The “Not So Dense” Bread

Bread.  Ug. I have tried and tried to find the ultimate gluten-free bread recipe and have resorted to buying Sami’s or Udi’s from the freezer section of my natural grocery store.  Even Rudy’s is gross.  So what’s a girl to do?  I mean, we all MUST have our peanut butter toast, right? Well, sure, if you are willing to take out a second mortgage! 

I was in bed this morning, angry that the sun woke me up WAY too early, when I started putting ingredients together in my head (I know, I need a life, but hey you are the benefactor of my neurosis…) Here is what I came up with and VIOLA! A gluten-free bread that you don’t have to spend your entire grocery budget on and it is rather simple to make.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup rice flour

1 1/2 cup Millet flour

3/4 cup potato flour

1/2  cup pure rice bran…optional.  Picture above does not include bran

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 tsp or 1 tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp guar gum

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp organic sugar

2 tsp active dry yeast

2 tsp of fennel seed (you can substitute this for dried fruit, raisins, flax-seed, nuts, or nothing..)

2 1/2 cups of water (Ok PLEASE PAY ATTENTION..YOU WAKE UP! YOU MUST USE THERMOMETER AND MAKE SURE YOUR WATER IS 105 degrees….NO EXCEPTIONS)

2 tsp of apple cider or rice vinegar

1/2 milk

1/4 cup oil

Throw it all into the bread machine.  Yes, all of it. In any order.  Set it to the darkest crust, a three-pound loaf (cook time approx 3 hours) and on basic bread. 

Yep.  It’s that easy.  If you don’t have a bread machine, see instructions below….

Put all dry ingredients into mixing bowl for stand mixer.  Slowly add liquids while mixing.  Cover mixing bowl with seran wrap and then top off with damp towel.  Put in a dry, warm place (Optimum temp about 78 degrees.) Let rise for a couple of hours.

Now spray your hands with cooking spray and scoop out the dough with your fingers.  It’s time to get down and dirty!  No, I’m not getting kinky…Knead on well floured surface (rice flour).  Spread gently in to greased loaf pan, shaping the top of the loaf to a nice even, smooth surface.  Try not to press down the dough…remember FLUFFY BREAD.  Spray the top with cooking spray.  Cover with seran wrap.  Cover with towel.  Let rise. In winter, look for a nice toasty room, next to a floor register (Hahaha..I live in an old home…) or using your grandmother’s trick with the oven (I’ve yet to have much luck with boiling water in the oven, preheating the oven, etc…you are on your own with this one.) Just remember, the level your bread rises will roughly be the height your bread is when finished baking.  It will not rise much more in the oven.

Tips about making bread (lessons learned the hard way…)

Temperature is KEY.  Keeping your bread dough about 78 degrees is essential to help it rise.  Use thermometer every 30-45 minutes…and I mean in the bread dough, not elsewhere.

Don’t rush a good thing!  Let it rise and rise if needed.  Sometimes (Esp in winter) this could take all day.  I know, I know.  I hate this too.

Water helps bread lift.  Not fluffy enough.  Add more H2O.

Salt kills yeast.  Yeah, it’s a deadly little granule.  But we love it anyways.

Give yourself a break.  Sometimes it just doesn’t work.  Go get a pedicure and try again.  Seriously.

Gluten-free Brownies

1 egg (room temperature)

1 square dark chocolate, 4.4 oz (I use Moser Roth from Aldi’s.  Yum…)

2 squares milk chocolate, 4.4 oz (Psst…you can put these in lunches for a nice quick dessert.  Plus they are the real deal…made in Germany.  So good!)

1 stick butter

1/4 cup organic sugar

2/3 cup of rice flour

1/3 cup of millet flour 

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp guar gum

In microwave safe dish, melt the chocolate squares, sugar, and butter on high for 45 seconds.  Stir until you have all ingredients mix together.  Set aside.  Mix together the flour, guar gum, baking soda, and salt.  Fold chocolate mixture in flour.  Add egg and mix well.  Spread into well greased 8×8 glass baking dish.  Bake at 350 for about 15-17 minutes.  Do not over bake. Cool completely. Top with icing if desired.

Cutting tip: PLASTIC KNIFE or pizza cutter.  Also, for easy lifting out of dish line with parchment paper or foil.  Leave some hanging over edge and lift directly out of pan before cutting. Some say cool over night.  Yeah, right!

Note: You can fold in nuts, chocolate chips, swirl in chocolate or caramel sauce, etc. Incorporate various extracts, different flavored chips. Get creative and share!  We are waiting!

Easy Icing: Melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 2 tbsp half and half, 1 tbsp of butter together in microwave for 45 seconds.  Mix in powder sugar until thick.  Save in refrigerator for another day!

Gluten Free Cherry Poptarts

I am not sure if they put crack in regular poptarts, but it is definitely one gluten item my boys long for….often.  So being the mom who wants her kids not to miss out, I hit the kitchen.  These also taste a lot like scones, so call them what you want, but they are great!

Filling

2 1/2 cups prepared fruit (washed, pitted, peeled, whatever…)

1 cup water

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp light corn syrup

Bring to boil for about ten minutes.  Mash with potato masher.  Boil another five minutes, mash again, boil, mash.  You get the gist.  Stressful day?  Mash, baby, mash. By this time the fruit should be pulverized and pretty much boiled down to nothing.  The corn syrup should be making it thick and bubbly.

In spoon, dissolve 1/4 tsp unflavored gelatin in water.  Add to fruit and boil another couple of minutes. Let sit off of heat for five minutes.  It should look like ice cream topping or thick jam.

While filling is cooking down, prepare my gluten free pizza crust (use my millet flour version of the all purpose flour) replacing 1/4 cup stevia with 1/2 cup organic sugar.  You also will need to knead with 1 cup of flour, instead of 1/2 cup.  Spread into greased cookie sheet.  (Ok, so learn from my critics comments…a.k.a. the pickiest little boys whom I love to death.  Spread the dough as thin as possible.  Mine were a little dough heavy.)With pizza cutter, cut into rectangles.  Once fruit filling is set, spread moderately over half of the rectangles.  Brush edges with egg white.  Then place remaining rectangles on top of fruit filled ones.  Push down on edges and make sure they are sealed tight.  Spread tops with remaining egg white.  Sprinkle organic sugar on top.  Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  You can freeze or refrigerate these and toast or microwave in the mornings.