Gluten Free Sandwich Bread
Last year I had the wonderful opportunity to take a class on gluten free baking taught by Gluten Free Girl & The Chef at The Pantry at Delancy. The two most valuable take aways I had from that class were first, don't be afraid to experiment and second, gluten free doughs will look completely different from gluten-full dough. From here I was off, experimenting with bread with much more confidence and determination. I tried to take some cue's from the best gluten free bread I had even eaten, the honey oat bread from Jenny Mae's, incorporating oat flour and lots of eggs.
I'm sure this will not be my gluten free sandwich bread recipe for the rest of my life, but I am quite happy with it. It's fluffy, has a nice crumb, freezes well, and has a great crust. I make two loaves each weekend and the first is 3/4 of the way gone by the first day because it's just so darn tasty to eat plain. While I'm sure this bread is not the end all be all of gluten free breads, I thought I would share and see if you all have any suggestions for improvement. That being said, this is a bread that works well in our house. We like egg-y, oat-y, whole grain-y, bread - so that's how this recipe came to be what it is.
A couple of quick tips about how I make this bread before we get started;
- The dough should be considerably more wet than a gluten-full bread dough, sort of like a very very thick and gooey cake batter. You may want to add more water if your dough looks too much like a gluten-full bread dough.
- I usually cut the edges of the parchment paper off, so it lines up with the top of the pan and eliminates burned parchment paper all over the oven.
- I rise my bread on the edge of my kitchen table, directly over a wall heater cranked to 80 degrees. This seems to really make the bread rise well, occasionally I haven't paid enough attention and it's overflowed. If you're placing the bread in a spot that's not quite as warm, you may not get as much of a rise.
Ingredients
2 tbsp flaxseed meal
4 tbsp boiling water
5 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
225 grams gluten free oat flour
112 grams brown rice flour
75 grams teff flour
50 grams potato flour
150 grams sweet white rice flour
150 grams potato starch
45 grams goat milk powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 3/4 cup water
Make
In a small bowl or cup, mix the flaxseed meal with the boiling water and set aside - this will make a sort of slurry.
In a 2 cup or larger measuring cup, gently mix the yeast and sugar with 1 cup of warm water and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, and apple cider vinegar and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl) whisk the flours, goat milk powder, baking powder, and salt together.
Once the yeast mixture has risen to the 2 cup mark, add the flaxseed slurry, yeast mixture, and egg mixture to the stand mixer bowl.
Using the dough hook attachment (or a wooden spoon and a strong arm) mix the ingredients together and add the remaining water gradually.
Line two 5x9 inch loaf pans with parchment paper.
Pour the dough into loaf pans, splitting it between the two pans.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until the bread has risen to the top of the loaf pans.
While the bread is rising preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Fill a small baking dish with 1 inch of water and place to the side on the bottom rack of the oven.
Once the oven has reached 350 degrees, place the loaf pans in the oven and bake for about 1 hour or until the top has browned and hardened, and the internal temperature has reached 180 degrees.
Carefully pull the bread out of the oven and out of the loaf pan by the edges of the parchment paper. (Be careful not to burn yourself on the hot loaf pans!)
Remove the parchment paper and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Makes 2 loaves.
