Gluten-Free Cheese Olive Bread

This recipe for Gluten-Free Cheese Olive Bread may be favourite recipe yet. Who would have thought that gluten-free vegan bread could look this good? Does it not look like it came straight out of the oven at your local bakery? You have to try this recipe!

It might look like this recipe has a lot of steps and instructions, but once you get the hang of it it’s fairly easy to make! Please read the post and follow the instructions to make sure you get a good loaf of gluten-free bread. And, I cannot stress this enough – please follow the instructions and do not make substitutions!

The Must-Use Ingredient to make this Gluten-Free Cheese Olive Bread

The most important ingredient when making gluten free bread is the flour blend of course! I developed a Gluten-Free Bread Flour blend and that is what I have used in this easy gluten-free cheese olive bread. Please, please, please use that blend. I cannot guarantee that any other flour blend will work. Gluten Free flour blends are all over the map — some are predominately bean flour, some are high in rice flour, some are mostly starch, some have xanthan gum and some do not. Sadly, if you want tasty gluten-free baked goods, you have to use exactly what the recipe says to use. If you use a different blend, you will not achieve the same results.

HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE

My gluten-free bread recipes will start to sound like a broken record–but these instructions are very important!

Weigh the flour: Precision is key. We all scoop and measure things out different, and flour is one of the most consistently incorrectly measured ingredients. In order to ensure best results, I have indicated the flour and water in grams.

Hydrate the Flour: Gluten free bread is great in some ways — you don’t need to worry about gluten! Regular flour bread recipes often have very specific instructions because the way you work with gluten will effect the texture. Many people think that because there is no gluten in gluten-free bread, you don’t need to knead the dough or work it at all. But, you do. This dough is way too wet to knead, but you need to beat it for 5 minutes to ensure that the flours hydrate. I use a kitchen aid hand mixer with dough hooks, but my mom has had success using her food processor. You can do it by hand, but you’ll need some strong arm muscles! After 5 minutes of beating, your dough should almost look like butter cream frosting in texture.

Let the dough rise, then chill: Like most bread recipes, the dough will go through two rises. The first rise will be in the bowl you used to prepare your dough. You want to let it rise 1.5-2 hours, until double in size. The time will depend on your environment. If it’s a hot summer day and you have no AC, the rising time will be less. If it’s nice and cool, it’ll take longer. You’ll then put the dough in the fridge for 4-6 hours, or overnight. This helps make the dough easier to work with.

Bake: During the dough’s second rise, preheat your oven. You want to make sure it has heated properly. I turn my oven on to warm up when my bread is going through its second rise. Bake the bread in the middle rack, and have another rack at the bottom with an empty small roasting pan or something similar. When you put your bread into the oven, throw a cup of hot water into the pan, closing the oven door quickly after. This will create steam that helps the bread rise and get a crusty edge.

I hope you enjoy this Vegan Gluten-Free Cheese Olive Bread! It takes a bit to get the hang of baking gluten-free bread. If you get discouraged, please don’t stop trying! If you’re following the instructions (yes, that means weighing ingredients and using my flour blend) and still not having success, send me a message. We will figure it out together! Everyone deserves yummy bread!

Other Vegan + Gluten-Free Bread + Baking recipes!

• Easy Sandwich Bread
• Sour Cream and Onion Biscuits
• Cardamon Scones

MAKE SURE TO USE MY BEST GLUTEN-FREE BREAD FLOUR MIX FOR THIS RECIPE! YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE OPTIMAL RESULTS IF YOU SUBSTITUTE WITH ANOTHER BLEND.

5 from 4 votes

Print

Gluten-Free Cheese Olive Bread

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Rising and Chill Time

8 hrs 30 mins

Total Time

9 hrs 25 mins

 

This artisinal Gluten-Free Cheese Olive Bread has a wonderful crumb and holds up beautifully! Gluten-free and vegan bread has never tasted this good!

Course: Bread, Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: Bread

Keyword: Bread, Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings: 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 230 grams My Best Gluten-Free Bread Flour mix, plus more for dusting - see note for link, no substitutions*
• 1 1/2 tsp Instant Yeast
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 210 grams Water (1 1/2 tbsp short of 1 cup)
• 1 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup Shredded Vegan Cheese, I used Daiya Mozza
• 1/3 cup Black Olives, chopped
• 2 tsp Mediterranean herb blend, optional (sub with any herb mix you like)

Instructions

Make the Dough

1. Whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

2. Combine the water and oil in a measuring up.

3. Using a stand mixer with the dough attachment, or a hand mixer with the dough attachments, slowly incorporate the liquid with the dry ingredients at a slow speed.** After you have added all the liquid, beat the dough for a full 5 minutes. You will notice the texture of the dough change. This step is very important to ensure that the flour hydrates properly.

4. Leave the dough in the mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 1-2 hours, until double in size. Rising time will depend on the temperature of the room -- if it's cold, it will take longer to rise. If it's warm, the rising time will be shorter.

5. Chill the dough for 4-6 hours, or overnight. This will help develop flavor but will also help you work with the dough as it will be very wet.

Prepare the Loaf

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle some flour on the centre of the sheet when the loaf will go.

2. Once your dough has chilled, fold in the cheese, olives, and herbs. The dough will be extremely sticky.

3. Using an oiled spatula (this helps prevent the dough from sticking), shape the dough into a ball in the bowl. Gently plop it onto the centre of the baking sheet where you have sprinkled some flour.

4. Wet your hands well and gently shape the dough into a ball. You must wet your hands or the dough will stick.

5. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 30-45 minutes. It won't double in size this time around.

Bake the Loaf

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degreed Farenheit with one rack in the middle and one on the bottom. Place a small roasting pan (or somthing similar) to the bottom rack. When you put the bread in the oven, you'll pour hot water into the pan to create steam. You want the oven to be very hot and at temperature, so I like to have it running a good 30 minutes before I plan to put the bread in the oven.

2. Remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the top of the loaf with flour (not necessary, but makes it look more artisinal!) Have 1 cup of hot taper water ready to use when you place the dough in the oven.

3. Place the baking sheet on the middle rack and quickly pour the hot water into the pan on the bottom rack. Close the oven door quickly. This technique creates steam which helps the bread rise and also get a nice crust.

4. Bake the loaf for approximately 35-40 minutes, it will be a deep dark brown.

5. Once the loaf has cooled slightly, remove it from the baking sheet and place on a cooling rack. Let the loaf cool COMPLETELY before cutting into it. If you cut it too early, the texture will not be as good.

Store the Loaf

1. After you have cut into the bread, store it in a paper or plastic bag. If using a plastic bag, do not seal it completly. You can also loosely wrap it in plastic wrap. It is best if eaten within 2 days, but I've kept it longer and it holds it's texture pretty well.

Recipe Notes

*I worked a long time to create a perfect flour blend and this recipe was designed specifically to work with this blend. I have not tried this recipe with other blends and cannot guarantee you will achieve the same results. There are sooo many gluten free flour blends out there and they are all so different. I highly recommend using my blend, linked above and in the post.
**My mom has successfully used a food processor. You could also do this by hand but it will take a while!

Pin this recipe to save it for later!