Thursday, November 4, 2010

Gluten Free Sandwich Bread



This was a surprise to be honest.  I have never gotten a really "good" sandwich bread from any of my bread recipes until now.  I was baking some breads intended to be used as bread crumbs in my thanksgiving stuffing and this was the result.


I have baked many, many, many gluten free breads, both with my own recipes and recipes from online blogs and such.  None of them ever turned out quite right for me.  I was beginning to think I would not be a "bread" maker.  My cakes turned out great and my zucchini bread is outstanding, so why not breads?  Even my bread bowls are good, but not as a sandwich bread.

Some were too dense, some too moist, some too grainy, on and on and on.

Today I decided since I was making just bread crumbs to try "unnecessary" steps and ingredients.  I sort of combined some of my better attempts at gluten free bread making with some of my extremely successful gluten free zucchini bread loaves I have made.

The result?

A delicious, soft, airy, lightweight, not too moist, not too dry, sandwich bread with a great texture and strength.

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

Group 1
1 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup arrowroot
1/2 cup sweet white sorghum flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon of salt
2 1/2 teaspoons of Xanthan Gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

Group 2
1/4 cup warm water
2  teaspoons of active dry yeast (1 packet, 5/16th ounce)
1 teaspoon sugar

Group 3
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Begin by setting all ingredients out to come to room temperature.  Do not use anything cold with yeast.

Mix all the dry ingredients from group 1 together with a whisk in your stand mixer bowl.  Make sure to be thorough.

Set the flour mixture aside.  Mix the ingredients together from group 2 in a separate bowl and set this aside in a warm spot  to "bloom". Mix the ingredients from group 3 together in a separate bowl and set it out to come to room temperature.   When you reach this step, preheat oven to 175 and walk away for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Allow all ingredients to reach room temperature.

With dough hooks attached, mix the wet ingredients (including the eggs) into the dry ingredients using your stand mixer.
It makes a fairly sticky dough.  I used extra virgin olive oil in a spray to coat my loaf pan and filled the pan as pictured below.  (note: all of the dough can go into the loaf pan but it will puff and rise high so watch your spacing in the oven.) I kept some out of this batch for hamburger buns.

After the dough is in the loaf pan, spray the top with the oil also.  Place in the 175 degree oven and let rise for about 30 minutes.  Turn the temperature up to 350 degrees and bake for another 30-45 minutes keeping a close eye towards the end for good browning without burning.

Here is a shot of it still in the oven. Notice the height of the rise below compared to how low it is in the pan in the pre-oven picture above.

Remove from oven and pan and cool on a wire rack before slicing. Here is the second loaf cooling.
Here Shawn came home while I was photographing and made a peanut butter sandwich.

I hope everyone enjoys this recipe.  It was elusive at first, but perseverance paid off.

Bread!!!!!!

Here is a video showing the texture.






37 comments:

  1. Would it be possible to use buttermilk instead of the milk/vinegar combination? Also what temperature is "room temperature"; my winter and summer room temps vary greatly? This looks like a great recipe and I look forward to making it. Thank you for the recipes and your help.

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  2. Yes, it should work just fine with buttermilk as I originally intended buttermilk and was out of it so the vinegar/milk was a substitute. The end product turned out so good I just left the substitute as part of the recipe. When baking bread, my kitchen temperature is fairly warm due to the pre-heating of the oven. I would say to just make sure the ingredients are warm enough to not adversely affect the yeast. I will soon be finished with and publish a lighter hamburger/hotdog bun recipe I've been working on using this recipe as a starting place.

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  3. Hi, I myself have tried many GF recipes and they have never quite came out how they were supposed to. So, when I made this bread last night I was a bit skeptical and it was a nice surprise that it came out perfect! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us.

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  4. High praise indeed! Thank you for posting! It warms my heart to know that I'm helping in what little ways I can.

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  5. Can you share your thoughts on a substitution for the milk? I'm also lactose intolerant and I worry that the whole milk might pose an issue. Thanks for such a great blog and recipes - it's making my transition to gluten free much more tolerable and almost fun.

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  6. Rowancatt, I have had similar results when substituting the Milk with Soymilk in my bread recipes. The results were similar enough that I consider it a viable substitute (at least until I stumble upon something better). Add the vinegar to the soymilk and set out to room temperature. Your bread should end up very close to the original recipe.

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  7. Hi Shawn, I was wondering if you have tried this bread recipe with the flaxseed replacement yet? And if you have or have not, how much of the flaxseed and water would you suggest to use in place of the 3 eggs? Thanks so much!

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  8. Elle, I have made this with flaxseed twice. I used my standard of 1 heaping tablespoon of flaxseed meal and 3 tablespoons of water per egg. When replacing the eggs with flaxseed meal, reduce the xanthan to 1 teaspoon as the flaxseed meal will provide some binding too.

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  9. Shawn, you commented that you replaced the egg with the flaxseed and water mixture. Did you reduce any of the other liquids when you made this substitution? I'd like to try it this way but I've had a bad experience trying the flaxseed slurry and want to "get it right" this time. Thanks! :)

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  10. Valerie, What I replaced with the flaxseed meal and water was the 3 eggs, so no additional liquid was added or removed. More of an even swap. The original recipe as published is awesome and in my opinion better than the result using flaxseed meal. It was still great using the replacement, but Shawn and I like the texture best using the original recipe.

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  11. Thank you for the reply! I am definitely going to give your recipe a try (with no substitutions LOL), as I've been looking for a good GF bread for months now. I also want to try making hamburger buns with this dough. I have some english muffin rings, I thought I'd try making the buns in those and see what happens.

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  12. I've made a small correction to the recipe, and I'm not sure when it changed. The original recipe in my notes calls for 1 packet of yeast. Some people had success with what was printed here but I have not used that much yeast to make this and consider what was printed here too much. We will be double checking posts often from now on and beefing up security to the site. Sorry for any inconvenience this caused but the post and the recipe is correct as of now.

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  13. I'm confused by something, In the list of ingredients you list the three eggs separate from the rest of the ingredients (i.e. not in group 1, 2 or 3). In the instructions you never mention the eggs, only the groups. When I mixed it all together according to the instructions, and I got a dough that looks like your pictures, very thick and sticky. However, I realized the three eggs were still sitting on the counter and when I added them, the dough turned into a batter that was a little thicker than cake batter. It also took an additional 20 minutes of baking to cook. Am I misunderstanding something?

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  14. Janet, The step that says "mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients" is where the eggs, which I consider to be wet ingredients, are mixed in. I am not sure why you needed to cook it longer, as I make this often (the last time was 4 days ago). Perhaps mixing the eggs in at the end didn't allow them to incorporate with the xanthan gum, which is what makes the batter thicker like a dough. I think I will re-word the above recipe to make it clear when the eggs are added though. Thanks for pointing out how that can be confusing.

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  15. I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer with a beater blade (has one side with a rubber blade like a spatula which means I don't have to stop and scrape the sides) and allowed it to mix for a couple of minutes after adding the eggs. As I said, after adding the eggs, it changed the texture from what you see in your pictures to a smooth batter consistency. That says to me the moisture volume was higher with the eggs which required more cooking. I used an instant read thermometer to check the doneness of the bread. Experience has told me that if it registers below 205 degrees, that the bread will be undercooked. When I cut open the bread after it cooled, it appeared to have to be properly cooked, not over or under done. At 30 minutes, it was still only reading around 135 degrees and the crust was quite pale. At 50 minutes, it read 205 degrees and the crust was nicely browned.

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  16. Thanks Janet,
    Feedback with helpful hints are always welcomed with open arms. Did you like the bread though? Despite the baking time/moisture issues?

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  17. I am so excited to find your website. My daughter has recently diagnosed with Celiac and I have been trying to make her life as ordinary as possible. Now my question is how would you keep the bread for the storage? Would you recommend a plastic bag or a paper bag? or something else?

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  18. I used to loosely wrap it in aluminum foil to stay fresh for a few days, but most often anymore I set it into my 2 gallon Anchor Hocking Heritage Hill jar on the counter. It stays fresh although the crust gets chewier over the few days before it's all eaten (which i like).

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  19. It can be difficult to cook for people with allergies and medical conditions that make them intolerant of particular ingredients. Vegans and gluten-intolerant individuals can still have a delicious and filling meal with products like quinoa. Aside from bread, there is also pasta made from quinoa which makes for tasty dishes.

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  20. Yes, Ancient Harvest Quinoa is a brand of pasta I use in many dishes on this blog. It's our favorite.

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  21. I recently made this recipe using 3 tablespoons of flaxseed meal plus 9 tablespoons hot water plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil mixed together to form a slurry as the egg replacement. I also used 1 cup of tonic water plus 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to substitute for the milk/buttermilk. This still had a great rise, a great texture, and a great flavor.

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  22. Hey, have you tried Subway's Gluten-Free menu in DFW? Here’s a $1 off coupon to share with your fans (http://ow.ly/i/gYRE) - give it a shot, let ‘em know what you think.

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  23. Hi, Shawn! Cheryl here. I've only just discovered you, after seeing a comment you left on another site. So excited to try some of your GF recipes! I am new to GF baking; thanks so much for sharing! Could you tell me, tho', what you would suggest as a substitute for rice flour? I am very allergic to it. Also, have you ever tried chia seed meal instead of flax seed, as a substitute for eggs or in baking in general? I use it in my smoothies, and it is even more binding than flax, capable, I believe, of absorbing up to 12 times its volume in water! Or is it 6? Well, anyway, it's very binding, LOL,and even more nutritious!

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  24. I have not tried Chia instead of Flax, but I am told that it is a better binder, and while Chia is nutritious, it is surpassed in nutrition only by....Flax. I have substituted brown rice flour in this recipe with teff flour, gluten-free oat flour, and additional sweet white sorghum, all with success.

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    1. Thanks again, Shawn, for your help. I will definitely give the other flours a try. Do you have any trouble digesting the sorghum? I've read that it can be harder to digest than other grains, but another I asked had not noticed any difference. As for the chia vs flax, I have a grain-free biscuit recipe that uses only ground almonds & chia seeds, butter or coconut oil, egg white and a little sweetener (I use Stevia, plus add some grnd alfalfa, cinnamon & ginger). When made with the chia, the texture has a slight mucus-like mouth feel at times; when made with half chia, half flax, however, it is just like a nice pumpernickle bread. So I suspect flax is better in breads in general. Thanks again!...Cheryl

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    2. Shawn has shown no ill effects from sorghum and although he's super sensitive to gluten he can also tolerate certified gluten free oats. But, the answer would be no, no problems here digesting sorghum as long as its processed in a gluten free facility.

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  25. I love this recipe! I've used it several times but I had to alter it just slightly. My husband and I are not only gluten sensitive, we're also sensitive to egg yolks and milk. So I used almond milk, egg whites, and a tablespoon of Veganaise mayo for every egg yolk that was omitted. It still rises and bakes beautifully and tastes better than any other gluten free bread. You have created something wonderful here!

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    1. Thanks Lindsey! Those substitutions sound great, thanks for posting them, it helps others with the same allergies!

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  26. Hi just found your website 2 days ago and is already helping me so much!! thanks a lot. Cant wait to make this bread recipe.... we thought we would never eat bred again!

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  27. Wow! I am so impressed with this bread... we made 3 loaves yesterday and they came out perfect and wonderful tasting. We will never miss gluten in this house!!

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  28. I just made this again today with Thai Kitchen canned coconut milk in place of the milk and flaxseed meal in place of the eggs. It turned out great!

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  29. Hi,

    I have quinoa and brown rice in my kitchen. I also have a wheat grinder. . . Do you think I could make my own flours? Are the Bob's Red Mill flours super-fine? I really want to try this!

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    1. You can definitely make your own flour with a flour mill. Bob's red mill flours vary in texture depending on the flour. The only one I've found a "finer ground" version of is sweet rice flour, Flying Dragon makes a powdery version you can find in local stores.

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  30. Have you ever tried making this in the bread machine? I am a self called terrible baker. I'm serious, sometimes I feel like I can ruin a boxed cake mix. I love to cook, but baking is not my thing. So my darling husband bought me a bread machine in hopes that I could make bread for the family. No one has celiac, but I have a wheat sensitivity, so I have been looking for sandwich bread recipes for me and it hasn't been looking good. What say you with the bread machine?

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    1. I have not tried this in a bread machine, yet. I've been asking for one for a couple Christmas's now and am hopeful of eventually getting one. :)
      I wish I could be of more help, perhaps one of my very helpful readers will have an answer and leave it here too.

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  31. I Shawn,,,I can't see anywhere about the size of the pan.

    With only 2 cups of dry stuff I am assuming a 8x4 ????

    As I speak (type) your Artesian loaf is baking in the oven.
    The only thing that has seemed to happen is that the dough did not stay in a nice round high loaf. As soon as it started to bake it flattened out. I'm not sure why because it shaped up nice and seemed stiff enough.
    Do you have any thoughts ???
    I thought next time I would bake it in a glass bowl so it would look round.

    THANKS,,,,,,,,,Peggy (From Florida)

    PS....I have been baking for 60 years and at age 75 had to go Gluten Free. It's been quite a challenge.

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    1. I used a 4x8 loaf pan for this recipe, a glass bowl would work too.

      The artisan loaf you speak of, is that my egg free,yeast free, gluten free bread? If so, I'm not sure why it would flatten. I created that recipe while living in Port Charlotte Florida a couple years ago.

      Being a baker for 60 years, I'm sure you checked everything like the age of your soda and your double acting powder. Any substitutions? I'm at a loss. I've baked that loaf more often than any other as it's our fav for sandwiches.


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