Domesticity Nouveau

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Gluten-Free Bread Recipes ~ Honey Oat and Multi-Grain

Thank goodness for our modern kitchens!  Could you imagine having to make a fire and get your oven just-so before you could make some yummy gluten-free bread?!  No KitchenAid mixer to do the work that would exhaust your arm!?  No dishwasher!??!?!  I'm surprised the woman in the photo looks so happy... maybe she has a martini stashed where we can't see...

This is just another quick post, and unfortunately without pictures to show you how absolutely easy and DEEEE-LICIOUS these gluten-free breads are.  I'm sorry there are no pictures, but please trust me that these breads are wonderful!

I started with the basic gluten-free bread recipe and tweaked things to create two breads I had been missing, honey oat and Dave's Killer Bread.  I think everyone knows about honey oat bread, but if you have not experienced Dave's Killer Bread... oh, boy are you missing it out!  Nuts and seeds, soft and sweet, but not too sweet... heaven!  It truly is worth tracking down the ingredients to make the Multi-Grain recipe below. 


Gluten Free Honey Oat Bread
1 loaf

Dry Ingredients
1 cup sorghum flour
2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup gluten free oat flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup gluten free rolled oats
2 teaspoon instant/quick rise yeast (about 1 packet)
1 teaspoon flake kosher salt
2 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

Wet Ingredients
2 eggs + 2 egg whites, room temperature
1 cup warm water + 2 Tablespoons
3 Tablespoons melted butter, warm but not hot
3 Tablespoons honey

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1.  Place all dry ingredients in bowl of heavy duty mixer.  Using paddle attachment, mix on low speed for 2 minutes to combine.
2.  Mix all wet ingredients thoroughly in a separate bowl.
3.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and start mixer on low speed.  Mix for a moment and then scrape down sides.  Mix on medium high speed for 5 minutes, scraping bowl half way through.
4.  While dough is mixing, butter a loaf pan and set aside.
5.  When dough is done mixing, scrape into loaf pan.  Dough will be soft, very unlike traditional wheat based bread.  There is no kneading or additional rising and rest times.
6.  Using a spatula, smoosh dough into pan, making sure to get it into the corners.  Smooth top with spatula.  Cover with a dish towel or greased foil and let rise 30-60 minutes in a warm place (stove top on a cold burner is great) until it reaches the top of the loaf pan.
6.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  You will know when bread is done when it has a golden brown crust and a hollow sound when tapped.
7.  Let rest in loaf pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool on baking rack.  If you let it sit in the pan too long and steam has made the bottom crust soft, you can place back in the oven, out of the loaf pan, for a few minutes to crisp it again.
8.  Once completely cooled, store in a sealed container or zip top bag and slice as needed.  Storing in the fridge will extend the keeping time of your loaf.
9.  Save the heals and any stale portions in the freezer until you have enough to make your own gluten free bread crumbs by whirling in a food processor until desired consistency.


Gluten Free Multi-Grain Bread
1 loaf of the bom-diggity!!

*Feel free to use whatever seed and nut mixture you prefer.  You will need approximately 3/4 cup combined of chopped nuts and seeds for this recipe. 

Dry Ingredients
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup amaranth flour
1/4 cup teff flour
2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup gluten free oat flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup gluten free rolled oats
2 teaspoon instant/quick rise yeast
1 teaspoon flake kosher salt
2 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

Wet Ingredients
2 eggs + 2 egg whites, room temperature
1 cup warm water + 2 Tablespoons
3 Tablespoons melted butter (warm but not hot) or oil
3 Tablespoons honey, sugar or combination

*Nut and Seed Mixture
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas)
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
1/2 Tablespoon flax seed
1/2 Tablespoon Amaranth seed

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1.  Place all dry ingredients, along with nut and seed mixture, in bowl of heavy duty mixer.  Using paddle attachment, mix on low speed for 2 minutes to combine.
2.  Mix all wet ingredients thoroughly in a separate bowl.
3.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and start mixer on low speed.  Mix for a moment and then scrape down sides.  Mix on medium high speed for 5 minutes, scraping bowl half way through.
4.  While dough is mixing, butter a loaf pan and set aside.
5.  When dough is done mixing, scrape into loaf pan.  Dough will be soft, very unlike traditional wheat based bread.  There is no kneading or additional rising and rest times.
6.  Using a spatula, smoosh dough into pan, making sure to get it into the corners.  Smooth top with spatula.  Cover with a dish towel or greased foil and let rise 30-60 minutes in a warm place (stove top on a cold burner is great) until it reaches the top of the loaf pan.
6.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  You will know when bread is done when it has a golden brown crust and a hollow sound when tapped.
7.  Let rest in loaf pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool on baking rack.  If you let it sit in the pan too long and steam has made the bottom crust soft, you can place back in the oven, out of the loaf pan, for a few minutes to crisp it again.
8.  Once completely cooled, store in a sealed container or zip top bag and slice as needed.  Storing in the fridge will extend the keeping time of your loaf.
9.  Save the heals and any stale portions in the freezer until you have enough to make your own gluten free bread crumbs by whirling in a food processor until desired consistency.

Note:  If you like these bread recipes and want to make up a few jars or bags of mix for quicker use in the future, place all dry ingredients in container except for yeast, seeds and nuts;  a quart size canning jar works great.  Label and add a note with remaining ingredients to be added and instructions for mixing and baking; store in a cool, dry, dark place.  The most time consuming part of making gluten free bread is measuring all the ingredients.

Happy Baking!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Gluten-Free Cornbread

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and the questions of stuffing (or is it dressing?) and being gluten-free come about.  If you make a bread stuffing, you have lots of good options to make your bread cubes from, like this basic gluten-free bread recipe, or some of the store brands which have greatly improved over the years.  Finding a good gluten-free cornbread recipe is key if your family makes a cornbread stuffing.

This cornbread recipe is GREAT!  You can see in the photos that it is moist and tender crumbed, what you can't experience is just how darn tasty it is!

This is a quick post, without the normal Q&A.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will get back to you as quickly as I can.

Gluten Free Buttermilk Cornbread
1 12” cast iron skillet or 9x13 baking dish or 24 muffins

Dry Ingredients
1 1/3 cups gluten free flour blend
2/3 cup oat flour
2 cup cornmeal
1/2 to 1 cup sugar or honey, to taste
1 tsp xanthan gum or guar gum
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 Tbsp buttermilk powder**

Wet Ingredients
1 cup butter, melted and cooled
4 eggs
2 cups water**

**can use 2 cups buttermilk in place of water and buttermilk powder.  Buttermilk powder can be found near the powdered milk in the baking section of your local market.  It is super handy to have on hand!

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place cast iron skillet in oven to preheat as well.

1.  Measure all dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk well to mix.
2.  Make sure butter has cooled sufficiently to not cook eggs and mix with eggs and water.
3.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until combined with a few small lumps remaining.
4.  Remove cast iron skillet from oven and fill with batter or pour batter into a buttered baking dish or divide batter into muffin cups.
5.  Bake cast iron skillet or baking dish for 30-40 minutes; muffins take much less time, start checking at 15-20 minutes.  Cornbread is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
6.  Leftovers freeze well.  Cool completely, wrap in foil and then place in a zip top bag.  This recipe is easily cut in half for a smaller batch.

Note:  If you like this cornbread and want to make up a few jars or bags of mix for quicker use in the future, place all dry ingredients in container, a quart size canning jar works great.  Label and add a note with remaining ingredients to be added and instructions for mixing and baking; store in a cool, dry, dark place. 

Happy Baking!

Gluten-free Flour Blend

It's been a while since I have done any gluten-free baking, but with the holidays coming up, I know a lot of you are looking forward to baking up some gluten-free goodies.

Finding the right flour mix was a challenge!  I tried some that had bean flour in them and they sat like a lump in my tummy and digested just like beans are known to do... that wasn't fun for anyone!  Some were grainy and gritty, others were just a bunch of starch that got gummy.

Somewhere along the journey I stumbled across enough recipes and information to come up with the blend below.  It substitutes straight across to *most* baking recipes that call for wheat flour, meaning you can use it cup for cup in your favorite family cookie recipe.  Make sure to add in the appropriate amount of xanthan gum or guar gum to mimic the missing gluten.

The sorghum flour really was the key to having a great gluten-free flour.  It is lighter than rice flour and doesn't have the grittiness that rice flour sometimes imparts.  It adds a slight hint of sweetness that mimics the sweetness in wheat flours, bringing the flavor closer to what we remember from wheat based goodies.  If you want to play around with it in recipes, you can swap it out cup for cup with rice flour.

No Q&A on this post, just wanted to slap it up for those who are going to need it in the next week!  If you have any questions that need an answer, leave me a comment and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!  Leave a message at the beep.....
 

Gluten Free Flour Mix
6 cups

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
2 1/2 cups sorghum flour
1 1/3 cups potato starch
2/3 cup tapioca starch

Instructions
Mix all together thoroughly and store in a cool, dry, dark place such as the freezer or a cupboard away from the stove.  Use cup for cup in recipes calling for all purpose flour.  You will need to add xanthan gum or guar gum to your recipes to mimic gluten properties for proper baking.  Feel free to use white rice flour if you prefer it over the brown rice flour.

Per 1 cup of gluten free flour used in a recipe:

Cookies            1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
Cakes or muffins    1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
Quick breads        3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
Yeast breads        1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
Pizza crust        2 teaspoons xanthan gum

To make up smaller or larger batches of this mix, I did the hard math and here are the calculations for your ease and pleasure... yeah, I know that was awesome of me!

18 Cups Gluten Free Flour Mix
4 1/2 cups brown rice flour
7 1/2 cups sorghum flour
4 cups potato starch
2 cups tapioca starch

12 Cups Gluten Free Flour Mix
3 cups brown rice flour
5 cups sorghum flour
2 2/3 cups potato starch
1 1/3 cups tapioca starch

3 Cups Gluten Free Flour Mix
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1 1/4 cups sorghum flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca starch

2+ Cups Gluten Free Flour Mix
1/2 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup + 2Tbsp sorghum flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 tapioca starch
*(slightly more than 2 cups)

1+ Cup Gluten Free Flour Mix
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup potato starch
2 Tablespoons tapioca starch
*(slightly more than 1 cup)

Happy Baking!!
Don't forget to stir in the Love!