This is one question that pops up on our gluten-free bread recipe posts quite often. Why does gluten-free bread get gummy? The reality is that the texture and moisture level of gluten-free bread can be quite finicky. If a variable is off by even a little bit, it can affect how the loaf of bread turns out. Here’s a more detailed rundown of why bread gets gummy than I usually add to the troubleshooting FAQ I like to add to my recipe pages.
Gummy Bread: Key Take-Aways
Gumminess is actually a common issue in gluten-free breads. The causes are often similar, if not entirely identical to, the issues that can cause bread to be “too dry” or “too crumbly.” Very often, it was caused by the wrong kind or incorrect amount of flour, the wrong amount of flour, an oven that was the wrong temperature, or the wrong baking time. Even just letting it cool off for the correct amount of time before slicing it can help prevent gummy bread by letting the center set for a little bit more.
Table of Contents
Here are the biggest issues and the best way to solve them:
Types of Gluten-Free Flours Used: As detailed in my analysis of millet flour substitutes and buckwheat flour substitutes, different gluten-free flours can produce different results due to variations in their protein and fiber content.
Amount of Liquid Ingredients: If too much moisture is added to the dough, the bread can turn out gummy.
Substitutions: Some ingredients are difficult to substitute at a 1:1 ratio because finding a suitable replacement can be challenging. Most often, the flour is the issue because there are so many gluten-free flours to choose from. Some of them are better at absorbing moisture than others.
Preparation: If the ingredients are not at room temperature, or the bread dough is not mixed long enough or the batter has not been given a rest time, the end result may be a gummy texture.
Baking the Bread: The internal temperature of the gluten-free bread should reach between 205-210F. I like to use the “toothpick test” for quick breads. If you stick a toothpick into the center of the bread, it should come out clean.
Common Causes of Gummy Gluten-Free Bread and How To Solve Them
The number one thing to remember about making gluten-free bread is that it can be finicky. To be fair, baking usually is a fairly precise process anyway. Gluten-free baking can be tricker because bakers need to compensate for the lack of gluten. If they don’t, it can cause issues like gummy bread.
What is gluten, anyway? Fact sheets like the one published by the Utah State University Nutrition Extension describe gluten as a type of protein found in some grains like wheat, rye, and barley. In baking, gluten supports baked goods’ structure and often acts as a binder. This supports the texture and consistency of baked goods like bread.
Health conditions with gluten intolerance as a symptom, such as celiac disease, are really a reaction to the protein. Gluten-free flours often have different types of protein that don’t cause this reaction. However, they’re also often missing gluten’s ability to support the structure and texture of baked goods.
Starch to Flour Ratio
The starch to flour ratio can lead to gummy results. I tend to be leery of recipes that call for a flour-starch mix that is more than 50% starch. The amount of starch shouldn’t be much more than half the amount of flour. For instance, if the recipe calls for a mix of flours that total 2 cups, the starches should total no more than 1 cup.
What are starches? Starches are typically complex carbohydrates known as polysaccharides. Normally, plants use starches to store energy. In baking, they can help with structure, texture, and moisture retention.
Common starches in baking include tapioca starch, cornstarch, arrowroot starch, and potato starch. These ingredients often come from sources that are similar to gluten-free flours. There is such a thing as potato flour, for instance. The difference involves how they’re processed. Potato flour comes from whole cooked, dried, and ground potatoes. Potato starch is a refined powder created by extracting the starch granules from raw potatoes. So potato starch is missing most of the protein and fiber that the flour would contain.
Type and Amount of Flour
Some types of flour are better at absorbing moisture than others. The protein and fiber content of different types of flour directly relate to the amount of moisture they can absorb. Amaranth flour is one of the best at retaining moisture because it has a slightly higher protein and fiber content than many gluten-free flours, for instance. That can make it difficult to replace one type of flour for another at a 1:1 ratio. Many gluten-free recipes even call for a flour blend to help manage variables like moisture retention that could make bread gummy.
The USDA’s FoodData Central is typically a good place to look up the nutrition content of individual ingredients like each flour type. It says amaranth flour has 13.2 grams of protein and 9.04 grams of dietary fiber per 100 grams, for instance.
Too little flour is one major cause of gummy bread because it needs to absorb moisture. When making gluten-free breads, measuring the flour as precisely as possible is usually a good practice.
The tricky part: flours’ density can vary. That means 1 cup of brown rice flour has more grams than 1 cup of amaranth flour. That makes it tricky to convert between cups and grams when measuring flour for a gluten-free recipe. I’ll mention the importance of having a digital food scale in many of my gluten-free recipes because it helps with the precision that prevents issues like gummy bread. If in doubt, the below chart is a handy guide for converting between cups and grams most common gluten-free flours.
Gluten-Free Flour Conversion Chart
| Flour | 1 cup = grams | 100 g = cups | 50 g = cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| Almond flour | 96 g | 1.04 cups | 0.52 cup |
| Amaranth flour | 103 g | 0.97 cup | 0.49 cup |
| Brown rice flour | 128 g | 0.78 cup | 0.39 cup |
| Buckwheat flour | 120 g | 0.83 cup | 0.42 cup |
| Cassava flour | 140 g | 0.71 cup | 0.36 cup |
| Chickpea flour | 85 g | 1.18 cups | 0.59 cup |
| Coconut flour | 128 g | 0.78 cup | 0.39 cup |
| Gluten-free all-purpose flour (King Arthur) | 156 g | 0.64 cup | 0.32 cup |
| Gluten-free measure-for-measure flour (King Arthur) | 120 g | 0.83 cup | 0.42 cup |
| Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour | 140 g | 0.71 cup | 0.36 cup |
| Millet flour | 160 g | 0.63 cup | 0.31 cup |
| Oat flour | 120 g | 0.83 cup | 0.42 cup |
| Potato flour | 180 g | 0.56 cup | 0.28 cup |
| Quinoa flour | 112 g | 0.89 cup | 0.45 cup |
| Sorghum flour | 138–140 g | 0.71–0.72 cup | 0.36 cup |
| Sweet rice flour / glutinous rice flour | 120–160 g | 0.63–0.83 cup | 0.31–0.42 cup |
| Tapioca flour / tapioca starch | 113–120 g | 0.83–0.88 cup | 0.42–0.44 cup |
| Teff flour | 135–140 g | 0.71–0.74 cup | 0.36–0.37 cup |
| White rice flour | 160 g | 0.63 cup | 0.31 cup |
Moisture Content
Moisture content plays a large role in how “gummy” or “dry” your gluten-free bread turns out. Adding too much moisture can make bread gummy. Many substitution guides will recommend adjusting the amount of other liquid ingredients when replacing a dry ingredient like sugar with an ingredient like honey or agave nectar that contains moisture.
In many cases, you can get away with measuring liquid ingredients in teaspoons, tablespoons, and cups. If a recipe lists a liquid ingredient in grams, it’s still important to be precise. However, as long as you’re not risking spilling “extra” liquid ingredients into the dough by measuring them over your mixing bowl, you should be fine. (I often prefer measuring them over a separate bowl if spillage becomes a concern.)
Mixing the Gluten-Free Batter
Have you ever turned some dough into the bread pan only to find there was a little extra flour on the bottom of the mixing bowl? That is often one early warning sign that the dough wasn’t mixed enough. This can cause the dough to have hidden pockets of moisture that didn’t get mixed in well, which increases the risk of part of the bread loaf turning out too gummy.
For many bread recipes, mixing the dough for 3-5 minutes and scraping down the sides of the bowl regularly are important for making sure the dough is mixed enough.
Pan Size
Recipes are often very specific about which pan sizes work best for that specific bread recipe. Even the slightest substitution in bread pan size can lead to bread that didn’t bake quite right, which can lead to issues like gummy bread.
For this reason, I got my hands on a decent bread pan set that included pans in multiple sizes. That way, I can be more sure that I have the bread pan size I need for that particular bread.
Baking and Cooling Time
This can actually be the trickiest part of making bread because people often get impatient. The bread smells so good while baking, and you’re hungry! However, giving it enough time to bake and cool is very important for making sure it doesn’t come out gummy.
An instant read thermometer is your most valuable tool for making sure the bread is done baking. When bread is ready to pull out of the oven, it will have an internal temperature of 205-210 degrees Fahrenheit (96-99 degrees Celsius).
If it hasn’t reached that temperature yet, it may need to bake a little longer. If you baked it for the time specified by the recipe and it still hasn’t reached 205 degrees Fahrenheit, another possible explanation is that your oven runs a little cool.
Even when it has reached the correct temperature, it may still be a little gummy in the middle. However, the center will finish setting and become less gummy if the bread is allowed to cool long enough before slicing. Let it cool in the pan for a few minutes, and then turn it out onto a cooling rack and leave it to cool for 2-3 hours before slicing.
Important: Keep children and pets away from the bread while it is cooling! My cat has tried to take bites out of my bread while it was cooling on the cooling rack before. Yes, he is a very naughty cat.
Some General Tips for Better Bread Texture
Now that we’ve looked at how to make gluten-free bread less gummy, here’s some tips on how to make sure it comes out exactly right.
Be Careful With Substitutions
As we saw before, not all flours are created equal. That’s why I have separate recipes for both buckwheat biscuits and millet biscuits. Flour isn’t the only thing. Other things that are worth knowing about when substituting common ingredients in gluten-free recipes include:
- When and how to substitute xanthan gum. Xanthan gum is a common thickener in gluten-free recipes. However, I’ve actually been told that xanthan gum can be rough on people who are sensitive to refined dietary fiber (and research seems to back that up). I often recommend psyllium husk powder as a handy substitute for xanthan gum. Here’s a handy guide to replacing xanthan gum.
- Swapping starches: The important thing about starch is that it helps with moisture retention and the commonly used starches make good xanthan gum replacements if you need a thickener for a sauce. In this guide to potato starch alternatives, we take a closer look at what each starch is best used for.
- Sweeteners: Unless I have a reason to swap it out, I’ll usually stick to the sweetener that the recipe calls for. The tricky part usually involves swapping between a dry sweetener like sugar and a liquid sweetener like honey, agave nectar, or maple syrup. You’ll usually have to adjust the amount of other liquid ingredients to keep the finished product from becoming too gummy or too dry. Here’s a handy chart for replacing sweeteners:
| To replace 1 cup of this | Use sugar | Use honey | Use agave nectar | Use maple syrup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 cup | 3/4 cup | 2/3 cup | 1 cup |
| Honey | 1 1/3 cups | 1 cup | about 7/8 cup | 1 1/3 cups |
| Agave nectar | 1 1/2 cups | 1 1/8 cups | 1 cup | 1 1/2 cups |
| Maple syrup | 1 cup | 3/4 cup | 2/3 cup | 1 cup |
Account for Leavening Agents and Required Rise or Rest Time
Many bread recipes call for some form of leavening agent, like yeast, baking powder, and baking soda. Yeast is actually a powerful biological leavening agent that only works under a few very specific conditions:
- It’s been activated correctly. The best way to tell if yeast has been properly activated after being suspended in hot water with a little sugar added is to see if the water-yeast mixture is a little foamy on top. If it’s foamy, you activated it correctly! If it isn’t, the water might have been too hot or too cold. If the water is very much above 120 degrees Fahrenheit, the heat can actually kill the yeast. If it’s much below 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it might not have been warm enough for the yeast to start working.
- It has some sugar to work with. Yeast primarily does its job by metabolizing sugar and generating carbon dioxide bubbles in the dough. Too little sugar, and the yeast might not have its full effect.
- There isn’t too much salt. Salt can hamper yeast’s ability to do its job. So be careful not to add too much. (This seems to happen most often when somebody underestimated how fast the salt would come out of the container, so make sure you measure it out over a separate bowl.)
- The dough has enough time to rise. This can be the tricky part because, again, it’s easy to get impatient. I’ve found that it helps to get a few other things started while I wait if I’m getting ready to host a get-together.
Even when the bread recipe just calls for a chemical leavening agent like baking powder and baking soda, it might have a required rest time. This gives the leavening agents time to react with acids in the dough to create carbon dioxide bubbles, if on a slightly smaller scale than yeast.
The rest time also does one more thing: It gives flour time to absorb moisture. This is important for making sure the bread doesn’t come out gummy. This rest or rise time really does help your bread turn out with the texture you want.
Bottom Line for Solving Gummy Bread
Gluten-free bread might be tricky, but it’s not impossible to get a loaf that isn’t gummy in the middle. It may just take a bit of tweaking to get it exactly right. So keep working on it so you can enjoy gluten-free baked goods any time you want.
Any questions, suggestions, or comments? Feel free to let us know in the comments section!
