A New Take on Bread

Today I entered the world of gluten-free baking.  Very unfamiliar but not a total failure.

My goal was to make bread that was not hard and flat as a rock, that didn’t fall apart when I took it out of the pan, and that tasted at least remotely like bread.

I started with Alison’s Gluten Free Bread recipe and made a few modifications.  First of all I really don’t like those little bullet shaped loaves that come out of a bread machine, so my bread was going to be baked in loaf pans.  I substituted goat’s milk for cow’s milk, since my husband is on a dairy free diet as well.

As you can see, the loaves came out just fine.  I was almost afraid to bite into a slice because I am so particular about bread.  But surprisingly it tasted quite good and had a nice, although different from gluten bread, texture.  It reminded me a lot of brioche.

Here’s the resulting recipe:

Gluten Free Bread

1 egg + 2 egg whites

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup honey

1-1/2 cups skim goat’s milk

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon zanthan gum

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour

1/4 millet flour

1 cup white rice flour

1 cup brown rice flour

1 tablespoon dry yeast

Egg wash (one egg with a small amount of water)

Seed mixture (flax, poppy, sesame)

Heat goat’s milk to around 112 degrees F.  Add oil, honey, and yeast.  While yeast proofs, measure out dry ingredients and lightly beat eggs.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a spoon for 50 strokes or until there are no more lumps of anything.  Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm space for about an hour.  (I put a heated skillet in my electric oven.)  

Stir to deflate dough.  Spoon into one large or two medium greased bread pans.  Brush the tops with the egg wash and liberally sprinkle with seeds.  Cover the pans with the cloth and place them place them back in the oven to rise for another hour.

Remove pans and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes.  Gently remove the loaves from the pans, running a knife around the outside to loosen the bread.

Slice and either eat or freeze in sandwich bags.