This Flaxseed Bread has a nutty flavour and dense texture reminiscent of rye bread, and is perfect for making toast! It's filling and nutritious, a good source of protein and fibre, and slices well. There's no kneading required and no proving time needed! It's vegan, gluten-free, no-knead, yeast-free, free from sugar, oil-free, nut-free and super easy to make!
I had many failed attempts when making this recipe - I initially wanted to make a bread using just flaxseed and no flours, but ended up with a very sticky loaf that tasted horrible!
So, I decided to add some gluten-free flour and made a version with half ground flaxseeds and half gluten-free flour. This worked out slightly better, but still had a slightly sticky texture.
Changing the ratios and making a bread using slightly less flaxseeds than gluten-free flour turned out to yield the best texture and flavour!
Flaxseeds, which are also sometimes known as linseeds, are a type of seed.
You can buy either brown flaxseeds or golden flaxseeds.
You can buy either flaxseed meal (partially ground-up flaxseeds) or whole flaxseeds.
You can buy flaxseeds in most supermarkets, local health stores or online.
You can use either brown or golden flaxseeds, but I found the colour was much nicer with golden flaxseeds.
You can buy either whole flaxseeds or flaxseed meal - it doesn't really matter because either way you'll need to grind them up into a fine powder anyway.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe.
Tip: Whether using whole flaxseeds or flaxseed meal, you'll need to grind them up into a fine powder. Flaxseed meal isn't fine enough for making this bread.
- Place the flaxseeds in a food processor.
- Whizz until you get a fine powder.
Tip: This can take quite a lot of time and it's much easier if you have a powerful/high-speed food processor.
- Transfer into a glass mixing bowl and mix together with all the other ingredients.
Tip: Use a measuring jug to measure out the water.
- Transfer the batter into a one-pound loaf tin.
Tip: Line the tin with greased baking paper to make the bread easier to remove after.
- Sprinkle over mixed seeds to decorate, if desired.
- Bake in the oven for 40 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Tip: Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack to cool down completely before packing away to store because otherwise the steam from the warm bread will get trapped and you'll end up with soggy bread!
- Best left to cool completely before slicing.
How long does this Flaxseed Bread keep for?
This Flaxseed Bread keeps well covered in the fridge for a good few days. If not eaten on the day it's made, it's best toasted before eating.
Serving suggestion
I found this Flaxseed Bread tasted best when sliced as thinly as possible and toasted until super crispy - it's great for making bruschetta-style open sandwiches!
Substitutions you can make
- If you're not gluten-free, you can use plain flour.
- You can replace the apple cider vinegar with lemon juice.
More gluten-free vegan bread recipes
- Gluten-Free Vegan Chickpea Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Banana Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Irish Soda Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Almond Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Oat Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Dinner Rolls
- Gluten-Free Vegan Seeded Buckwheat Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Cornbread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Bread Rolls
- Gluten-Free Vegan Oatmeal Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Biscuits
- Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Bread
- Quinoa Bread
- or browse the whole collection!
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make this recipe
Flaxseed Bread (Vegan + Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- 200 g (1 ⅛ cup) whole flaxseeds * (I used golden but brown works too)
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- ¼ teaspoon salt to taste
- 400 ml (1 ⅔ cup) water
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar ** (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
To decorate (optional):
- Seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place the flaxseeds in a food processor and whizz until you get a fine powder - this can take quite a lot of time and it's much easier if you have a powerful/high-speed food processor.
- Transfer into a large bowl.
- Add the gluten-free flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix well.
- Add the water and vinegar and mix again.
- Transfer the mixture to a loaf tin (I used a one-pound loaf tin) lined with greased baking paper.
- Scatter over seeds to decorate, if desired.
- Bake in the oven for around 40 minutes, until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack before putting away to store.
- Keeps well in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
You can buy either whole flaxseeds or flaxseed meal - it doesn't really matter because either way you'll need to grind them up into a fine powder anyway.
Whether using whole flaxseeds or flaxseed meal, you'll need to grind them up into a fine powder. Flaxseed meal isn't fine enough for making this bread. **You can replace the apple cider vinegar with 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Serving suggestion I found this Flaxseed Bread tasted best when sliced as thinly as possible and toasted until super crispy - it's great for making bruschetta-style open sandwiches! Top tips for baking this bread
- If you’ve kept your bread in the oven for the right amount of time and it’s still not done in the centre and the outside is becoming hard/burnt, then I would recommend covering it with a piece of baking paper to prevent the outside from becoming burnt, and and continuing to bake it until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Make sure to leave the bread to cool down completely on a cooling rack before packing it away to store because otherwise the steam from the warm bread will get trapped and you’ll end up with soggy bread, which nobody wants!
- It keeps well covered in the fridge for a good few days. If not eaten on the day it’s made, it’s best toasted before eating.
- If you’re freezing it, you can just slice it up and put the whole thing in the freezer. Then when you want to eat it you can just pop the slices of bread in the toaster straight from frozen.
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Bemma
This bread is absolutely fabulous and so easy. Today I made a blend of quinoa flour, oat flour and white flour to mix with the flax and it is delicious. Thank you for this recipe.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!
Anne
Made the flaxseed bread and although i only had the brown ones it tasted lovely…probably looks better with golden flaxseed. Easy and quick to make. Carrot bread next!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!
Carol
Hi, Rhian. Thank you so much for this recipe. It came out so great! It didn't look like much going in. LOL But, magic happened in the oven. I used Bob's Red Mill golden ground flaxseed (3/4 cup) and it worked very well. I only had semolina and "00" flour so I used the "00". I only used 1 and 1/3 cups of water (Zero Water). I'm just mentioning these amounts in case someone else has the same ingredients on hand and may be wondering if they would work. I used dry parchment paper in a standard, glass loaf dish. 40 minutes was perfect which is unusual for my oven. I always have to watch it like a hawk. LOL The recipe is so easy and the bread is so delicious. Thank you again, Rhian! 🙂
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that! And thank you for sharing your substitutions, that's so helpful to know!
June
Rhian, I made this bread today and it was delicious and so easy!. I love the simple ingredient list. I am anxious to try your other bread recipes.
Thank you for sharing!
June
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!
Taylor Coen
Loved this recipe. My bread did not look like yours and I had a hard time grinding the flaxseeds, but it tastes really good. Thank you! This was my first time baking bread.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!