She Can Have Bread! Oat Flour Bread!

My daughter has extreme tummy and digestive issues. She has had bouts of pain so terrible that she ended up in the ER at one point. We have seen numerous doctors, specialists, nutritionists etc. Currently we are working with a chiropractor to see if that helps.

So far we have had the most success with an elimination diet. She is usually pain free if we stick to her diet but it’s tough to live as restricted as we do.  She isn’t just “gluten free” or “dairy free” or “soy free”. She’s all those things plus MORE. It’s easier to list the foods she CAN have than the ones she can’t. So the poor girl has not had bread in a few years now. Even the gluten free breads out there have other stuff in them that she can’t eat. But she CAN have gluten free oats. Yeast is out of the question however… so I made it a mission of mine to create a yeast free bread that she can eat.

Today I’m sharing with you a recipe for an oat flour bread I make. It’s SUPER basic. I’m sure you could tweak the recipe if you wanted to try different flours but the less ingredients we use the better it is for our lifestyle right now.

This bread is more of a “biscuit” in that it’s dense and made with baking soda and baking powder. It doesn’t rise the way a yeast bread would. The Apple Cider Vinegar is optional. I’ve made it both ways and it turns out either way.

The loaf is a bit crumbly compared to other breads. It wont hold a burger all that well. But my daughter still requests it with her burgers so she can have the warm chewy goodness of “bread” that she has been missing out on for so long. It does however make FANTASTIC french toast. mmmmm

So without further explanation… here is how I make our gluten free Oat Flour Bread.

Ingredients:

• 3 FULL cups oat flour (I pack my measuring cup down tight with oat flour) see notes below**
• 1/4 cup coconut oil 
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder (preferably aluminum free see notes below***)
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 2 tsps sea salt We buy our Redmonds Real Sea Salt at Thrive Market.
• 1 TBS organic apple cider vinegar 
• 1 1/4 cups filtered water (depending on your macro goals you can add less oil and more water if needed) TIP: add a little water at a time until you get desired consistency of dough.

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a glass Pyrex bread pan with coconut oil.
2. Mix all your dry ingredients (oats, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt) in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add 1 cup of filtered water (save the rest), coconut oil, apple cider vinegar (if using) to the dry mixture. Mix with a spatula until thoroughly mixed together.
4. Add more filtered water as needed until you get the desired consistency. You don’t want it dry but you don’t want it too “mushy” either.
5. Scoop out the dough into your bread pan with a spatula and spread it out and pat it down so that the bread wont just crumble apart when you slice it after baking. Set a timer for 10 minutes to allow the bread to rise a bit.
6. Place the bread pan with dough in your preheated oven.
7. Cook for 25-40 minutes depending on your preference. 25 minutes will likely leave your bread doughy. My daughter loves it this way and we often reheat the bread slices in the toaster oven when we eat them so we like it slightly undercooked. If you want your bread dryer cook much longer. It all depends on how you like it.

You can store the bread in the fridge or the counter. I cover the bread in the Pyrex loaf pan after it has fully cooled.

I have only left it on the counter for 3 days and I don’t recommend storing it unrefrigerated much longer since it doesn’t have preservatives like store bought bread. This bread has never lasted us more than 3 days between my daughter and I so I couldn’t tell you how long it would last if we didn’t gobble it up so quickly.

So that’s my oat flour bread. It’s a great alternative to store bought gluten free bread. While it doesn’t hold together as well it is NOT filled with yucky ingredients. Contrary to popular believe, gluten free doesn’t always equal healthy.

UPDATE: I recently made these as muffins (per my kiddos request) and they turned out fantastic. I think this recipe is even better in muffin form. As a bread loaf it doesn’t stick together as well as other bread. It’s more like a biscuit. Muffins are perfect and taste amazing with home made almond butter and maybe some raw honey, or home made “jam” (I cook down a bunch of frozen strawberries in a pot to make a “jam” for breads or home made pancakes or waffles or French toast made with this bread!

You can cook them at 350 and check them after 12 minutes. They may take much longer depending on your oven.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to use the comment section below.

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** I make my own oat flour by grinding gluten free oats either with my food processor OR coffee grinder.

***I make my own baking powder and it’s super easy. Just mix 2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part baking soda (for example 2 TBS cream of tartar with 1 TBS baking soda). I usually make a cup of it and store for later.