Sometimes, like during those heady years of my early adulthood when I was choosing a major and graduating from college and finding a job, I have felt more-or-less in control of my life. I might have to deal with a certain degree of things not going my way, but I really only had to be responsible for myself and that was a much simpler (and much less rich) way of living. As I have grown into my life and had my own family, I run into complexity very frequently. Challenges to my capacity are frequent and life is complicated!
In some ways, learning to bake with new constraints and ingredients is very like growing up and learning to deal with life’s complexity. Developing gluten-free bread recipes is challenging, frustrating, and time-consuming. I’ve learned to eat a lot of humble pie along the way and have had to reconsider some of the techniques that I’d always seen as baking standards. For instance, in order to obtain the soft, springy loaves that I remember loving, I had to learn about new ingredients, try new practices, and be willing to give up some of my favorite things about how gluten-elastic dough feels when it is being worked. Gluten free bread dough is necessarily highly hydrated, but it does not become elastic as it is worked due to the lack of gluten in the mix. This makes the dough difficult to shape and can be very frustrating to work with. However, I have found that I am much happier with the end result if I embrace this reality and do not over-identify with my former conventional breadmaking self. This bread is very pliable on the same day it is made, but it retains much of this pliability on the next day.
Gluten free bread won’t be exactly the same as your favorite gluten-bread, but it is good, and it can sometimes be even better. This bread is adapted from my dinner/cinnamon roll recipe in 20-40-60 Minute Dinners: Meals to Match the Time You Have. What kinds of bread would you like to see available in gluten-free formats?
Soft Gluten-free Bread
- 2 Tablespoons warm water
- 1 ½ teaspoons yeast
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup/142 grams gluten-free flour blend
- ¾ cup/85 grams tapioca starch
- ½ cup/69 grams garbanzo bean flour
- 1 Tablespoon xanthan gum
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup warm water
- 2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons oil
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 2 eggs
Step 1: Whisk together the 2 T water, yeast and sugar. Allow it to sit and get foamy.
Step 2: Whisk together in a large mixing bowl the flours and starch, xanthan gum, and salt.
Step 3: Whisk together the water, oil, and honey. Beat this into your flour. Add the foamy yeast. Beating will be easiest using the stand mixer. Beat the eggs into the mix one at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat the mixture until it becomes smooth. Allow the dough to rest for 20-30 minutes.
Step 4: Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface. Use your hands to pat it into a circular loaf and then roll this into a long cylinder with slightly tapered ends. Place this loaf on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover and allow to rise for an hour. During the last 20 minutes of rising time, turn the oven to 425-degrees.
Step 5: Make two to three narrow cuts in the top of the loaf for steam vents. When the oven has preheated, place the loaf in the oven and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until the outside is very done and the loaf sounds hollow when rapped on the bottom.
Step 6: Allow the bread to cool at least ½ hour before slicing. This may require extraordinary willpower, but it will be so much better if you do allow a bit of cooling time.
