100% Millet Sandwich Bread {vegan, gluten-free, no yeast}

Vegan gluten-free 100% millet sandwich bread is the new white bread! This fine-textured, crusty loaf has a toasty, mild-corn flavor that goes with everything (and makes a superior piece of toast). Easy to make, it is also oil-free, sugar-free, xanthan gum-free, yeast-free and perfectly delicious.

Vegan & Gluten-Free Millet Bread (no other flours!)

Interested in making easy, gluten-free, vegan white bread? ♡

You are in luck, because today I am sharing my millet sandwich bread, a simple-to-assemble, healthy, delectable “white” bread made with 100% millet flour (no other flours or starches). Really and truly!

Regardless of whether you are brand new to gluten-free bread-baking, or just looking for a healthy, everyday gluten-free bread recipe to add to your repertoire, I highly recommend giving this delicious bread a try.

Alright friends, let’s make some easy, gluten-free bread together!

Recipe Benefits

First, allow me to say a few words about humble, frugal, and fabulous millet. Millet is a high-fiber ancient grain with a low-glycemic index (i.e., no sugar spike after eating). Further, it is high in B vitamins, calcium, iron, potassium, zinc and magnesium. I love that it has a mild flavor and that it is very inexpensive, too–perfect for making many loaves of everyday bread like this!

Millet flour is often used in combination with other flours for gluten-free baking, but my bread uses millet alone (no other flours or starches). The bread is all of the following, and more:

• Gluten-free
• Vegan (egg-free & dairy-free}
• Yeast-free
• Xanthan gum-free
• Oil-free
• Sugar-free
• Nut-free
• High in fiber (3.9 g per slice)
• Minimal ingredients
• Easy

Ingredients for 100% Millet Sandwich Bread

The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post.

Gluten-free bread shouldn’t require a laundry list of ingredients. You will only need the following to make this loaf:

• Millet flour
• Whole psyllium husks (not psyllium powder)
• Baking powder 
• Baking soda
• Salt (always optional/adjustable)
• Water
• Cider vinegar

Tip: Grind Your Own Flour

If you have a high-speed blender, or a small electric coffee grinder, you can grind your own flour from whole millet in little time.

High speed blenders will turn millet into millet flour in about a minute. If using a coffee grinder, you will need to grind about 1/4 cup at a time (it goes quickly). Place any extra flour in an airtight bag or container and freeze until next time.

Alas, food processors do not work for grinding whole millet into fine flour (I’ve tried, and tried again). The tiny millet grains are hard (and tenacious!), making it difficult to get anything finer than a coarse meal after 10 minutes of grinding.

Vinegar Options

Any other vinegar–light or dark–can be used in place of the cider vinegar. If you do not have vinegar, or do not use it for dietary reasons, substitute an equal amount of lemon or lime juice.

How to Make Vegan Gluten-Free Millet Bread

Making this bread is easy. Let’s do this!

Step One: Mix the Dry Ingredients. 

Whisk the millet flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl until blended. 

Step Two: Combine the Wet Ingredients and Psyllium.

Whisk the water, vinegar, and psyllium husk in a medium mixing bowl. Let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes to thicken. The psyllium mixture sets into a loose, pale gel almost immediately (similar to flax and chia gels, but less sticky than the former).

Step Three: Stir to Combine

Add the psyllium mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine the wet and the dry. I find that a rubber spatula, wooden spoon, or clean hands work best. The dough will be thick, but will come together easily. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure the dough is completely blended.

Roughly shape the dough into a cohesive ball or general mass while it is still in the bowl.

Step Four: Shape the Dough.

Wash any excess dough off of your hands. With still moist hands, shape the dough ball into a loaf shape to fit a 9×5-inch (22.5 x 12.5 cm) loaf pan.  Place the loaf in the pan (sprayed, greased, or lined with parchment paper). Smooth the top and gently press into shape, rounding the corners and sides.

Step Five: Bake the Bread.

Bake the bread in a preheated 325F (160C) oven for 90 minutes until risen (it has a significant rise!), and the surface of the bread appears golden brown, dry, and crusty. The bread will also sound hollow when tapped.

Important Note: Convection Ovens

If your oven has a convection option, do not use it for this bread! This bread need to be baked using the regular (conventional, radiant) heat. More about this in the FAQS at the end of the post.

Let the bread cool, in the pan, on a cooling rack for 15 minutes.

Remove the bread from the pan and cool the loaf completely on a cooling rack.

Now that’s a fine-looking loaf of bread!

Slice it Thick or Thin

 This is a sturdy bread with minimal crumbs, which translates to bread that can be sliced as thick or thin as you desire. 

What is the Texture & Taste?

First, texture: This is a fine-textured, firm bread with a distinctive crust. It is similar to a firm, white (all-purpose flour) white sandwich bread. Toasting the bread results in crisp, crunchy, hearty slices. 

Taste: The flavor of the bread is mild and toasty, with a subtle flavor akin to corn. I LOVE it toasted, topped with melting vegan butter and a thick slather of jam. It is excellent for sandwiches, too. I recommend slicing it thin for sandwiches given it is such a filling bread.

Have fun spreading this with everything from nut butter to hummus to jam, and don’t forget about dunking it into soups and stews (it holds up with aplomb). 

FAQ

Can I use different flours (in place of the millet flour)?

I do not recommend it. The proportion of wet and dry ingredients, as well as the quantity of psyllium husk, is particular to the millet flour.

Good news! I have tested two variations–one with buckwheat flour, the other with oat flour– so that you do not have to experiment! They are equally easy and delicious:

Gluten-Free Buckwheat Sandwich Bread {vegan, no yeast}

Vegan Gluten-Free Oat Sandwich Bread {oil-free, yeast-free}

What kind of Millet Flour do you use?

I bring this up for my international readers. In the U.S. and Canada, we pretty much have one type of millet , and one type of millet flour made from that type of millet, available. It is simply labeled “millet.” It is small and pale yellow.

North American manufacturers do not specify the type of millet on packages (it is simply called “millet“), but various sources indicate that the only millet grown for human consumption in the United States is proso millet. If you have the choice of several millets in your country, opt for proso millet (and flour made from proso millet).

Do not Use Sorghum Flour or Amaranth Flour. Also note, in particular, that some countries categorize a range of grains as “millet,” even though they are not, in botanical terms, millet. For example, sorghum and amaranth. Neither sorghum flour nor amaranth flour will not work with this bread.

My oven has a convection setting. Should I use it for this bread?

No, definitely not. Convection ovens are wonderful for many types of recipes, but not every recipe. Convection ovens excel at quick, crisp cooking. They are not the right choice for long slow baking, and that is definitely the case for this bread.

Convection ovens (or the convection oven setting) can force the outer layer of this bread to rise and separate from the inside of the bread. This will lead to several results: (1) a big bubble under the surface of the loaf; (2) a gooey middle and bottom; and (3) a hard outer crust.

This bread needs the low, slow radiant heat of a conventional (radiant heat) oven.

My bread came out gooey in the middle. Why?

The most likely reasons are the following:

1. Baking in a a convection oven instead of conventional oven. See the section above explaining why this makes a huge difference.
2. Not gelling the psyllium separately from the other ingredients. For this recipe, the psyllium must be gelled separately from the other ingredients for the bread to work (i.e., no shortcuts in mixing all of the ingredients together at once).
3. Oven temperature is off. I regularly check my oven temperature setting using an inexpensive oven thermometer. Check to make sure the oven is accurate before baking. If the oven is too hot, it can force a faster rise to the bread, leading to a bubble under the top of the loaf.

Can I Use Something Other than Whole Psyllium Husks?

Alas, no, it must be whole psyllium husks. Other gelling agents, such as flaxseed meal or chia seeds, will not work as direct substitutes (they might work, but it would involve some experimenting to determine their efficacy).

I also do not recommend psyllium powder. It can work as a substitute for the whole husks in some recipes, but not with this bread.

How Can I Vary the Flavor of the Bread?

Consider adding dried herbs or spices to the bread to vary the flavor. For example, 1 to 2 tablespoons of dried Italian herbs or herbes de Provence or 2 to 3 teaspoons of ground cumin, curry powder, garlic powder, or onion power.

For a sweet version of this bread, try my 100% Millet Banana Bread or 100% Millet Pumpkin Bread.

Happy baking! Let me know if you give this a try :).

More Vegan Gluten-Free Millet Recipes to Try

• Flourless Millet Oat Bread {vegan, GF, 5 ingredients}
• Carrot Cake Millet Breakfast Bars 
• Flourless Apple Millet Muffins
• Millet Apricot Energy Bars
• Vegan Millet Kale Quiches {GF, high protein}
• Strawberry Puffed Millet Bars {Vegan, Nut-Free, GF}
• Millet Pilaf with Dried Cranberries {gluten-free & vegan}