Vegan Coconut Flour Sandwich Bread {gluten-free, oil-free}

The best vegan coconut flour sandwich bread is FAST, EASY, and rises high and crusty. It is also gluten-free, oil-free, sugar-free, yeast-free and perfect for all of your bread cravings.

Egg-Free Coconut Flour Sandwich Bread

Baking with coconut flour is equal parts delicious and satisfying. The delicious part is easy to explain. Coconut flour tastes good plain (slightly sweet with a mild scent of coconut). How many other flours can boast such a claim?

The satisfaction comes from making it work. It needs a lot of help. A LOT. It will collapse and fall to pieces without serious intervention.

I like to intervene. In all kinds of ways, but especially when it comes to vegan, gluten-free baking. The result of my most recent coconut flour intervention is this: a hearty, wholesome loaf of Gluten-Free Vegan Coconut Flour Sandwich Bread.

Delicious and satisfying. Check!

Recipe Benefits

This remarkable bread is all of the following, and so much more:

• Gluten-free
• Vegan (egg-free & dairy-free}
• Yeast-free
• Xanthan gum-free
• Oil-free
• Sugar-free
• Nut-free
• Seed-free
• High in fiber
• Made with minimal ingredients
• Easy

Ingredients

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

Forget about gluten-free vegan bread recipes with umpteen ingredients. This one has 3 main ingredients, plus some leavening and liquid.

• Coconut flour
• Brown rice flour (it is fast & easy to make–see below)
• Whole psyllium husks (not psyllium powder)
• Baking soda
• Salt (always optional/adjustable)
• Cider vinegar

You will also need some tap water to mix the ingredients into a dough.

Tip: Grind Your Own Flour

If you have a high speed blender (or a regular blender). you can grind your own brown rice flour in about 60 seconds. It is fresher, and costs a fraction of the price of ready-to-use rice flour.

If you have a high-speed blender, place 1 and 1/2 cups to 2 cups of the raw brown rice in the blender container. Cover and blend on high speed until it is fine flour.

You can use a regular blender, too. However, I strongly advise grinding no more than 1/2 cup of rice at a time to avoid overheating the motor.

Place any extra flour in an airtight bag or container and freeze until next time (trust me, you are going to make this bread more than once).

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.

Step By Step Instructions

Making this bread is easy, but it is important to use all of the ingredients specified and follow the directions as written. Bread-making is already particular. Gluten-free vegan bread-making is especially so! So for best results, stick with the plan :).

Ready? Let’s go!

Step One: Preheat the Oven

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Spray a 9×5-inch (22.5 x 10.5 cm) loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Alternatively, lightly grease or oil the pan.

Step Two: Mix the Dry Ingredients

Whisk the coconut flour, brown rice flour, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl until blended.

Step Three: Combine the Wet Ingredients & Psyllium

Whisk the water, vinegar, and psyllium husk in a medium mixing bowl. Let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes to thicken.

Psyllium husk is essential for binding the vegan coconut flour bread together and for providing critical infrastructure to the bread (i.e., when the baking soda makes it rise, it won’t fall back down).

The psyllium mixture will begin to set into a loose, pale gel almost immediately (similar to flax and chia gels but less sticky than the former).

Step Four: Squish Together Dry & Wet Ingredients

Add the psyllium mixture to the flour mixture and start mixing/squishing with your hands to combine the wet and the dry.  It is not hard, but squishing with clean hands, as opposed to stirring, is the most efficient way to combine the mixtures into a dough.

Do not add more liquid. The dough will come together in about a minute or two of squishing.

If you do not want to use your hands, a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment is the best option. 

Step Five: Shape the Dough

With moist hands, roughly shape the dough into a loaf shape while it is still in the bowl. Press and compact the dough so that there are no holes.

Place the loaf in the prepared loaf pan (sprayed or greased). Smooth the top with moist hands.

If you like, sprinkle the surface of the loaf with the optional toppings.

Step Six: Bake the Bread

Bake the bread in the preheated 350F (180C) 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.

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

Remove the vegan coconut flour sandwich bread from the pan and cool completely on a cooling rack.

Pretty amazing, right?

Slice it Thick or Thin

Slice the bread thick or thin for sandwiches, toast, and nibbling. This is a sturdy bread (no crumbling!).

Texture & Taste of Vegan Coconut Flour Sandwich Bread?

First, texture: This is a fine-textured, firm bread (ZERO gumminess), with a very pleasant crust. The texture is akin to a traditional bread made with wheat flour. The crust is even more pronounced (in the most wonderful way) a day after baking. Toasting the bread results in a crisp, crunchy, filling slice. 

Taste: The flavor of the bread is very mild and whole-grain toasty, similar to a whole wheat bread. The stronger flavor of buckwheat is made mellow by the neutral taste of the brown rice flour. Use the bread for every kind of topping and filling, savory or sweet, you crave!

FAQ & Substitutions

Can I use different flours (in place of the coconut flour and brown rice flour)?

I advise against it.

The proportion of wet and dry ingredients, as well as the quantity of psyllium husk, is particular to the coconut flour and brown rice flour combination.

The one possible exception is quinoa flour, which generally works well as a substitute for brown rice flour.

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.

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

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