Tag Archives: gluten-free baking

The Best Gluten-Free Bread

The preconceived notion is that gluten-free bread is dry, tasteless and has a texture resembling cardboard.  However, I have found the best gluten-free bread recipe ever, and I can’t get enough.

best gluten free breadYou may (or may not) have noticed that a few gluten-free recipes have been popping up on the blog recently.  There were the delicious quinoa almond muffins, the paleo bread, and one of my favorites – power cookies.

Without getting into all the gory details, I’ve been having some GI issues as of late, and in addition to running some tests I was also advised to lay off the wheat and gluten for a bit, which quite frankly broke my bread-loving heart.  So wheat and I have not broken up, just taking a short break.

So back to the best gluten-free bread ever.  I started experimenting in the kitchen and started baking some gluten-free breads, most of which were an epic failure (don’t even get me started on the quinoa Irish soda bread disaster).  But thanks to the book Bread Matters by Andrew Whitley, I found this delicious gluten-free bread recipe and haven’t looked back since.  The Englishman and I have been devouring this bread at an alarming rate, and he normally doesn’t touch gluten-free baked goods with a 10 ft. pole.

Needless to say, you need this bread in your life.  Gluten-free or not, it is pretty amazing.  The texture is nice and fluffy and the flavor is excellent.

best gluten free bread pinThe Best Gluten-Free Bread (adapted from Bread Matters)
Makes 1 9×5 loaf

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons ground flaxseed
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon tapioca flour
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F.  Lightly grease a 9×5 loaf pan.

In a small bowl dissolve your active dry yeast into the warm water.  In a large mixing bowl, combine all your flours, canola oil and sea salt.  Gently pour your yeast mixture into the large bowl and stir until well combined.  The dough should be smooth and thick, but not so thick you can’t pour it.

Spoon your dough into your loaf pan and cover with a dish towel.  Place pan in a warm place and wait for the dough to rise (about 50% more).  This should take roughly 2 hours depending on how warm your home is.

best gluten free bread doughPlace dough in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  The bread should begin to shrink away from the sides of the pan.

best gluten free bread close upRemove from oven, cool and enjoy!

Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread

One of my favorite breads is Irish Soda Bread.  I love this bread so much that I even blogged about the Englishman’s Irish Soda Bread last March in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.  Right now I’m doing some experimenting with gluten-free baking, so I decided to try making a loaf of gluten-free Irish Soda bread.

Just record, I have not been diagnosed with any sort of gluten allergy, I’m just trying my hand at gluten-free baking for those who do suffer from Celiac or any other gluten intolerance.

If you have never tried gluten-free bread before, I highly recommend making this one!  The texture is just like Irish Soda Bread so you would never even know it’s gluten-free!  I ended up keeping this loaf simple and didn’t add in any currants or raisins, but definitely plan on doing so next time.

gluten-free irish soda breadGluten-Free Irish Soda Bread (adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients:

2 cups gluten-free flour (use any blend of your choice)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon xanthan gum (FYI Authentic Foods makes corn-free xanthan gum!)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup gluten-free oats
1 egg
1 cup almond milk

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375F.  Grease a baking sheet and dust with gluten-free flour.

In a large mixing bowl add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt and oats.  Mix well. 

In a smaller bowl combine your egg and almond milk.  Pour mixture into dry ingredients and mix until the dough is nice and sticky.

gluten-freesodabreaddoughKnead your dough a few times and place on baking sheet.  Shape into a round circle.

Place bread in oven and bake 30-35 minutes.  Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.

Serve warm with butter, jam, nutella, you get the picture.

gluten-free irish soda bread

 

Gluten-Free Drop Biscuits

So remember that homemade lentil soup I posted a few days ago?  While the soup is quite delicious on its own, I wanted to have some sort of bread to accompany it.  I came across a recipe for gluten-free drop biscuits, and since I just bought gluten-free flour from Trader Joe’s, I figured it would be the perfect recipe to put the flour to the test.

The key to making these gluten-free drop biscuits is to not leave them in the oven too long, or they will become too hard and chewy.  These biscuits are also dairy-free, so if you are vegan you can enjoy these as well!  Of course, I ended up slathering butter all over them, because what’s a good gluten-free biscuit without a little butter?

Whether you choose to use this biscuits as a soup dipping vehicle or just enjoy them with some honey, they are a definite must-make.

Gluten-Free Drop Biscuits (adapted from this recipe)

glutenfree drop biscuits

Ingredients:

4 cups Trader Joe’s gluten-free flour (or gluten-free flour of your choice)

6 ¼ tsp baking powder

1 ¼ baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups almond milk

2 tbsp canola oil (melted coconut oil would work too)

1 tbsp water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425F.  Add all your dry ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Add your almond milk, water and oil to the dry mixture and beat until blended.

glutenfreedropbiscuitdoughPlace spoonfuls of biscuit dough on a greased cooking sheet and pop into the oven.

glutenfreedropbiscuitsinpanBake for 12-15 minutes (likely closer to 12) until lightly browned. Place on a plate to cool and then enjoy with butter or your other favorite spread.

glutenfreedropbiscuits