Gluten Free Dairy Free Swedish “Rye” Bread
I am probably one of the few people that was glad when our doctor told us our daughter had celiac. The other things they were testing my sweet little girl for were were scary and, frankly, food was my hobby. Then Christmas arrived. Yeah… that was when I missed foods made with gluten. Why? Well, any of you who are gluten free know why. Holidays are the time the reality of food allergies seem to hit hardest. I was worried my kids would never eat the cookies that were the ones I made every year that were made from my grandmother’s recipes. The cookies I remember from Christmases when I was young. They would miss out on the lefse and Swedish Rye Bread, Swedish sausage and potato pudding that were the foundation flavors of Christmas for my family. I wanted to keep those flavors, the smells and tastes alive. The food traditions of my family were being threatened and that did not sit well with me.
I knew that trying to tackle each item on our menu would be a tough job (our Swedish Christmas Eve dinner was really gluten heavy. My Swedish ancestors were apparently a carb loving bunch), so I decided to make it easy on myself. I planned a nice simple meal, but worked on changing the one recipe (potato pudding that year) that mattered to our family the most for it to feel like Christmas. Each year since that first, I worked on just one recipe a year. Each year just the one until it was perfected, then I’ll work on another one. It has been quite a bit of time since that first gluten free Christmas (12 years now), so our meal is a no brainer now. The flavors of my grandmother introduced to me that now mean Christmas to me are also are the ones my kids think of when Christmas is here, thanks to a little experimenting and a lot of trial and error. Food traditions don’t have to end simply because of food allergies or due to celiac, but you may need to redefine how those look for your family and look creatively at ingredients you may not have used before.
Gluten Free Dairy Free Swedish “Rye” Bread is one of those recipes for my family. Swedish Rye Bread IS Christmas for us. The recipe is similar to a traditional Swedish Limpa bread, slightly sweet from molasses and brown sugar, perfumed with anise, fennel, cumin and a bit of orange. I couldn’t wait for this bread as a child, waiting so impatiently for warm thick slices to nibble on. Grinding the spices was always the best part when I was little. We used a small mortar and pestle that I was fascinated with – now my own kids grind the spices when Christmas rolls around. Of course, Swedish “Rye” Bread is delicious anytime of year, equally at home as a breakfast with a bit of almond butter and cinnamon sugar or as the bread in a ham sandwich. You can bake the bread in a bread pan, but I usually shape the dough in a ball and bake in a cake tin for a round loaf because that is what grammy did. Try this gluten free take on Swedish Rye Bread when you would like something a little different for a yeasted bread. As for me? I still like slicing a thick piece to have with my tea. I think my grandma would approve.
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The Recipe: Gluten Free Dairy Free Swedish "Rye" Bread
Ingredients
- ¾ cup room temp. milk substitute of choice, rice, almond, etc. or water
- ½ cup garbanzo or garfava flour
- ¼ cup sorghum flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons dry active yeast
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- *2 large room temperature eggs
- 3 Tablespoons gluten & dairy free margarine or non-hydrogenated shortening, I use organic palm oil
- ½ cup corn starch or arrowroot
- ½ cup potato starch
- ½ cup tapioca starch
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon xanthan gum or guar gum
- 1 Tablespoon fresh finely minced orange zest
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground anise seed
- 3/4 teaspoon ground fennel seed
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- depending on bread dough texture: up to 2 tablespoons more milk substitute of choice
Instructions
- In a non-reactive bowl, combine ¾ cup milk substitute, garbanzo flour, sorghum flour, yeast, molasses, and cider vinegar. Mix well. Cover bowl and set aside for 2 to 4 hours.
- In the mixing bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, beat eggs until frothy. Add oil, blend. Add garbanzo flour mixture and stir well. Wisk dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients, mix well on low speed until all ingredients are incorporated. Check texture of dough. If needed, add 1 Tablespoon of milk substitute at a time until the correct texture is achieved (not too stiff, not soupy – thick and sticky). Beat at high speed for 3 minutes. Scoop dough into an oiled 8 inch x 4 inch bread pan. Smooth dough with oiled hands. Our family likes this bread baked in a round cake or pie pan because my grandmother always made round loaves at Christmas time.
- Let dough rise in a warm area, covered with oiled plastic wrap for 20-45 minutes. Do not let dough rise past top of pan or it will be over proofed. (I allow it to rise until it increases by another third, but not doubled.)
- Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 50-60 minutes. If the crust is browning too much for your taste, set a piece of foil over the top of the loaf during last half of baking time.
- One more tip for all gluten free bread baking: If you take some ice and put it on an old baking pan you don’t mind warping, and put it in the oven (on the bottom rack) with the bread (on the rack next one up from the bottom one), you will get steam in your oven which I find helps eliminate the weird hard top gluten free crusts can get sometimes.
Notes
It isn’t Christmas, so why am I posting this now? Well, this year my oven was kaput for several weeks, so no bread for us. 🙁 A reader asked if I could post it, so with my oven finally fixed, here you go, Nina! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
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What a heartfelt post!!! Looks like it would be a great bread for Easter too!
It is really delicious with left over ham, so, yes, it is great for Easter dinner and for the next day’s leftovers. Yum!
Hi Angela:
I am a gluten-free Swedish American from St. Paul. I just endured my first holiday season as a gluten-free person, right on the heels of my Swedish mom’s death… it was grim.
So, I was very cheered to find this website. The holiday bread I really missed was the Swedish coffee bread made with an eggy and slightly sweet white dough, flavored with cardamom and a few sliced almonds with a glaze on top. Do you know this recipe and is there a good gluten-free version?
Many thanks,
Martha
Hello, Martha. Welcome! It looks like we are practically neighbors. 🙂 Yes, I do know the bread you are talking about. There are a few versions. Do you prefer the yeasted braided bread with or without the cardamon swirl in each rope of the braid (like a cinnamon roll has) or more of a quick bread style. The braided version can also have pearled sugar baked on before the glaze is drizzled on. I have also made it as a ring by rolling the entire thing filled with the cardamom filling cinnamon roll style, then cutting the dough make a wreath effect before baking. Let me know what you prefer and I will get a recipe up for you.
For the time being, I do have a nice quick bread you can also bake as muffins with cardamom and almonds here: https://angelaskitchen.com/2007/01/26/gluten-free-dairy-free-cardamom-almond-muffins-or-quickbread/ that might satisfy your craving. 🙂
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Hi Angela,
I found you via Shirley’s (gfe) link to your recipe on FB. Your Swedish Rye Bread looks amazing! I was never one who liked rye before I went GF, but since then, I’ve found myself in the bread aisle staring at it time and time again… 😉 Maybe it’s time I make my own loaf and quit day dreaming in the bread aisle!
Hugs,
Megan
I am glad you stopped by! Let me know if you have any questions with the recipe. I find this nice “rye” for those that may not care for the more traditional style with caraway seeds. I hope you enjoy it!
This recipe makes me far too happy! Rye bread is about the only thing I can think of that I still miss. Can’t wait to try it and to check out the rest of your site. =D
I am so glad you are here! I will be posting a more traditional style rye bread in the next couple of weeks. I have a craving for a reuben sandwich with all the corned beef on sale! Mmmm-mmm!
Hi! I just found this recipe and am dying to try it! I also wondered if you ever posted the second “more traditional” recipe? Thank you so much for what you are doing!
Angela, this bread looks amazing! And I love how you share that you took making the transition to re-create all your favorite gluten free slowly. We’ve got to learn to crawl before we can walk, right? So many jump right in to gluten-free baking and then get defeated and can’t move on. We need to allow ourselves some time to figure things out and then we can go forward. I also love that you are sharing this recipe now even though it’s not Christmas. Always share the good stuff when the timing is right for you and/or you can happily honor a reader’s request. 😉
Shirley
Thank you, Shirley! Yes, I agree that it is best to take things slow, get a feel for the new flours and how things are different than baking with wheat flour before jumping in feet first. I always recommend muffins as a great starting point for new gluten free bakers. They can be dressed up savory or sweet, plain or fancy, and have plenty of crust to support the structure so are a forgiving first batter to work with. Plus muffins are cute and tasty! This bread took me awhile to replicate the taste I remembered, but it was a labor of love with a delicious ending. 🙂
I tried your recipe for rye bread and it turned out wonderfully. Thank you.
I am so glad! This is one of our favorites. 🙂
OMG!!! I have recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 Endometriosis. That alone sucks, but looking at the long list of diet restrictions….let’s just say my eyes got wet.
That being said, I now have to change A LOT of how I prepare meals. The big thing I miss now is BREAD! I have been Google-ing for recipe ideas here and there when I stumbled upon your page.
GOD SEND!!! My husband’s side of the family is Scandanavian with heavy Swedish influences. Limpa Bread is one of my all time FAVORITE breads: Lightly toasted, butter, alongside meatballs….my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I am sooooooooo looking forward to making this bread, and when I read about your plight during the holidays and feeling like you might lose the tradition, you hit me right in the feels!
Thank you for this site. It has been a glimmer of hope for me 🙂
Rye contains gluten tho..
This recipe does not contain rye. It is modeled after a rye bread to taste like the original recipe. Hope that clears up the confusion!
Angela, so glad I found you! Diagnosed with celiac about 2.5 years ago, I am not good about staying away from wheat flour products. Your rye recipe sounds wonderful, and I so appreciatedyour comment about starting with muffins. I want to get on track and this will sure help! I made a gluten-free apple pie 2 yrars ago and that has been it. Except for gluten-free boxed brownies, I no longer bake- I miss it! Thank you!!
I love this bread. Now gluten free! My DD made this every Christmas. Can’t wait to try it
Hi Angela!
My DH family loves the braided Swedish cardamom you mentioned and lost their grandmother’s recipe. Did you ever create one as you asked in the comment above for “prefer the yeasted braided bread with or without the cardamon swirl in each rope of the braid (like a cinnamon roll has)….The braided version can also have pearled sugar baked on before the glaze is drizzled on. I have also made it as a ring by rolling the entire thing filled with the cardamom filling cinnamon roll style, then cutting the dough make a wreath effect before baking.” ? This sounds like the one they always talked about. I’d love to return this tradition to them in a GF version as part of the family requires that now.
Thank you in advance! I can’t wait to try your GF limpa on them.
OMG….I am so excited to try this. My family celebrates a traditional Swedish Christmas and I do all the cooking. The only thing that I have not been able to make gluten free is the vort limpa. I am so excited to try this out!!! I was heartbroken when I was diagnosed with celiac several years ago, but happy to have answers.
Thank you so much for posting this.