This healthy Gluten-Free Seed Bread is free of gluten, yeast, and refined sugars and there's no kneading involved. It's packed with healthy seeds, oats, and nuts, has great texture and tastes amazing. Enjoy a hearty slice slathered with vegan butter!
Guess what? I came up with another easy bread recipe. This one’s for my gluten-free friends, or anyone who just loves nuts and seeds!
You’re going to love this filling, healthy, and nutritious Gluten-Free Seed Bread. Packed with loads of good stuff, the flavours and textures are amazing and the dough is made really quickly in only 1 bowl, making for easy cleanup and a simple process.
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Every slice of this wheat-free bread is loaded with fibre, protein, and healthy fats and is super filling, so you only need a small amount to feel satisfied.
Treat it as you would a regular slice of bread and slather on vegan butter or peanut butter, make open-faced sandwiches, avocado toast, enjoy it with hummus, vegetable pate, good olive oil, or jam, or serve it on the side of hearty soups like my vegan potato soup.
What ingredients do I need?
(For detailed measurements and instructions, see the printable recipe card).
Here's what you'll be needing to make this gluten-free seed bread:
- Rolled oats (sometimes called old fashioned oats) - These are going to bring everything together and make sure the bread tastes great and has good texture without falling apart. Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats if you need to.
- Pumpkin, seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and pecans - These help “beef up” the bread, adding substance, texture, flavour, and heartiness. Use raw seeds and nuts and not salted or roasted. You can use any combination of nuts and seeds, or just seeds for a nut-free alternative.
- Ground flaxseed and whole chia seeds - To help bind all of the ingredients together. I love to use ground golden flax because it has the best flavour.
- Baking powder - This isn't a fluffy bread and it doesn't really rise much, but the baking powder does help with the texture.
- Maple syrup - This helps balance the flavours. You only need a little, so don’t worry about the bread turning out sweet.
- Avocado or olive oil - These tasty fats add moisture to the bread and help keep it fresh for longer. I’ve included instructions on making this bread oil-free if that’s more your style.
- Plant milk - Any kind you wish or make your own! Just make sure it’s unsweetened and unflavoured.
How to make Gluten-Free Seed Bread
Here's how we make it in a few easy steps:
Step 1 - Grease and line a loaf pan with parchment paper. This will act as a handle to easily remove the bread once it’s baked.
Step 2 - Add half the oats to a food processor or blender and blend until they turn into a flour-like consistency.
Step 3 - Put the oat flour in a bowl with the whole rolled oats and add in all of the other dry ingredeints. Mix it all up!
Step 4 - Next, add in the wet ingredients (maple syrup, oil, and milk). Stir it really well until it forms a thick batter.
Step 5 - Spoon the dough into the pan, then while the oven is preheating leave the dough to rest in the pan so the flax and chia seeds can soak up the moisture and bind everything together.
Step 6 - Place the pan on the middle rack in your oven and bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Step 7 - When it’s done, leave the bread to cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing it and letting it cool completely on a cooling rack.
Here's what it looks like when you turn it out of the pan:
What if I don’t have a food processor or blender?
No problem! Instead of using all rolled oats, use 1 ¼ cup of storebought oat flour and 1 ¼ cup of rolled oats. That way you can skip the blending of the oats. If you aren’t gluten-free, you could also use spelt flour instead of the oat flour.
Success tips
- Processing or blending half of the oats to start is important for the texture and stability of the bread. Don't just throw all of the whole oats into the dough.
- Do not change the amount of flax and chia seeds in the recipe. They must remain as they are because they are what hold the loaf together.
- Don’t skip the salt! It’s crucial to the flavour.
- Pack the dough into the loaf pan really well to compact it so there’s no chance of it falling apart. Use a spoon or spatula to do this.
- Don't skip the batter resting period while the oven preheats. It's important to let the chia and flax absorb the moisture before baking begins.
- I don't recommend using silicone pans. They don’t conduct the heat like metal and with this recipe, the nuts and seeds won't get as toasty and delicious.
Some ways you can adapt this recipe
- Replace the ground up oats with spelt flour (keep the whole oats in it though).
- Use brown sugar or coconut sugar if you don’t have any maple syrup.
- Add a dash of cinnamon for some warm fall flavour.
- Sweeten it up with some dried fruit like raisins, sultanas, cranberries or chopped dates in place of some of the nuts or seeds.
- Feel free to use any kind of raw nuts or seeds you already have at home. This bread is really versatile.
How to make oil-free
Simply omit the oil completely to mak this gluten-free bread oil-free. I accidentally did that last time I made it and it was fine. The texture isn't quite as good and it doesn't colour as much when baking, but the difference is quite negligible.
How to make nut-free
The nuts can be replaced with more seeds. You can even add some dried fruit for a sweeter bread. Just make sure the total amount of fruit and seeds is pretty much the same.
How to store
Keep the fully cooled bread in an airtight container. You could also wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or foil. Store at room temperature for 5 days or a bit longer in the fridge.
How to freeze
It’s never a bad thing to have extra bread in your freezer. Wrap the unsliced bread or individual slices thoroughly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Let it defrost in the fridge overnight or leave it on your kitchen counter for an hour or two.
Hungry for more?
Looking for more gluten-free baked goods? You might also enjoy these recipes:
- Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Bread
- Healthy Pumpkin Cookies
- Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
- No Bake Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars
- Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Healthy No Bake Bars
Recipe
Gluten-Free Seed Bread
Author:Ingredients
- 2½ cups / 225 grams certified gluten-free rolled/old fashioned oats , divided
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons / 84 grams hulled pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons / 84 grams hulled sunflower seeds
- 1¼ cups / 125 grams walnuts or pecans , chopped (or replace with more pumpkin & sunflower seeds, or hemp or sesame seeds to keep nut-free)
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons / 105 grams ground flax seed , golden flax has the best flavour
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon / 60 grams chia seeds
- 1½ teaspoons fine salt
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- 2½ tablesoons maple syrup , or 1½ tablespoons brown sugar (the bread isn't sweet, it just balances the flavours)
- 2½ tablespoons avocado or olive oil (or any other liquid oil of choice) , see notes for oil-free alternative
- 1¼ cup / 300 mls plant milk , unsweetened & unflavoured
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Grease and line an 8.5 x 4.5 inch or a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Take roughly half the oats (eyeballing it is fine - it doesn't have to be exact), and put them in a food processor or blender. Process/blend until flour-like then tip into a large mixing bowl. No blender or food processor? See the recipe notes.
- To the mixing bowl add all of the nuts and seeds, the unprocessed oats, salt and baking powder. Mix so they are combined.
- Next add the maple syrup, oil and milk to the bowl. Stir it all up really well to form a thick batter, then spoon into the lined loaf pan and pack it down really well, then smooth out the top.
- Preheat oven to 350 °F ( 176 °C). Let the loaf rest in the pan while the oven preheats so that the flax and chia seeds absorb the moisture and bind everything together.
- Once the oven is to temperature bake the loaf on the middle shelf for 60 to 65 minutes or until a skewer, toothpick or sharp knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Don't worry if you see a crack or two. They will only be on the surface and your bread will hold together really well once cool.
- Leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes then gently remove and place on a cooling rack. Carefully remove the parchment paper and leave until completely cool before slicing or storing.
NOTES
- Use raw seeds and nuts not salted or roasted.
- Processing/blending half of the oats is important for the texture and stability of the bread. Don't just throw them all in whole.
- As long as you keep the total amount the same you can change the amount of or combinations of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and nuts. Any raw nuts or seeds you have will work. You can even replace some of them with dried fruits. However, you cannot change the flax and chia seeds. They must remain as they are because they are what hold the loaf together.
- The salt is important for flavour. Don't skip it.
- Whilst you can use any ground flaxseed for this recipe, if you can get it, golden flax has the best flavour.
- Be sure to pack the batter into the loaf pan really well so it's really compacted.
- Don't skip the batter resting period while the oven preheats. It's important to let the chia and flax absorb the moisture.
- I don't recommend baking in silicone pans. They don't conduct the heat like metal and with this recipe, the nuts and seeds won't get as toasty and delicious as they do in a metal pan.
Kelly says
I have been looking for a recipe like this ever since having it in Europe! ALSO, now that I am Gluten FREE ... it's amazing to eat bread again :)
Also, after trying the tip about adding the flax and chia seeds to the milk, my bread did not crumble! I also did add maybe 3/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum to the double recipe I made! Thank you!!! I love it !!
A great baker says
It would be helpful if Ingredient list should said ground oats instead of just rolled oats cos people check list when grocery shopping.I made the entire thing then I saw I wasted all the ingredients cos I only had rolled oats on hands
Melanie McDonald says
You don't need ground oats, you need rolled oats. The ingredients list is correct.
Amanda says
I'm excited to try this! Could psyllium husk be used in place of the ground flax? Thanks!
Melanie McDonald says
I've never tried it with psyllium husk.
Kristin says
Greetings from Oregon, USA! I made this last night and It. Is. Delicious! It is a little crumbly, but I probably could have ground the flax seed a bit more. Otherwise, it's amazing - especially with a bit of red raspberry jam. Thank you so much - I look forward to exploring your other recipes!
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you enjoyed it Kristin!
Jenn says
I made this last night & although it is delicious, it completely crumbled apart. I used the correct ingredients & amounts, I double checked. I am wondering if it was because I used a glass loaf pan w parchment paper instead of metal? I baked for 65 min at 350 & let it cool completely overnight before attempting a slice as well.
Melanie McDonald says
That's a shame. Sorry that happened.
Glass doesn't bake as well as metal pans but it's unlikely to have made too much difference with this recipe. It's more of an issue with cakes and traditional bread recipes.
A few things that could have contributed:
Not packing it hard enough into the pan.
Overbaking it. All ovens are different.
Using a bigger pan. If it's a bigger one the bread won't be as deep and so will cook quicker and become dry if cooked for the length of time stated in the recipe.
Not using the chia seeds or ground flaxseed
Using whole flax instead of ground flaxseeds. It absolutely has to be ground.
Also really essential is the processing of half of the oats. If you don't do that it won't stay together.
Did you weigh the ingredients or use cups? Cups are a really inaccurate way of measuring and it's so easy to end up with too much of something. If that did happen the mixture could have been too dry which could make it crumble.
I hope that something there helps work out what might have happened.
Sarah says
This is an absolute winner! Since we've discovered it we make it every few days! There is one trick that I made since I also had some initial trouble with the crumbliness:
Soak the ground flax in the milk for about 5 minutes to thicken (think flax eggs).
Add the rest of the liquid ingredients to it.
From there mix it into the dry ingredients and do as the recipe suggests: pack it down and let it rest while the oven is heating. Cook 55 minutes and it makes perfect loaf after loaf. Thank you for this gem of a recipe!!
B says
Greetings from Latvia! ?? Thanks so much for this recipe, we loved it and have experimented with different seeds and nuts. It is very crumbly though, was wondering how to make it hold together more... Egg? ??♀️ Then it's not vegan anymore ?
A Virtual Vegan says
As long as you're using the ground flax and the chia seeds in the quantities given and measuring everything correctly it shouldn't be crumbly. The ground flax and chia hold it together really well and it should slice easily. If you have used anything else instead of the chia or ground flax (including whole flax instead of ground) then that will be the reason it's crumbly.
Simon Field says
Finally got around to making this, having had it mind since you drew attention to it a few months ago. It is excellent, especially good with a little lavender honey!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased you enjoyed it Simon. Thanks for coming back to leave a review!
Jill says
The seeds in this were so yummy I actually put a slice on my bird feeder and the birds loved it too! It was only once slice, we ate the rest! ?
A Virtual Vegan says
I was actually feeding the birds with this when I was testing the recipe because I ended up with way more than we could handle.
I'm really pleased you (and your birds) enjoyed it!
Patricia Giannelia says
Hi;
I haven't tried this yet, but if it is anything like your Pumpkin loaf, I expect awesome. I just wanted to comment on your oil choice - you suggest avocado or olive - is this because of flavour? I use very little oil in my baking and cooking, but when I do, I often use grapeseed oil, as it is virtually flavourless.
A Virtual Vegan says
In this case, it's purely because that's what I always have here and it's just habit to write them in the recipes. I just amended it to say or any other liquid oil of choice. Grapeseed oil will be fine!
I hope you enjoy the recipe when you get a chance to try it!
Belinda says
Amazing recipe. We loved it!
Mar says
Hi Mel the is no gluten free oats in my country. Can i sub for gluten free flour blend or another thing?
Thank you so much.
A Virtual Vegan says
I think a GF flour blend would be ok. Or perhaps almond flour/meal? I'd add some extra seeds, nuts or perhaps quinoa flakes or buckwheat to replace the whole oats that go in there as they are important for texture. Although I am pretty sure this will be ok I should point out that I haven't tested it like this so can't guarantee how it will turn out. This recipe is pretty forgiving though so it should be ok. Hope that helps and good luck!
Mar says
Thank you for the quick answer ?