This gluten-free, vegan bread recipe uses no leavening, and it bakes up into a dense, toothsome loaf that makes killer toast. Easy peasy and über-healthy, what's not to love?
My holistic chiropractor, Ann Brinkley, is always on at me to eat more protein. "What did you have for breakfast today?" she'll ask as she digs her thumbs viciously into my IT band. I'd always answer, "a smoothie" or "fruit with yogurt and granola" or "cake", knowing she'd never be satisfied with my answer.
Then I made Josey Baker's Adventure Bread. In fact, I made it six times. I ate it every morning. Knowing that it was waiting to be sliced, toasted, and topped with cream cheese, avocado and sprouts was what got me out of bed some mornings. This time, I was ready when Ann asked after my breakfast.
"I've been making this bread that's all nuts and seeds. It's really healthy. So I had a slice of that with cream cheese and avocado." She gave a noncommittal grunt, and I could imagine her picturing conventional "whole wheat" bread with a smattering of seeds in a matrix of refined white flour, and subsequently praying for my blood sugar level. I considered trying to convince her, but thought better of arguing with a woman who was about to crack my neck.
So I just went about my adventure bread baking quietly. Sometimes I'd use olive oil, sometimes coconut. Honey in place of maple syrup. Or I'd add some pumpkin puree or play with the seed combo. But my favorite addition was a smattering of buckwheat groats and millet seeds. The millet adds crunch, and some bites leave you with buckwheat's deep flavor to which I'm kind of addicted. I think it's fair to say that I'm addicted to this bread as well. It's got a lovely, nubby texture that you can really sink your teeth into, and toasting it yields a crunchy crust. The flavor is mild enough to go with whatever sweet or savory toppings you like.
This bread has quite the pedigree. Josey Baker is the founder of The Mill, home to the infamous thick slabs of toast made from house-milled grains. He adapted his adventure bread from Sarah Britton's Life-Changing Loaf of Bread which, I must say, quite lives up to its name. I've seen this type of bread popping up at various places around town, such as at a tasting of Seed + Salt that I went to with Phi and Sarah, and served with smoked onions, sauerkraut and goat cheese at Verbena. Once you try it, I wager you'll be hooked, too. (I'm looking forward to trying the crackers of the same name, too!)
A month or two later, Ann told me she was on a cleanse that forbade gluten, dairy and eggs. I again sang the praises of Adventure Bread and this time, she was all ears. The following week she enthused, "I LOVE that adventure bread. I've made it six times!"
After the initial trip to the co-op to stock up on psyllium husks, nuts, seeds, and grains, this loaf comes together in no time. Letting it hang out in the pan prior to baking helps to hydrate the grains and nuts, making for a more cohesive loaf, but the time is completely hands-off.
I hope this bread is as lovely an addition to your routine as it has been to ours. If you give it a go, I'd love to hear about it!
More Bread Recipes:
- Thin + Crisp Gluten-Free Pizza Dough
- A Farmer's Market Cornbread with Sweet Corn, Cherry Tomatoes, and Sheep's Cheese
- Gluten-Free Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread
- Gluten-Free Garlic Bread Bruschetta
*Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this multi-grain nut and seed bread recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.*
Multi-Grain Nut + Seed Bread (gluten-free + vegan)
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup sunflower seeds (5 ounces / 145 grams)
- 1 cup sliced almonds (3.5 ounces / 100 grams)
- 1/3 cup buckwheat groats (2 ounces / 60 grams)
- 1/3 cup millet seed (2 ounces / 60 grams)
- 2 1/4 cups GF old-fashioned rolled oats (6.75 ounces / 195 grams)
- 1/2 cup whole flax seed (3 ounces / 85 grams)
- 1/3 cup psyllium husk flakes (1 ounce / 30 grams)
- 1/4 cup whole chia seed (1.25 ounces / 35 grams)
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (1.25 ounces by weight / 40 grams)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (or olive oil) (1.5 ounces by weight / 45 grams)
- 2 3/4 cups water
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325ºF.
- Spread the sunflower seeds, almonds, buckwheat groats, and millet seed on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in the oven until golden and fragrant, 8-12 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the oats, flax seed, psyllium husk, chia seed, and salt. When the sunflower seed mixture has toasted, add it to the bowl and stir to combine. Add the maple syrup, melted coconut oil, and water, and stir to combine well, using your hands if need be.
- Line a loaf pan (8x4 or 9x5") on all sides with parchment paper. Scrape the dough into the pan and use damp fingers to smooth the top, creating a slight dome. Cover the dough and let sit at room temperature at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
- When ready to bake, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400ºUncover the bread and bake until deeply bronzed, about 1 1/2 hours (but check it at 1 1/4 hours). Remove the bread from the oven and let cool completely, at least 2 hours, then remove from the pan and discard the parchment.
- The bread keeps well, refrigerated airtight, for up to a week or even two. Slice and toast for best results.
Notes
Nutrition
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Owain Phillips says
Mixed yesterday, baked today.
Left out almonds, replaced with pumpkin seeds. Used buckwheat flour instead of groats. Had no chia so left out.
Didn't toast seeds.
This is is soooooo tasty.
The best gluten free bread i have ever tasted.
R says
This is the best GF bread I have had, ever. And I can make it at home. Thank you!
Shirine says
Hello Alanna,
I followed your recipe yesterday evening (I was feeling motivated). The only modification I made was to double the buckwheat (120g in all) because I don't eat millet any more (bad for my thyroid). I let it cool all night. I just ate a slice with some dairy free butter. It is delicious! I love it! It's my new favourite bread. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Alanna says
That substitution sounds perfect. I'm so glad you love it!! Thanks a bunch for the sweet note.
Joanne in Montreal says
Well, as promised in the comments to your delicious maple-sweetened apple rhubarb cobbler with oat flour biscuits, I finally tried this recipe. I really, really wanted to like it, specially with all the great reviews and the high expectations set up by the inspiration recipe's title (life-changing bread no less), but I guess it's just not what I'm looking for in a bread. It does indeed benefit from a good long toast in a cast-iron pan (I actually use the rounds from old-fashioned wood stove tops as my toaster) but I was wishing for a little more flavour (somewhere in between this loaf and Alice Medrich's Date-Nut Cake with Cherries and Buckwheat published. The latter is delicious with cheese but I am looking for more of a breakfastloaf). Then, last night, I was flipping through your Alternative Baker cookbook and may have found it! Pumpkin Cranberry Nut and Seed Loaf. I'll be trying this one next!
Alanna says
Thanks for the note Joanne! That date-nut cake does sound delicious. I like my breads more on the savory side like this one, but you could absolutely add in more sweetener and dried fruits if you want to make it your own. Please let me know how you like the pumpkin cranberry version in Alternative Baker! You might also like Snixy Kitchen's cinnamon raisin version.
Sandy Schuler says
I just received your cookbook and I am In the process of sourcing ingredients, mostly online since most are not available where I live. I want to make the pumpkin, cranberry nut and seed loaf. I am trying to find the psyllium husks. Does the recipe use flakes, powder, whole? And do you have a favorite brand? Thanks so much. Everything in the book looks delicious, I can’t wait to experiment!
Alanna says
Hi there! Thanks so much for getting my book - I hope you love the recipes! Sorry you're having trouble sourcing some of them. The psyllium husk that I use are flakes I believe. I get mine in bulk at my co-op so I'm not sure what brand they are. They look like this. It looks like they might be stocked with supplements in stores. It's the main ingredient in Metamucil (though Metamucil might contain other stuff you don't want to put in your bread.) I think whole psyllium would work fine too. Powder should also work, you would just need to decrease by volume. Let me know what you're able to find and I can help adapt the recipe if need be!
Piper says
Hello! Just wanted to let you know I made this awesome loaf yesterday - but had no psyllium. It was an awesome success anyways :) You actually can replace the psyllium with extra chia seeds. In moisture, they form a sort of gel-like substance. I used three extra tablespoons of chia - one tblspn I ground into powder and chucked in dry ingredients, then the other 2 I added whole to the wet ingredients first. I made the water hot to help the chia goo along - chucked in chia, honey and maple syrup and let stand until cool. I also added a tablespoon of Amaranth flour for density - it's totally gluten free, and even better than quinoa in healthy content values. The bread held together amazingly well - my hubby even sliced it warm :D So glad I found your lovely blog - thank you, thank you!
Alanna says
That's wonderful to hear! Those substitutions sound delightful. Thank you so much for sharing your variations with all of us!
Melissa says
What kind of psyllium husk should be used? I bought psyllium husk flakes, but I saw you can also get it ground or whole. Same question for the flax seed -- is it ok to use whole?
Alanna says
Thank you for the great q's - updated in the post to specify psyllium flakes and whole flax. Please let me know how you like the bread! :)
Mary says
Thank you so much for the recipe! I have made it twice and each time it was perfect- everyone loves it!! :):) Delish with peanut butter, banana, cinnamon and walnuts, my fave, or savoury with avocado, cherry tomatoes, rocket and sprouted mungbeans.
Alanna says
I'm so glad you're enjoying the bread - those toppings sound divine!
Jodie Perkins says
This looks FANTASTIC! I'm not able to eat oats though. Any suggestions as to what I could use as a substitute?
Jodie Perkins says
Just scrolled through all the comments and found another person that's not able to eat oats. I saw the suggestion of rice or quinoa flakes. Wondering if you have a preference or another suggestion since I'm sure this ingredient is most important for the bulk of the loaf.
Alanna says
Hi Jodie, I think rice flakes would have a more mild flavor and sturdier texture than quinoa if you're able to find them! Please let me know if you try. I've also seen grain-free versions of this type of loaf (see this recipe). Happy baking! :)
Kim says
I have a silly question, I think.
I've read the comments and a number of folks have subbed out flax meal for whole flax seed.
I am considering doing that in my next round of batches of bread because they have a giant bag of flax meal on sale and the seeds get stuck in my teeth honestly, and drive me nuts (I weigh out six individual loaves worth into 12 mason jars - one jar for the "needs toasted" parts and one jar for the "untoasted" parts. Then when I want to make a loaf, it's super easy, and it's helped me keep the bread in the fridge/freezer more easily.)
I'm curious if it will ruin the texture/consistency. I feel like the bread IS very forgiving, but I would hate to ruin it with ground flax meal x6 (I've tried all kinds of oils and am not terribly precise about the water/maple syrup measurement, and a couple of times, I have forgotten to set the timer, but it's tasty every time - olive oil probably being my least favorite variant - but I generally can notice the taste of olive oil in baked goods, so it's more my flavorful oil choice than it is olive oil in general, I believe.)
Anyhow, Alanna, have you tried it with flax meal by any chance? What would you do? (I am guessing you'd try it on one loaf, not six, but I am lazy, and weighing everything is quicker by the dozen!)
Alanna says
Hi friend! First of all, genius idea to weigh out multiple jars of dry mix/needs toasted. SO SMART! Second, I love the idea of using ground flax here. Here's my idea: weigh out all the jars MINUS the flax, then test the first loaf with ground flax. Best to sub by weight, although you're right - it's a forgiving enough recipe that it likely won't matter much. You might need to add a little more water since I'm guessing the ground flax might absorb more since there's more surface area exposed. Let me know what you try! Thanks for testing. :)
Jayne says
I can’t use buckwheat flour so is there a substitute
also I would like to make a small loaf
so can I half the quantity
Thankyou
Jaynev
Alanna says
This recipe actually calls for buckwheat groats, not flour. If you don't have buckwheat groats, other people have had luck using more nuts or seeds in their place. Let me know if you try!
Ritu says
I can’t believe this ! I saved your recipe a week back as I liked it and quickly went through it, I am from India and I was in SF last sept a friend took me to the mill and I absolutely loved the adventure bread , today I went back to the photo of the bread I clicked at the mill and thought if somehow I could recreate that bread for me ! And I checked your recipe reading In depth and I am totally floored by the coincidence as you speak about the same bread ! I am going to make it now
Alanna says
What an amazing coincidence! I hope you enjoyed your trip and that this recipe brings back happy memories of SF. Please let me know how you like it.
May says
An we make it in a mini loaf .
And pls help me with the baking time
Alanna says
I would guess you could make 2 smaller loaves and decrease the baking time to maybe 45 minutes - 1 hour?
Kate says
A friend makes this bread and I love it! I'd love to try making it on my own, but am trying to limit rolled oats in my diet. Have you tried replacing the rolled oats with oat bran? And if so, how does this change the recipe or the result?
Alanna says
Hi Kate, I'm so glad you and your friend love this bread! Hm I haven't tried replacing the oats with oat bran. I'm a little concerned that it would be unpleasantly fibrous. However, I think you could increase the sunflower seeds and almonds or add in some pumpkin seeds in place of some of the oats. I would start by swapping out a cup or so of the oats. Or you could try swapping in some oat bran, maybe 1/2 cup, for some of the oats. You may need to adjust the water in the recipe either way. Please let me know what you experiment with!