If you haven't heard, the Evans family is gluten free. Not by choice, but due to health issues, we stopped consuming gluten as well as a list of other foods in November. Right away, I felt better. Like 100x better. Apparently my leaky gut has been allowing gluten to pass through for, like 35 years? Because now I know how normal people's stomachs feel, in a word, GOOD!
Part of the challenge of going gluten free was replacing our gluten filled food items. Luckily for us this is a new era in food, and with many people going gluten free there are tons of food choices and resources. Unfortunately, a lot of gluten free products are full of other crap, which they put in to make the products taste good. So while there are a lot of ready made gluten free products we don't eat many of them. That left it up to me to make foods that I felt good about and that my kids would eat.
I went to my favorite place in the world, the library, and checked out tons of cook books. Then I set about testing recipes from each to decide which ones passed the muster and which ones were just no. I mean no *shudder!* I also had an invaluable bread baking lesson with my friend Christina and have picked her brain so many times for trouble shooting and ideas.
Through all of my testing, I have found one book that I love. I haven't had a recipe from it that my family and I haven't all enjoyed. I then went out and purchased my own copy, and I recommend you do to. Seriously, you won't be disappointed.
There's also a volume one but I haven't tried it yet and so can't attest to whether it's the bomb or not ;)
I use this book's flour blend to make bread, and I love it, but like many gluten free breads it's really best toasted, and I wanted to find something I could send in the kids' lunches. Also, I was feeling a little guilty about the white rice flour content, and I figured the least I could do is try the whole grain flour blend. The recipe is kinda persnickety, but it's that way for a reason. Follow the steps exactly so you get a loaf of bread you will eat, not a brick or a half cooked loaf. Trust me. There's a ton of info on every recipe about why they use the ingredients and techniques they do, but I'm not adding those to this blog. This cookbook is from America's Test Kitchen and just trust that they really test every process, so we don't have to. Bless.
I made the whole grain loaf and it's good. I mean it tastes like regular bread, which is crazy to me. The only caution is that this loaf dried out more quickly than the white loaf. I always put my bread in a bag in the fridge (without preservatives, this is the best way to keep your bread good for a few days), but usually I cut the whole loaf before doing it, next time I'll try cutting as I go to see if it will help keep it fresh longer.
This recipe calls for a smaller loaf pan, to help with rise. Ummmm...it rose alright! I haven't tried it in a larger pan, but this pan made giant bread slices. It's too much for me to have two slices in a sandwich. But I'll take this over the bricks I made starting out anyday!
This loaf was made using the book's whole grain flour blend. I made a half batch and that was just about right for one loaf, I wanted to try it before I made a larger batch. Now I'll make the whole recipe or two times the recipe so the blend is ready and in my freezer for the next few weeks. Just a reminder, keep your gluten free flours in the freezer, and let them come to room temperature before baking.
Here's the flour blend recipe:
24 ounces (5 1/4 cups) teff flour
8 ounces (1 3/4 cups) brown rice flour
8 ounces (2 1/3 cups) ground golden flaxseeds
5 ounces (1 cup) sweet white rice flour
Whisk all ingredients together in large bowl until well combined. Transfer to airtight container and refrigerate for up to three months, or freeze for up to six months. Bring to room temperature before using.
The book has multiple recipes that use this flour blend, but I used it in:
Whole Grain Sandwich Bread
17 ounces (2 cups plus 2 tbsp.) warm water (110 degrees) *I make my water between 110 and 130*
2 1/4 tsp rapid-rise yeast
3 tbsp. plus 1 tsp sugar (I use turbinado because we don't do white table sugar, but I think either would work)
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
19 1/2 ounces (4 1/3 cups) ATK Whole Grain Gluten-Free Flour Blend (see above)
3 tbsp. powdered psyllium husk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. As soon as oven reaches 200 degrees, turn off. This will be your warm proofing box for dough. Do not begin step 2 until oven has been turned off. *but I do anyways because I'm a rebel like that ;) I just don't mix the yeast until the oven is ready* Spray 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray. *we don't use spray so I use a brush to coat the pan with olive oil.*
2. Combine warm water, yeast, and 1 tsp sugar in bowl and let sit until bubbly, about 5 minutes *I have an irrational fear of my yeast dying so I use more sugar as fuel for them. In this recipe I used 1 tbsp. (3tsp) sugar* Whisk in eggs and yolk, and melted butter. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour blend, psyllium, baking powder, salt, and remaining 3 tbsp. sugar together on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Slowly add yeast mixture and mix until combined, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and beat until dough is sticky and uniform, about 6 minutes. (Dough will resemble cookie dough).
3. Using rubber spatula, scrape dough into prepared pan. Using wet hands, press dough gently into corners and smooth top. Run finger around entire edge of loaf, pressing down slightly, so that sides are about 1/2 inch shorter than center. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, place in warmed oven, and let rise for 10 minutes; do not let plastic touch oven rack.
4. Remove pan from oven and let sit on counter until loaf has risen 1/2 inch above rim of pan, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Remove plastic and spray loaf with water. Bake until top is browned, crust is firm, and loaf sounds hollow when tapped, about 1 1/2 hours, rotating pan halfway through baking. Turn off oven and leave bread in oven for 15 minutes longer.
6. Remove bread from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Unmold bread onto wire rack and let cool completely, about 3 hours. Serve.
Enjoy!
