2 minute Teff bread

I wanted something ‘bread like’ and all I had was the Teff flour I’ve been experimenting with. I had bacon on the go in one pan and a salad sorted, so it also had to be instant. The experiment began and resulted in this super simple pancake like, airy soft ‘bread’ that is great to toast up over a couple of days and spread smashed avocado, paté or dips on top, or even perhaps pop under the grill for a couple of minutes with pizza toppings.

Consider it a quick new little feather in the cap for the gluten challenged, or for those of you who prefer a more nourishing bang for your buck when you want to have something carby.

Now what’s Teff all about? Here are some fun facts taken from the whole grains council website. I loved learning that it grew faster – naturally – than any other grain, making it a wonderful sustainable option for farming future compared to wheat and other grains.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT TEFF

  • Just one pound of teff grains can grow an acre of teff, while 100 pounds or more of wheat grains are needed to grow an acre of wheat.
  • Teff requires only 36 hours to sprout, the shortest time of any grain.
  • Teff’s protein content (around 14%) is largely easily digested albumins (similar to a vegetable version of egg whites).
  • Teff is high in resistant starch, a type of starch thought to be more tolerable than other starches for people with compromised gut health or unstable blood sugar.
  • Teff is thought to have originated in Ethiopia about 4000-1000 B.C.E.
  • Teff is fermented by a symbiotic yeast living in the soluble fiber on the grain’s surface (like the blush on grapes).
  • Teff can thrive in waterlogged fields as well as drought ridden ones making it reliable in our increasingly unpredictable climate.

TEFF
(image credit: Green Upgrader)

So, onto this little instant bread experiment and if you want to experiment too, ask your local health shop to get some in for you from Bob’s Red Mill OR grab some online from I Herb if you shop there, or  via the Wholefood Collective for Australia (Wholefood Collective allows you to access 20-30% off all your pantry staples with just a $59 membership per year!).

“But Teff is so expensive,” you say? Yes, it’s on the more ex-y side, but think of the nutrition per bite. Very nourishing grain compared to most, so it’s a case of ‘half the amount, twice the quality’ principle. Try it and see!

Those beautiful plates are by Kim Wallace ceramics. I swear they make everything more delicious, being that they’re so beautiful!

Can’t wait to hear if you enjoy it or what you end up topping it with – tag me on instagram with your pics @lowtoxlife if you end up making the recipe

Real Food. Happy Bodies.


Print Recipe

2 Minute Teff Bread Recipe

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat a pan with 1 tbsp coconut oil, olive oil or butter on med / high
  • Beat it all together with a fork until it’s a thick slop.
  • Let it stand for a minute
  • Put the ‘bread batter’ in the pan and fry on one side until it rises a bit, and after 2-3 minutes, flip and repeat on the other side.
  • Take off the pan. Cut into wedges. Top with stuff or dip into soups. If it’s just you, to can keep uneaten wedges and toast them the next day to ‘revive’ them and top with spread, poached egg or butter.

For a SWEET VARIATION

  • Use this mix with 2 tbsp coconut milk added to the mix, and replacing the dried herbs with 1 tbsp rice malt syrup, honey or maple syrup to create delicious, thick hot cakes.

Teff bread wedges

 

Fancy getting SUPER confident on all things real food, cooking, food prep and the power of food for disease prevention? I’d love to invite you to check out our On-Demand (meaning you can start literally right this minute!) e course REAL FOOD ROCKSTARS. If you’re over the food overwhelm, confusion, guilty feelings, not being able to truly give up the junk, and want to know how and where to shop, what to do to get super confident in the kitchen, how to explain to others your whole food choices, what to eat and how best to build a strong body to ward off disease and feel vital and energetic, then maybe it’s time you jumped in! The door’s always open and the private support community is awesome. See you in there, Alexx x

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Comments 93

  1. Just been wondering what to do with my Teff – this recipe is awesome! I just added oregano and it’s a meal on its own. So delicious, easy and satisfying. Thanks for sharing.

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    2. Alex,

      Thanks so much for this recipe. This bread is really versatile. Last night we had chopped BBQ, Cole slaw and this bread with onion powder and ~ 1 tsp of maple syrup to replace hush puppies. It was outstanding! It can complement

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        Definitely wouldn’t Tracy – Coconut flour isn’t a 1 for 1 swap out especially for ‘light and fluffy’ preparations like pancakes/hotcakes/quick breads x

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  4. There is this really good family owned Ethiopian restaurant down the street from us and Teff is their main bread used to scoop up all the delicious samples of their traditional meat stews and veggies. It definitely fills you up quickly! 🙂 Going to find some teff and have a go at this – thanks Alex!

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      Super welcome Liz – I hope you enjoyed it. A whole bunch of comments have only just become visible to me this past week, so I’m sorry I didn’t reply last year x

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  5. Thanks for the recipe! I was searching for the right one to bake in a pan.I think this one is better than my old one. I’ll try it tomorrow.

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    2. Flax egg will work! I’ve baked just about everything vegan, and I’m here to tell you that eggs don’t have some magical properties! Bonding and texture are an eggs only talents when it comes to other food, and honestly many other edible items share those talents too. I hope you went for it anyway, Zoé! Xoxo

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  8. You’ve inspired me to try Teff, and seeing as we’re currently in the U.S.A I’m going to stock up on some whilst we’re here – perfect! Thanks again Alexx. (I will email re. later in the year once we get back to Aus). Wishing you and your family a wonderful break. xx Freya

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  9. This recipe (and the actual outcome) looks exactly like hembasha, an Ethiopian and Eritrean bread. Why didn’t you just call it ‘hembasha’ instead of ‘teff bread’?

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  11. I really enjoyed this – tasted great. But I couldn’t get the batter to spread in the pan. I ended up with an irregularly shaped blob. Got some advice?

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  12. I replaced the baking powder with baking soda and it came out very salty and bitter…suggestions? Is the baking powder necessary at all and isnt it a bit too much for such small amount of batter?

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      Hi Sandra

      I dare sare yes you’d need about half the amount if using baking soda which is very salty indeed. You can also leave it out – It affects the texture of course and makes for a flat bread vibe rather than a fluffy one. Entirely up to you, Alexx

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      1. thanks:) i made it again right away, this time with just half a tsp of baking soda and it came out perfect:) i did not know baking soda is so much stronger than baking powder

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  13. Could you freeze this? Lovely recipe. I’ve never tried tiff but want to go gluten free but need a quick, practical alternative for bread I can have in the freezer. Thanks for the recipes! X

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  14. Wow Alexx,
    Thanks so much for this recipe. I needed a good go to bread. I found teff a few years ago when looking for an alternative to cream of wheat. Love teff.

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  15. Hi.
    I made this as a quick wf bread and it was absolutely gorgeous! To experiment I added sundried tomatoes, spring onions and basil to the mix. The final result was a fluffy, light yet hearty delicious flavour and texture. Eaten cold really works too.
    This is an amazing wheat free bread with endless variations.
    Thanks so much Alexx!!!!!

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  16. Thanks for this recipe, I have seen Teff in the shop today and did wonder. Found you and your advice.
    I am going to buy some and try. I look forward to the results. I have been gluten and wheat intolerant since my 20s and am now in my 81st year. So looking forward to , hopefully, something more yummy than what you can buy. Thank you in anticipation.

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  18. when I try to “pin” this recipe, it only allows me to save the pictures…not the recipe. Anybody else have this problem

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  20. So delicious! Thanks for the recipe. Went to an Ethiopian family and they made me injera. I’m gf, so they gave me a huge bag of teff flour and I was looking for something to do with it. Made this recipe 2 days in a row and I don’t want to stop! It’s so easy and yummy 🙂

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  22. Hi,
    Do you think it could be baked in an oven? Maybe on parchment?

    If so, what size pan and any thoughts for how long to cook it and what oven temp? (I don’t own a non stick pan – only stainless steel)

    Thanks

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    1. Just made this. It was great. I used a well seasoned 7 inch cast iron pan with only 1 tsp of coconut oil to oil the pan. Worked fine. Wondering if with the 2 TBSP of coconut oil if m pan needed to be oiled at all. I may try it next time with a little of some other liquid, maybe almond milk, and less coconut oil and see what happens. I used cinnamon, cloves and ginger for my herbs/spices. Thanks for the recipe!

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      I think you absolutely could bake in the oven – you’d just have to watch it, but I’d do high temp, short cook time and start watching from about 10mins. Whatever frying pan you have, just bake it in there. x

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  23. hi, i’m following as I gist returned from Ethiopia. I purchased Teff there,however have the white one. Is there a huge difference with white and red? Any benefits? I plan to make this….will read bakingsoda vs baking powder comments again.

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      Hi Karen – Sorry I didn’t see your question when you posted it. There’s very little difference, but the white is a bit higher in starch and a bit lower in fibre. x

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  24. Hi Deb. I use a really badly beat up old pan without any fuss. To be honest the first time I tried this I did not like it. It definitely grew on me though.

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  25. I made this today. Thank you for the recipe btw. It turned out pretty good. It’s different in texture than I thought it would be but it’s got a nice nutty, earthy flavor and it held up to cleaning up my eggs for breakfast. I think I might play with this, using a different pan. I used a large flat pancake pan but I wonder if I should have used a smaller one. Maybe it would have been thicker? It came out pretty nice anyway. I just had to cut it in half in order to flip it. And it was a little delicate on the 1st flip but really, nice bread. Thank you!

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      You’re so welcome Angela – Yes it’s not entirely ‘bread’ bread, but hits the spot for dipping into a soup, and bread that takes minutes… So glad you enjoyed it and are going to experiment with it a bit. I love putting different herbs into the batter to vary things a bit – like an Indian Masala teaspoon into it, to then have as a flat bread with curry x

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      Absolutely John – I dare say google would find you someone who’d done that and had a sprouted teff bread recipe. Best of luck!

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  28. I made this bread with cinnamon and 3 x the coconut milk and no sweetener and 1/4 cup white flour.
    I ate it plain and my teenage son ate it also.
    Thank you

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  29. Made this to go with Italian sausage, white bean, kale soup tonight. I was really wanting some cornbread which hubby can’t eat (corn intolerance). This was absolutely perfect. I made it without herbs and let toast a bit longer on each side. What a delicious substitute to go with soups/stews one wants corn bread with.
    I’ve got a feeling that this will make fantastic olive bread as well.

    Thanks SO much! I’ll be making this often for BOTH of us even though I am gluten tolerant.

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  30. Made this to go with Italian sausage, white bean, kale soup tonight. I was really wanting some cornbread which hubby can’t eat (corn intolerance). This was absolutely perfect. I made it without herbs and let toast a bit longer on each side. What a delicious substitute to go with soups/stews one wants corn bread with.
    I’ve got a feeling that this will make fantastic olive bread as well.

    Thanks SO much! I’ll be making this often for BOTH of us even though I am gluten tolerant.

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      Hey Greta – sorry I missed your comment a while ago – that sounds DELICIOUS! Hope you’ve kept enjoying it x

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  31. I am so happy that l found this recipe. I made 4 of them this evening! I used adobo in 2 of them and basil and turmeric in another. The last one had onion and green bell pepper. All of them delicious!! What other herbs could I use?

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      Jackie I’m so happy you love it. It’s a handy little number isn’t it? You really could mix it up – southwest seasoning for a tex mex vibe, herbes de provence for a Frenchy vibe… curry powder to serve with a curry. Skies the limit! x

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  32. I’m another one who is happy to find this website and your recipes! Teff is new to me, and this recipe works! Out health is so important, and whole food like this is up and center of my cooking. Thank you for sharing, I’ll be back often!

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  33. Just tried it yesterday and it came out great! Finally a quick bread you can sink your teeth into gluten free easy to make and delicious. I added a teaspoon of psyllium husk to a double recipe which helped make it lighter. Such a wonderful find for gluten free eaters like me!

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  34. There arę absolutny delishes! I tried the savory and sweet variation and my family (hubby and both kids 7&3) gobbled it up! So happy to have found your site!

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  36. Dude!! Thank you for this recipe. I was so ready for a simple sandwich!! The gluten free bread recipes out there call for too many kinds of flours. Good grief!! And, Antonio, bite the ACV bullet. Wait till you see what happens when you add it to the dough. I mixed the wet ingredients first, and when I added the BP to that, the dough went ballistic. It became creamy-looking, and it frothed quite a bit. It was beautiful!! Thank you again!!

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  37. Made this bread to be the “toast” in my Avocado toast with baked sockeye salmon open-faced sandwich . I added rosemary and thyme to the batter. My “toast” was tasty alone and incredible topped with other foods. Next time I will skip the ACV to get a more dense, not fluffy bread. Great recipe, thanks!

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  38. This was very good. I used a little too much salt and my pan was probably larger than it should have been making the bread very thin. Next time I will adjust the salt and make it in a small pan so it’s thicker. Great recipe! Great with the smashed avocado on it.

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  39. Yum! Yum! Yum! Looking forward to trying it with other flavour combinations. So easy and simple and went beautifully with pumpkin soup. Definitely going to become a family favourite! Thank you!

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  41. I absolutely loved this bread! I used a “flax egg” instead of real egg and added more water. Taste and texture was amazing, but the consistency was not too good as it fell apart. Any recommendation?

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  42. Pingback: Here’s what we’re eating, drinking and loving in February | Northern Virginia Small Business Marketing

  43. I just made this for supper tonight, and like it very very much. So glad to find your recipe, such an easy quick way to make a delicious wheat free bread.

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  44. I made this and it seemed a little bitter – the teff flour was new from the store, but I’m wondering if I may have cooked it too long and too hot – would that make it bitter, or is that expected?

    thanks

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      Hi Ralph, yes that could be the case or the brand you have of the teff, I’ve had one that was bitter before – can’t recall the brand now.

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  49. If you can find a local Ethiopian market it’s super affordable! I got a massive organic bag for like 30$. Tiny little hole in the wall grocer. Hard to find for sure but it’s worth doing a search. Excited to try this recipe with dinner tonight!

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  51. Pingback: Teff Bread Pancake – Well PheD

  52. 5 stars
    I loved this recipe. I made them sweet with blueberries inside. My one year old liked them too. Delicious, thank you

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  54. 5 stars
    I just bought some Teff flour from local Ethiopian market and wanted an easy recipe for my first try.
    This was perfect. Is there a way to reduce the fat content? CanI reduce 2 tbsp oil in the recipe to one?
    Thanks

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      So glad you loved the recipe. The oil/butter helps to bind this, not sure how it would go with less. The only way to know is to have a play around with the recipe 🙂

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