Friday, January 18, 2013

Sandwich Bread

This morning I tried something new, making my own sandwich bread. I'd mixed the flours weeks ago and then put off what I'd imagined to be a time consuming venture. In reality, it was rather simple.

The flour blend for bread-
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup millet flour (or chickpea flour)
1 cup  tapioca flour
1 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup instant potato flakes

Mix it up and store in an airtight container in the fridge. (Oops! I kept mine in the cupboard.)

To make the bread-
-3 c. flour blend for bread
-2 pkg. active dry yeast
-2 t. xanthan gum
-1 t. salt
-1 c. warm water, (plus additional if needed)
-1/4 c. olive oil
-2 eggs at room temperature
-3 T. sugar
-1 t. cider vinegar

Line a 9x5" metal loaf pan with foil, dull side out, extending the foil 3" up from the top of the pan. Spray with cooking spray and dust with four mix.

Mix 3 cups of flour blend, yeast, xanthan gum, and salt, in a large bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together remaining ingredients. Beat into dry ingredients with an electric mixer set on low until batter is smooth and thick. Add more water by tablespoons if necessary. Beat about five minutes at medium speed.

Spoon the batter into prepared pan and cover lightly with oiled plastic wrap (Oops. How did I miss that?) and let rise in a warm spot for about 30 minutes. Batter should reach top of pan.

Bake at 375ºF for 30-35 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped lightly. Remove bread from pan and cool on a wire rack.

I'm pretty sure I could have some fun with this recipe by adding various ingredients to enhance the flavor. Actually, I'm dreaming of putting pepperoni in there...

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Hey Look! Gluten Free Bagels

I have a new gluten free cookbook, The Gluten-Free Kitchen by Roben Ryberg. The main ingredients are few and simple. The recipes included consist of mostly corn starch and potato starch in place of all purpose wheat flour which makes shopping easy.

This morning I decided to try my hand at making bagels. I've never even made regular bagels...


These bready treats were pretty simple and I found them rather tasty when spread with butter and honey. I do wish I had a toaster oven to warm them up and make them crunchy. Maybe tomorrow I'll be brave and stick one into the regular toaster. I just hope I can get it back out once it's done.