This gluten-free seeded bread is incredibly easy to make, super nourishing, and has the best chewy, nutty texture. Packed with fiber, healthy fats, and whole seeds, it’s perfect toasted with a spread or as a base for savory toppings. It also holds together beautifully, which isn’t always the case with gluten-free breads.
It’s a great option for anyone looking for a more nourishing homemade bread recipe or to work on your gut health in a super easy way. Studies show that eating a wide variety of plants is a great way to support gut health by keeping your gut microbes happy. One commonly recommended goal is to include at least 30 different plants per week in your diet. This bread includes 9 unique plants in one recipe, making it a delicious and simple way to reach that goal!
It took me over 10 trials to perfect this recipe, and I could not be happier with the results. We’ve been having it on repeat for avocado toasts, but my favorite way to enjoy it is toasted with some tofu cream cheese and blueberry jam. The nutty taste pairs so beautifully with the creamy texture and berry spread! If you love this one, my 1-ingredient buckwheat bread, red lentil quinoa bread, and seeded crackers are next on your bake list.
Why I love this recipe (as a nutritionist)
- Gluten-free: perfect if you have to avoid gluten
- Packed with nuts and seeds: rich in minerals, and linked to reduced risk of chronic disease. Consuming a 28g daily serving is linked to a 20% lower risk of early death.
- Gut health friendly: with 9 to 11 unique plants (depending on whether you’re using seasonings or not), including psyllium husk (a great prebiotic), each slice is a feast for our microbiome
- High in fiber: thanks to flax, seeds, and whole grains
- Good source of healthy fats: from walnuts, seeds, and olive oil
- Meal prep friendly: stays fresh for days and freezes well
- No fancy equipment: no blender or processor needed, just a bowl, spatula, and loaf pan
- No rise time: just mix and bake, so easy!
Ingredient notes
- Walnuts, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds: add minerals crunch and healthy fats
- Buckwheat flour: naturally gluten-free and great for density
- Psyllium husk: essential for the chewy texture and binding. It acts as a gluten replacement.
- Apple cider vinegar and baking soda: react to help the loaf rise
How to make this recipe (summary)
Start by preheating the oven to 350°F (180°C) fan. In a large bowl, add all dry ingredients, then pour in the vinegar, oil, and water.
Mix everything together until fully combined into a thick batter.
Rest the batter in the pan for 10 minutes to allow the psyllium to activate.
Bake on the middle rack for 90 minutes until the crust is firm and deep golden brown.
Cool the bread on a wire rack to prevent it from steaming and softening underneath.
Slice once completely cool. The crumb holds together beautifully!
View recipe card below for detailed instructions.
Variations and tips
- Do not use chia seeds: including them gave the bread a more spongy texture
- Mix the seeds: I have tried different combinations, and the one provided here is my favorite. However, you can play around with the amounts slightly. Just make sure you end up with the same amount of seeds at the end to obtain similar results
- Add flavor: try caraway, fennel, chili, onion flakes or cumin seeds for extra aroma
- Make it sweet: add a dash of maple syrup or coconut sugar, skip the garlic flakes, however a little thyme or rosemary can be lovely when paired with sweet toppings.
- Toast it: The nutty flavor is next level when toasted. I like to put mine in the air fryer for a few minutes.
- Storage: Keep it in the pantry for 2 days. Keep it in the fridge for 5 days; however, it loses a little of its texture after being in the fridge, and I prefer to have it toasted in that case. Slice and freeze for up to 2 months. It’s great reheated in the air fryer or oven.
- Don’t skip the psyllium: it’s key for texture and structure
- If you like this recipe, you’ll also love our 1-Ingredient Buckwheat Bread, Healthy Almond Flour Crackers, or Red Lentil Quinoa Bread.
Why you’ll love this gluten-free seeded bread TLDR
- Fiber-rich
- Gut health friendly
- Super satisfying
- Meal prep friendly
- Gluten-free
FAQ
Yes, it uses naturally gluten-free flours like buckwheat and almond.
Keep it in the pantry for 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days. It loses a little texture in the fridge so I prefer to have it toasted in that case. Slice and freeze for up to 2 months. It’s great reheated in the air fryer or oven.
There’s no direct substitute for psyllium that gives the same structure. It’s best not to skip it.
Almond flour helps give it a soft texture. You could try more buckwheat flour or chickpea flour. A reader, Maria, made it with chickpea flour and it worked. If you want an almond-free option, my 1-Ingredient GF Buckwheat Bread is the one to try.
I haven’t tested it without oil, but my 1-Ingredient GF Buckwheat Bread and Red Lentil Quinoa Bread are both naturally oil-free if you’d prefer to go that route.
Keep the flax seeds whole for this recipe. They create a gel that helps everything hold together. Ground flaxseed changes the water ratio, and in my testing the bread became too dense.
I’ve only tested it with buckwheat, but other flours should work. You may need to play with the measurements. If you have whole raw buckwheat, you can blend it very finely until you get a flour consistency.
Yes. Blend blanched almonds (skins removed) in a food processor or high-speed blender until they turn into a fine, soft flour. If there are any bigger bits left, sift it to keep the texture nice and light. If you keep the skin on it makes almond meal, which is coarser and darker.
If your oven doesn’t have a fan setting, increase the temperature by 10-20 °C (about 25-35 °F). For example: 160 °C fan becomes 170-180 °C conventional, or 350 °F fan becomes 375-385 °F conventional. Rotate your tray halfway through for even baking.
2 1/4 cups of water is correct. The mixture is indeed runny, and it firms up in the oven.
Gluten-Free Seeded Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup (85 g) flaxseed
- ½ cup (60 g) pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup (50 g) walnuts - roughly chopped
- ¼ cup (35 g) sunflower seeds
- 2 tbsp (18 g) sesame seeds
- 1 cup (120 g) buckwheat flour
- ¼ cup (20 g) whole psyllium husk
- ½ cup (56 g) almond flour
- 1 ½ tsp (6 g) baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp (6 g) baking soda
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ tsp (9 g) sea salt flakes
- 1 tbsp (10 g) garlic flakes - optional
- 1 tsp (1 g) dried mixed herbs - optional
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) olive oil
- 2 ¼ cups (535 ml) water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), fan on.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, buckwheat flour, psyllium husk, almond flour, sea salt flakes, garlic flakes, mixed herbs (if using), baking powder, and baking soda. Pour the apple cider vinegar over the baking soda to activate it, you’ll notice it begins to bubble. Then add the olive oil and water, and stir well until all combined.
- Line a loaf pan (9.5x5x2.5in) (24x13x6.5cm) with baking paper. Pour in the mixture and let it sit for 10 minutes. Optionally, sprinkle extra seeds on top for decoration.
- Place the pan horizontally on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 90 minutes.
- Once baked, remove the loaf from the pan and baking paper immediately, and place it on a cooling rack to prevent moisture from softening the crust (see notes). Allow it to cool completely before slicing, I made 20 slices.
Notes
- Mixed herbs: Use any herbs you’d like, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil.
- Cooling tray: If you do not have a cooling tray, use a wire rack from your oven or grill toaster.
- Cooling time: When bread or cake cools, the texture sets and the steam escapes, helping it firm up. This also allows moisture to redistribute evenly, so the crumb isn’t gummy in the middle or dry at the edges.
Video
Per Serving/Portion
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hi – I’m trying this seed bread recipe for the 1st time and I found the instructions a little confusing with the baking soda. It states to incorporate the dry ingredients, including the baking soda….assuming mixing well. Then it states to pour the apple cider vinegar over the baking soda. Do you pour the apple cider vinegar over the soda in a separate bowl….add the oil and water…..and then add the wet blend to the dry ingredients? Could you reword it, please.
Hi Sheran, sorry you found it confusing. The instructions are correct: add all the dried ingredients into a large bowl, with the baking soda last. Do not mix. Pour the apple cider vinegar directly over the baking soda to activate it. You don’t need a separate bowl. Then add the water and oil to the same bowl and mix.
You can refer to the video under the instructions for visual cues. Hope you love it 💚
Thanks for the clarification.
Excuse me. Can I substitue buckwheat flour for another gluten free flour? Thanks for your help.
I have not tried, but let us know if you experiment with the recipe 🙂 What sort of flour would you prefer to use? I’ll keep it in mind for future recipe test.
Alternatively you might like our quinoa lentil bread, that does not contain any buckwheat: https://plantbaes.com/red-lentil-quinoa-bread-gluten-free/
Have a beautiful day 💚
What is the substitute for buckwheat flour?
I have not tested it with another flour, but someone mentioned using chickpea flour successfully in the comments. Let us know if you experiment with it 🙂
I love this recipe! I have made it three times now. I slice and freeze it so I have it ready to take to work. I have shared it with a few people. One asked what the fibre content is. Has anyone calculated this?
I’m so happy to hear that Margaret. The fiber content for the whole bread is 60 g. You can find the full nutritional panel for all our recipes by clicking “Nutritional Information” just below the recipe instructions 🙂
Will it work with flax meal instead of flax seeds ? I tend to only use flax meal in my recipes.
Thanks
That would change the texture. Whole flaxseeds create a nice gel once they’re mixed with the other ingredients, which helps everything hold together. Using ground flaxseed would change the water ratio. In different recipes where I’ve experimented with ground flaxseed, I’ve found the bread became too dense. I’m sure you could still get good enough results by playing around with the measurements, but I haven’t tested it myself so I can’t give an exact ratio. Let us know if you try 🙂
Followed exactly…but very crumbly??
Thanks so much for trying the recipe! The bread shouldn’t be crumbly if everything comes together properly, so I’d love to help troubleshoot. If you’d like, you can send me a photo at sarah@plantbaes.com so I can get a better idea of what might have happened.
Sarah 💕
I can’t eat flax seed. Is there a substitution? Thanks
The flaxseed get a gel like substance when soaked which is key to the texture, no substitution come to mind for this exact recipe, but you might like one of these bread recipes with no flaxseed instead:
– https://plantbaes.com/1-ingredient-gluten-free-buckwheat-bread/
– https://plantbaes.com/red-lentil-quinoa-bread-gluten-free/
This one says 130 calories per slice. That’s great. I must try. I made one seed bread I absolutely loved, but it had 675 calories per slice! Hope this one can replace it.
Hope you love it 🥰
I made this bread and the consistency is really good. I didn’t have the sesame seeds so used hemp seeds instead. However it takes like baking soda, really strong. Do you think the recipe will turn out with less baking soda? I am eating it anyway because of the cost of the ingredients, but not enjoying it. I want something like this that I can bake for myself. So disappointed in gluten free bread you can purchase in a store! I just don’t care for store bought GF bread. I also need my recipes to be dairy free, and egg free (at least egg hold free)
I love all of the great ideas and recipes you post.
Thanks,
Penny
Hi Penny, thank you so much for your kind words and for giving the recipe a go 💚 I’m so sorry to hear the baking soda flavor came through so strong for you, it’s not something I’ve experienced myself or had feedback on before. Did you happen to pour the vinegar straight onto the baking soda? The acid should usually neutralize the taste. I have not tried the bread with lower amount, so I can’t comment on the results, but let us know if you try!
If you’d like something even simpler, you might enjoy our 1-ingredient buckwheat bread instead: https://plantbaes.com/1-ingredient-gluten-free-buckwheat-bread/ . It’s gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free too, and there is no raising agent.
I’m really glad you’re finding ideas here, and I hope one of these breads becomes a staple you enjoy baking for yourself 💕