One Good (Gluten Free) Loaf

One of the first thoughts that went through my head when I learned I had a sensitivity to gluten was: bread.



It wasn't that I was going to miss eating it, but rather making it. I love making bread. Sifting the dry ingredients, making a well for the liquids, kneading the dough, setting it in a warm place to rise. Nothing says home like a bowl of dough, covered with a vintage tea towel, rising on the hearth. And the smell....ah the smell of making bread, from beginning to end. Particularly the end. I remember many a night when we would fall asleep to the smell of freshly baked bread. Sweet, yeasty dreams.

Nothing makes me feel more like a can-do woman than making bread (or turning a sock heel). So I did what any bread loving, gluten sensitive woman would do - I got to work concocting a gluten free bread. Here's the recipe, inspired by these two recipes:



Rice Flour Bread

2 1/2 cups rice flour blend (follow link to Carol Fenster's rice flour blend recipe)
2 T sugar
2 T rice milk powder*
1 T xanthan gum
1 T dry active yeast
1 t salt
3 egg whites
3 egg yolks
2 T melted butter
1 t apple cider vinegar
1 cup very warm water*

*you may use 1 cup warm milk in place of water and rice milk powder

In mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Transfer egg whites to a small bowl. Add egg yolks, butter, vinegar and warm water to mixing bowl and blend. Sift dry ingredients together (rice flour blend, sugar, rice milk powder, xanthan gum, yeast and salt). Add dry ingredients to mixing bowl and beat for three minutes. Fold beaten egg whites into dough and stir just until incorporated.

Spread mixture in a greased loaf pan, cover with towel (vintage if possible), and set in a warm place to rise for an hour. Heat oven to 375 and cook bread for one hour. Take bread out of oven and let sit for about ten minutes before removing the bread from the pan. Allow bread to cool before cutting (if you can wait that long).

I slice the bread into thin pieces and store in a covered container in the refrigerator. The loaf usually lasts for several days. It makes wonderful toast.



I'd like to thank all the gluten free bread lovers who came before me and made my gluten free breakfast possible.