My Favorite Gluten Free Bread

This is my favorite gluten-free yeast bread so far. It is taken from a book by Bette Hagman called More From The Gluten-Free Gourmet. I usually double this recipe, but I have a large mixer and so that works.

BUTTER-BASTED WHITE BREAD

(greatly adapted from Bette Hagman)

2 cups white rice flour (I sometimes use all brown, or half and half)

1/2 cup potato starch

1/2 cup tapioca flour

2 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum

2/3 cup dry milk powder (or 1/2 cup nondairy substitute)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. Egg Replacer (I use brown rice protein powder for 15g extra protein)

3 Tbsp. sugar, divided

2/3 cup lukewarm water

1 1/2 Tbsp. dry yeast (if doubling, I use a total of 2 Tbsp.)

4 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 additional cup warm water

1 tsp. vinegar

3 eggs

2 tsp. powdered pectin (found where jam making supplies are sold), optional

Combine the flours, xanthan gum, milk powder, salt, pectin, Egg Replacer (if using) and all but 2 teaspoons of the sugar in a bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. User your strongest beater, not the bread hook or whisk.

Dissolve the remaining sugar in the 2/3 cup lukewarm water and mix in the yeast.

Combine the melted butter with the extra cup of water; add the vinegar. Whisk in the eggs and add the yeast/water mixture.

Turn mixer on low. Blend the dry ingredients and slowly add the wet ingredients. Then, beat at high speed for 2 minutes.

Place the mixing bowl in a warm spot, cover with plastic wrap and a towel, and let the dough rise for approximately 1 hour, or until doubled. (But you don't want to let it rise too much longer than this.) Note: I just leave my dough in the mixer and cover the mixer. By the way, the consistency will be more of cookie dough or thick batter rather than a yeast bread.

Return the dough to the mixer and beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Spoon the dough into greased loaf pans. When I double the recipe, it makes 3 standard size loaves. If you make just one recipe you will have two small loaves or a large loaf and extra dough for rolls. Fill the bread pans 2/3 full. You can bake the remaining "roll" dough in greased muffin tins.

Let the dough rise in the pans until it is slightly above the top of the pan, about 45 to 60 minutes. But, you don't want it to over-rise and start to crack.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Bake the large loaves for approximately 1 hour, the rolls for about 25 minutes. Use an instant read thermometer to measure for 206F. This means the loaves are done!

Remove from pans immediately and cool on a rack. This bread is most soft on the first and second day after baking.

I freeze my loaves and then keep one thawed in the refrigerator to prevent mold.

Hot Cross Buns

After several years of trying various recipes, I think this is the recipe I will be using in the future. It is somewhat involved, but well worth it. The trick is to find something you can do in the kitchen area so you can jump up every now and then to complete the next phase of the recipe. Be sure to read the recipe through thoroughly before beginning so you can get an idea of what is involved.

Also, I'm giving you measurements for about 40-50 rolls. The basic roll recipe I developed this from comes out of the More With Less Cookbook and makes 100 rolls. So, this recipe is easy to double, and also easy to break in half. The pictures shown are for the 100-count recipe (which is the recipe below, doubled).

Dissolve in small bowl:
1 1/2 Tbsp. (1 1/2 packages) dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water

Mix in larger bowl:
2 cups scalded milk
1 cup mashed potatoes (no milk added)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
grated zest of one orange and one lemon*

Let the milk mixture cool until lukewarm, then add:
yeast mixture
3 cups flour

Let stand until mixture foams (about 20 minutes).
Add:
1 beaten egg
1 1/2 tsp. salt
5-6 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. mixed spice**
1 1/4 cups currants (I soaked mine in hot earl grey tea before draining and adding; if you don't have currants, you can use raisins, or golden raisins, or a mix of all three fruits)

Here is a picture of the mixture at the foaming stage, just as I added the above ingredients:

Work in as much flour as needed to make a nice dough and then turn out onto a floured surface and knead until it is elastic and feels "done" (about 7-10 minutes). This picture does not show the "done" state, this was at the beginning of the kneading process:


Stick the kneaded dough back into a greased bowl and allow to rise until doubled -- at least an hour, possibly more.
Punch down and form into rolls. Place rolls on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with a beaten egg white mixed with 1 Tbsp. of water.***
Mix about 1/2 cup of flour with some water to form a paste. Put the paste into a little ziplock bag and cut the corner off. Squeeze the flour paste onto the buns to form crosses.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes until nicely browned.
Here are the buns ready for the oven:
Cool the buns on racks and brush with warmed honey or corn syrup, if you desire:
I freeze these buns after they cool and then thaw them as needed. They will stay fresh, unfrozen, for 2 days, but then they tend to lose their softness.

NOTES:
**Mixed Spice is one of my very favorite smells! I get mine from the UK, so I'm not sure where to send you to get it here in the States. I found a recipe for it at recipezaar.com which I will include. There is not "one" recipe for this though. Just about every bottle you pick up has a different ingredient list! Ingredients include: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, mace, cloves, ginger, coriander, cardamon, etc.
Mixed Spice: 1Tbsp + 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp. ground coriander, 1 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 1/4 tsp. allspice, 1/4 tsp. cloves (The Spice Bible)
I think cardamon would be really nice in the above mix.
***There are three ways to achieve the "cross" on the buns. The most proper way is to make pastry and lay pastry crosses on top of each bun. This is very time consuming, and I never tried it again after the first attempt!
The second way is to mix the flour and water paste and squeeze it out from a bag. This works well if you can get the rest of the bun to brown properly (I had problems with that this year, because I didn't glaze the buns first with egg white. Next year I think the egg white glaze will make a difference).
The third way is to make a thin icing and pipe the crosses on with icing after they are baked and cooled. This is a no-fail way, and makes the buns a bit sweeter, if that is what you are after. They don't store so well this way though, as the icing can rub off.

Irish Soda Bread

This is delicious warm from the oven, or toasted the next day.
Sift together in a bowl:

4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
3/4 cup currants (or raisins)

Add:

2 cups buttermilk (or 2 cups milk with 2 Tbsp. vinegar added)

Carefully mix together to form a dough. Knead for one minute but do not over work. Pat into a circle about 2 1/2 inches high on a greased cookie sheet. Cut a cross in the top about 1/2 inch deep. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 50 minutes.

Oatmeal Bread

This is my favorite recipe for homemade bread. The recipe is easily doubled or tripled.

(adapted from the More-with-Less Cookbook)

Combine in a large bowl:
1 cup oatmeal
½ cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup honey (or less; also can use molasses, sugar, etc)
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons oil

Pour over above ingredients:
2 cups boiling water

Stir to combine.


In a separate bowl, dissolve:
1 Tbsp. yeast
½ cup warm water

When oatmeal mixture has cooled to lukewarm, add the yeast mixture.

Stir in:
5 cups whole wheat flour (can use part whole wheat, part white)

When dough is stiff enough to handle, turn onto a floured surface and knead 5-10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size (usually at least an hour). Punch down and shape into two round loaves. Place loaves on a greased baking sheet, or in greased loaf tins. If making round loaves, slash tops of loaves with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done. Cool on a rack. When cool, store in plastic bags.