HLA-DQ8, which I do not carry. 

So I just assumed after watching that video, that I can’t freshly mill my own whole grains. 

Wrong.

It turns out that there are incredible health benefits to milling your own grains no matter what kind they are! That’s when I made the switch, to milling my own gluten free whole grains. When you are freshly milling your whole grains (whether gluten free or regular wheat berries) you are keeping the germ and bran in tact which makes it an incredibly rich source of vitamins, minerals, fibers, and powerful antioxidants. 

There are mixed reviews on exactly how long it takes for freshly milled grains to lose their potency, however studies have shown that after 24 hours of a grain being cracked open in the milling process, 40%-45% start to deplete it’s nutritional value. After 3 days, 95% is depleted of it’s nutritional value. This tells me, I want to be milling as I go!

Which gluten free whole grains are in this bread?

There are a number of gluten free whole grains you can choose from, however for this bread dough I am using a brown rice and sorghum grain. They balance each other really well, are highly nutritious, and you can find them easily. You can obviously get brown rice at any grocery store and you can find sorghum grains at some. 

However, I buy all my grains and tapioca starch in bulk on Azure Standard. If you want to know more about what Azure Standard is, make sure to read my post on How I Grocery Shop for a Month at a Time.

You will also need a starch, which I use tapioca starch in this bread. I do not freshly mill tapioca starch, I just buy it in bulk. Tapioca starch and tapioca flour are the same thing, so the label may read either one. All gluten free baking needs to have starch with their grains to improve structure, color, texture, and volume.  

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor claim to be. I am simply a mom and wife on a journey to healing her family by researching the benefits of all foods. All information is based on my opinion and own personal research for my family. Please always consult a medical professional concerning your health. 

Now, let’s talk about some of the benefits of each of these grains.

Brown Rice:

Brown rice is a rich source of fiber. This is great for those of us that struggle with using the bathroom regularly. It also contains high levels of magnesium, which improves your heart health, and it is also known to be high in iron and potassium. 

As noted before that when you freshly mill brown rice, or any grain, you are keeping the bran and germ intact, so you are getting a rich source of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytonutrients (which are powerful antioxidants). 

Sorghum Grain:

I never fully understood the benefits of sorghum grain until recently and now I am hooked! This one does have a stronger flavor then the brown rice, so I use less of it it. The two grains definitely compliment each other well!

Sorghum grain is good at reducing inflammation because is rich in phenolic compounds, which act as an antioxidant. For that reason this grain is gut friendly along with being a rich source of fiber. There are many vitamins and minerals in this grain. Sorghum grain contains large amounts of protein, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, fiber, and antioxidants in a single serving. 

Using both brown rice and sorghum grains, makes up the perfect gluten free whole-grain blend. 

Using a binding agent for gluten free baking.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. 

When you are gluten-free baking, you need to have a binding agent. Without the gluten, your bread will not hold together it’s shape. You will get a product that will crumble without it. 

There are 3 binding agent options when baking gluten free, xanthan gum, guar gum, and psyllium husk. For years my go to binding agent was xanthan gum. And I still use that in my homemade all purpose flour blend. You can find my all purpose flour blend recipe in my cookbook, The Ranchers Homestead Cookbook (digital version). 

However, I started using psyllium husk in my breads and it is a game changer. Not only is it the best option as a binding agent but the health benefits of psyllium husk are amazing.

Psyllium husk is another good source of fiber, it is known to lower cholesterol, is incredibly gut friendly, and has been known to support heart and pancreas health. People have also been known to use psyllium husk to regulate blood sugar levels. For these reasons I have started using them in my breads and it has worked wonderfully!

Now that we know the types of grains and binding agents we are going to be used, along with their benefits, let’s make our all purpose whole grain gluten free bread!

This is a yeast bread, but hopefully I will have a whole grain gluten free sourdough bread recipe to share with you all soon!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water
• 3 tsp active dry yeast
• 4 TBSP honey, you can use cane sugar if you want
• 30g psyllium husk powder
• 280g brown rice flour (I start with brown rice and mill it fresh)
• 100g sorghum flour (I start with sorghum grain and mill it fresh) 
• 120g tapioca flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted. To make this dairy free use 6 TBSP of avocado oil or olive oil
• more warm water as needed

How to make all purpose whole grain gluten free bread:

1.  First, you will want to mill your grains into flour. If you don’t have a mill, you can skip this step and buy your flours. However you will miss the fantastic health benefits of milling your own grains at home, see above for details. I love using my Nutrimill to mill my flours. I start with 2 1/4 cups of brown rice and mill it into flour. Next I mill about 1 cup of sorghum grains into a separate bowl. I keep my freshly milled grains separate so I can weigh out what I need of each. 
2. Start by putting 2 cups of warm water in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add in yeast and honey and turn your mixer on for about 10 seconds just to mix. Let it sit to proof.
3. Using a digital kitchen scale, weigh out all your flours in a large bowl. Add the salt and baking powder to your flours.
4. Once your yeast is proofed, measure the psyllium husk to your stand mixer. Whisk it for a second or two and let it sit for 3-5 minutes until it gels up. 
5. Add your dry ingredients to the bowl of the stand mixer.
6. Add the eggs, apple cider vinegar, and melted butter to your stand mixer. 
7. Turn your mixer on and let it run for 3 minutes. Add in splashes of water as needed to get the right consistency. 
8. You want your dough to come together but to be slightly sticky. The consistency for this gluten free bread recipe is different then a regular bread. You will have to read your dough.
9. Lightly dust your work surface with brown rice flour. Dump out dough onto the floured surface and sprinkle the top with a little more brown rice flour. Let the dough rest on the counter for a minute or two.
10. Butter or grease a 9×5 bread pan.
11. Shape your dough into a rectangle that will fit your bread pan. Lift your dough and drop on the counter a few times to get out any air bubbles. 
12. Place dough in the butter bread pan.

Bread Rise and Bake:

1. Let bread rise until just to the top of the pan, in a warm spot for about 20 minutes. Gluten free bread doesn’t take as long to rise.
2. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Bake bread for 35 minutes uncovered. After 35 minutes cover the bread loosely with a piece of foil for an additional 20-25 minutes. The internal temperature of your bread should be 205 degrees or higher when it is done. 
3. Immediately remove and take out of the bread pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. 

Flour Substitutions: 

​Other flours that you can use in place of the grains I chose are millet flour, white rice flour, or oat flour.

Always remember when making substitutions with flours, in gluten free baking, you may get slightly different tastes. Not all gluten free grains taste the same so changing out the flour could change the flavor. 

But it is fun to experiment with different flours! Your total grain flour in grams should be 380g. I choose to split that with brown rice flour and sorghum flour. As you are experimenting make sure to keep the total measurement to get the best product. 

How to store this all purpose whole grain gluten free bread.

The best way to store this bread is in a ziploc bag on your counter or in your pantry. Gluten free breads should not be stored in the refrigerator. This removes the moisture from your bread and makes it go stale faster. 

For all the gluten-free eaters out there, this bread is for you. Just because you have to eat gluten free doesn’t mean you can’t get the benefits of whole grain flours. Being able to freshly mill your gluten free grains will bring you so many health benefits. 

Homemade gluten free breads are so much better then store-bought breads and this whole grain recipe is no different. My girls would vouch to say this is the best gluten-free bread they have ever eaten!