We had a great Memorial Day weekend. I hope you all did too. We couldn't have asked for better weather here in south central Alaska. I have tan lines (which is amazing... I am your typical halibut-belly-white Alaskan girl). The lawn now looks wonderful thanks to my husband, and the girls even got to jump in the sprinkler!
It's raining today, but I'm relieved. I needed to catch up on a few things inside the house. Like cleaning out the refrigerator and baking bread. I detest cleaning out the refrigerator. It's one chore I could live without doing, but unfortunately, it was so disgusting I would have been mortified if anyone else saw the inside of it. It's sparkling clean now!
I really like my other bread recipes, but I needed something new... something a bit sweeter. I've seen other gluten free bread recipes using cocoa and instant espresso powder as ingredients, but have never tried them myself. Chocolate and coffee are some of my favorite things, so really, how could one go wrong using either of those ingredients?!
This bread recipe really turned out lovely. It has a wonderful light brown coloring, a great crust, and a nice sweet flavor.
I think you could split this recipe into two mini-loaves if you wanted, but I would recommend lowering the baking temp to 350 degrees (F), and start with a baking time of 20 minutes. We are a big loaf kinda family, so I made one big 9 x 5" loaf.
Gluten Free Outback Steakhouse Copycat Bread Recipe:
Dry Ingredients:
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup tapioca starch
½ cup arrowroot starch
½ cup brown rice flour
⅓ cup teff flour (brown teff flour, not ivory teff)
2 TBSP ground flax seeds
1 TBSP cocoa
2 ½ tsp instant yeast (I use the SAF-Instant brand)
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 ¼ tsp sea salt
Wet Ingredients:
3 eggs
¾ cup lukewarm water
½ cup honey
¼ cup coffee, room temperature
2 TBSP olive oil
Using heavy duty electric mixer, stir together all of the dry ingredients using the mixers paddle attachment.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the eggs, coffee, honey and oil.
Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix. When the dough is pasty, slowly pour in the lukewarm water and mix for 30 seconds at low speed. Beat for another 2 minutes at medium speed until the dough is well blended and all of the lumps are gone.
Here's where the directions get a little tricky, so make sure you've had enough coffee and pay attention! =)
Pour dough into a greased 9 x 5" metal bread pan and cover it with plastic wrap. Set a timer for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (F) and place the bread on top of the oven (not inside!). This is simply giving your loaf a nice warm place to rise on top of the oven. When your oven is up to temperature, turn it off immediately. When the 30 minute timer goes off, open the oven. It should be nice and warm inside the oven, but not hot enough to bake the bread. If you think it's too hot inside still, simply give the oven a bit more time to cool off. Place your bread inside the oven and allow it to rise for another 40 - 60 minutes.
Remove the bread from the oven, and take off the plastic wrap. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F). Bake for 30 - 32 minutes. Remove the loaf from the bread pan and allow to fully cool on a cooling rack before slicing (if you can stand it - I never can!).
I recommend freezing this loaf in slices within 24 hours of baking to retain freshness.
Enjoy it! And please leave me a comment letting me know if you've tried it!
Megan
Stephanie says
Do you think that you could use strong tea instead of coffee? I can't stand it, and lack any desire to purchase coffee equipment.It's beautiful photo.
Megan says
Hi Stephanie,Thank you! I don't recommend using tea as a substitution for the coffee; I would use water instead. If you did want the coffee flavor (but not want to mess with the equipment, etc), you could add in instant espresso granules (maybe start with 1 - 2 tsp). I just used real brewed coffee because I always have it on hand. 🙂 Megan
Terris@FreeEatsFood says
Megan, This looks so GOOD! Yum. I used to love brown bread as a child....(I think I liked it because it was so sweet), and this looks like it may capture a bit of those memories. I am definitely putting it on the to-do list.
Megan says
Thanks, Terris! I hope you and your family are having a wonderful summer! Hugs,Megan
Carisa says
Just found your blog and made this bread today. I used part of it for a loaf of bread and made four hamburger buns with it. Everyone loved it! I have been searching for a recipe that my daughter will eat and this one passed her critique. Thanks for a great recipe!
Megan says
Hi Carisa, Aren't children the toughest critics sometimes?! I'm so glad my recipe passed your daughter's test! Thanks for the note.Hugs!
Kaylen says
Hi, I can't use Xantham gum, but I can use guar gum... Is that possible to subsitute? I also have a double oven, meaning I can't set the bread on the outside of the warm oven. I really would love to try making this, what should I try doing?
MAID in Alaska says
Hi Kaylen,
Yes, you can substitute guar gum for xanthan in this recipe. You might get a bit different of a consistency, but it will still be fine. In regards to the double oven... I would just make sure your bread is able to rise in a warm place. That's all. 🙂
Hope you have a great weekend!
Megan
Roberta Stanley says
Unfortunately, I can't use flaxseed meal. Is it essential? Whenever I need "a nice warm place to rise", I wrap a heating pad with a hand towel and set my baking pan on it for the dough to rise. Hope this helps someone.
Megan says
The flax meal is not essential, but it does add a wonderful nutty flavor to the bread.
🙂 Megan
Roberta Stanley says
I love laxseed meal but I can't tolerate it. Thank you for your help.
Linda Hoppins says
Megan, the bread was delicious! I have tried many breads from different sites. This is a keeper. I would like to follow your other recipes if I can find you or find out how. Thank you so much. It reminds me of my Wheat Bread I used to make with banana and honey before I became Gluten Intolerant. Hugs
Amber says
Thank you, Roberta! I've been a consistent failure with yeast over the years, but you've given me new hope with your heating pad tip! 🙂
Jodie Miles says
Hi Megan,
I do not drink coffee and I was wondering if you could use water and coffee extract in place of it?
Thank you. I'm excited to give it a try!
Mēgan says
Hi Jodie,
That's a great question! I'm guessing you probably could, but I never use coffee extract, so I'm not even sure of an amount to give you for measurement? You'll probably have to experiment.
Teri says
Can I reduce the honey to 2 Tablespoons? Do I need to add more liquid then, say applesauce? Thank you
Mēgan says
Yes, you can reduce the honey to 2 Tablespoons.
Josephine says
Have you ever tried to make it egg free? Would I use a flax or commercial egg replacer and or more yeast?
Mēgan says
Hi Josephine,
I have no made this recipe egg-free before, so you might have to do some experimenting to see if it will work. If I were to try it, I’d use commercial egg replaces instead of the flax.
Alene says
Hi. I canot eat rice at all. Could I possibly substitute it with something else?
This bread sounds delicious! I have seen your rice free recipes but I would love to try this one. Thank you!
Mēgan says
I would use millet flour, or more sorghum.
Jennie says
Hi Megan,
This bread looks great and I want to give it a try. I was wondering if I could possibly substitute psyllium husk for the Xanthan Gum and how much psyllium husk would I use?
Mēgan says
Hi Jennie, no, I would not recommend that. Psyllium husk needs more moisture, which would change the recipe altogether.
Angelika says
Hi Megan, I wanted to tell you what what a big success your bread has been in our family. I am the only gluten free eater person but every one loves this bread. Although I changed the flours a bit, instead of sorghum I used oat flour and instead of teff flour I used quinoa flour. But it's real delicious. Thanks again.
Mēgan says
I'm so happy you've been able to tweak this recipe to suit your needs! You're so welcome!