Cauliflower Bread with Gruyère

This Cauliflower Bread with Gruyère is a gluten-free, healthy and delicious, low-carb bread. With a couple of quick tricks, it'll turn out perfectly every time you make it! It’s lovely to toast for breakfast, to serve as a side dish or to use for sandwiches.

Cauliflower bread is a no-yeast, no-knead bread, without any rising time. This makes it easy to whip up. And with a couple of key steps, it'll turn out great every time!

The texture of cauliflower bread is a bit more crumbly than a typical sandwich bread. It more or less behaves like a loaf of healthy short bread.

Pizza crusts made with cauliflower are easy to find these days, but I always love creating recipes for food items you can't usually find in grocery stores, and I've never seen anything like this before.

The Ingredients

• cauliflower - Choose a cauliflower with tightly packed florets that's heavy for its size. We will be ricing the cauliflower (turning it into tiny pieces, like rice). To save time you can purchase pre-riced cauliflower, which is readily available as there are so many cauliflower rice recipes out there. (you will need 1½ cups).
• avocado oil - You can find this at most grocery stores. It's a healthy oil with a mild flavor.
• fresh thyme
• fresh garlic - Look for firm heads of garlic without any soft spots or green shoots, which are an indication it's old and it's likely bitter. (Raw garlic cloves should be firm without any dark spots.) Pro tip: if there are green shoots in garlic you already have, just cut the cloves in half and remove them with the tip of a paring knife. The rest of the clove should still be good.
• kosher salt - I cook with Kosher salt because I like its larger flake size and it usually doesn't contain additives. (If you use table salt, use half the amount.)
• sugar - We're only using a very tiny amount, to help bring out the flavors (along with the salt).
• eggs
• fine almond flour
• baking powder - If you don’t bake regularly, it’s a good idea to make sure your baking powder is still good. To do so, pour a couple of tablespoons of boiling water over about ¼ teaspoon of the baking powder. If it starts to fizz, it’s still good.
• Gruyère - This will be grated for the recipe and is sprinkled on top. It has a delicious nutty flavor and creamy texture.

(See recipe card below for quantities.)

Substitutions

• Fresh garlic. You can also use garlic powder. Use about 1½ teaspoons.
• Avocado oil. I use avocado oil in this cauliflower bread recipe. It’s healthy and has a mild flavor that's barely detectable. You can also use olive oil, bearing in mind the flavor is slightly stronger.
• Fresh thyme. Use any fresh herbs you like! Italian seasoning is especially delicious with the cauliflower, and the thyme is delicious — rosemary, oregano or dill would also add great flavor.
• Fine almond flour. This recipe calls for super fine almond flour. This will be better for the overall texture of the bread than almond meal. I’ve also made it with coconut flour — it’s a bit more dry, but also works.
• What can you substitute for Gruyère? You can use almost any grated hard cheese you like on top of the bread. I love the nut-like flavor of Gruyère with cauliflower — Swiss, Mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese would also work well. Or feel free to skip the cheese if you’d like.

Key Recipe Tips

There are two keys to the success of this recipe.

1. It’s very important to drain as much liquid as possible out of the cauliflower after it’s been riced and steamed. It’s quick and easy to do this (see photos below, and instruction no. 2 below in the recipe).
2. The egg whites must be whipped until stiff and then immediately folded into the batter gently so you don’t remove too much air.

How to Make it

- Rice the head of cauliflower (which will be a small one or about half of a larger one) with a food processor, and then steam it until it's tender. Cauliflower florets break apart effortlessly, making it easy to add to the machine.

- With a clean kitchen towel, wring out the cauliflower to remove any excess liquid. (Paper towels are too thin for this. The cauliflower should be as dry as possible.) You can see the difference between the riced cauliflower before and after wringing it out in the above and below images.

- In a large bowl (or back in the food processor) mix the cauliflower, oil, thyme, garlic, salt, sugar and egg yolks. Then add the almond flour and baking powder and set aside.

- In another mixing bowl, whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, and immediately fold them into the cauliflower mixture. This is what makes the cauliflower bread rise in the oven, and it's one of my favorite ways to make a gluten-free bread work well. (Be sure to use a rubber spatula to scrape off any remaining egg whites from the bowl.)

- Quickly pour the batter into a parchment paper-lined, prepared loaf pan and evenly sprinkle the grated Gruyère on top. (Using parchment paper is a great, easy way to lift the bread out of the pan once it's cool.)

- Place the pan in a 375°F oven. Bake until the bread no longer jiggles and is golden on top, about 40 minutes. Let it cool before removing it from the pan.

(More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.)

Serving Suggestions

• Since this bread is soft, if you want to toast it, it might be easiest on a baking sheet in a hot oven. Be sure it's completely cooled from baking first. It's delicious with a spread of butter or a drizzle of olive oil.
• Cauliflower bread can make for a fantastic avocado toast variation. Just mash up an avocado, season with salt, pepper and lemon, and spread it on top.
• Use it for incredible gluten-free sandwiches. I love it with avocado, sprouts and tomato.
• Serve it with comforting soups and stews.

More Delicious Cauliflower Recipes

• Mushroom Cauliflower Risotto
• Citrus Whole Roasted Cauliflower
• Cream of Jalapeño Cauliflower Soup
• Fioretto Cauliflower Salad with Lemon
• Cauliflower Steaks with Orange-Basil Butter

Can you make ahead?

This bread is best the day it comes out of the oven, but can still be great if it’s stored properly.

• Room temperature. Cauliflower bread will keep for one day in a tightly sealed container at room temperature.
• Refrigerator. It will keep well for about four days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
• Freezer. This recipe will keep well for a month in a heavy-duty zip-lock bag with all of the air removed in the freezer. 

This cauliflower cheese bread is great to make for friends with a special diet (gluten-free, low carb, etc.). I didn't create it with that intention. It just inherently works this way.

I hope you love this cauliflower bread as much as we do!

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