Gluten Free Loaf Bread

I have been baking gluten free yeast bread experimenting with different mix of gluten free wholegrain flours and starches for different type of bread. I baked bread as bread rolls, baguettes and flat round loaf. Gluten free loaf bread is more difficult to master. I am finally comfortable to publish the recipe for gluten free bread loaf with simple list of ingredients, with easy and reliable preparation and baking processes.

There are some important  conditions to remember and comply with, to bake gluten free loaf bread. The first is the general rule of gluten free baking – making sure that ingredient quantities are carefully measured. The second important issue is to let the dough rise not too fast and not too much. The slower the rise, the better the texture through the whole loaf would be. It is also important to let the dough rise no more than to double in size. Excessive raising would be followed by sinking of the loaf later without the proper structural support. The third important feature is the baking regime itself. In case of the loaf bread this is even more important, compared to baking bread rolls or baguettes. I have learned,  that it is very important to work out the perfect baking temperature for each oven. In my oven it is 190C preheated fan-forced regime. Another important condition is to keep the oven door closed for at least 45min of baking time, even better, not to open the oven door for the whole duration of baking time.

If all these conditions are met, the resulting loaf would have an even airy, soft, well baked texture from top to bottom, nice, hard crust and perfect loaf shape, without flat or even sunk top. I also baked this dough using double baguette tray to make sure that this recipe can be baked as baguette.

Ingredients:

makes 1 bread loaf or 2 medium baguettes

• 100g buckwheat flour (I used Coles organic buckwheat flour)
• 100g potato flour
• 50g organic millet flour ( (I used Australian grown and freshly milled organic millet flour, bought online from Garden Shed and Pantry)
• 50g white/brown rice flour (I used McKenzie’s rice flour or Coles brown rice flour)
• 2og flaxseed meal (I used Coles flaxseed meal)
• 10g of sea salt
• 20g of sugar
• 5g xanthan gum
• 15g butter/oil (I used Lurpak butter soft or grapeseed  oil)
• 1 sachet of dry yeast 7g
• 290ml water, room temperature
• sesame seeds or any other seeds, optional
• extra butter/oil  to grease loaf tin or baguette tray

Preparation:

• all dry ingredients have to be at room temperature, if flaxseed meal is refrigerated, take it out 20-30 min ahead of making dry ingredients mix and allow to warm up to room temperature
• sift the flours into a wide bowl and mix them well
• add dry ingredients – flaxseed meal, yeast, salt, sugar, xanthan gum to flour mix
• combine and mix all dry ingredients well with a whisk
• use lukewarm water
• mix oil with water (room temperature butter is added to the dough separately)
• add liquids to dry mix and combine them together (I prefer to use my hands, but it can be done with a wooden spoon, or a dough hook)
• if using butter as the source of fat, mix it in as the last component
• mix thoroughly until all ingredients are well combined and the dough is homogenous
• the dough will be soft, but will not stick to the bowl
• grease 11cm x 20cm loaf tin
• wet your palms and gather the dough, shape it to fit the loaf tin and place it inside the greased tin
• using wet spatula level the surface of the dough if necessary
• brush with egg wash (or water) and sprinkle with sesame seeds

• place loaf tin on the medium shelf in the oven
• turn the oven lights on (no heat)
• place a bowl with warm water on the low shelf in the oven
• let the dough rise until it doubles in size (55-70min)
• take the tin out of the oven and preheat it to 190C

• the top of the dough will just reach the upper level of the tin, but would not stick out of the tin

• place loaf tin on a medium shelf in preheated to 190C fan-forced oven
• bake for 60min
• the dough will not rise while baking
• take the loaf out of the tin
• place it on a wire rack
• let bread loaf completely cool down before slicing (I like to return the loaf on a wire rack to a switched off oven
• use serrated bread knife for a clean cut

Bread loaf in the above photo is baked using brown rice flour, while the loaf in the photo below is baked using white rice flour. Both loaves are baked using Lurpak butter soft as fat component of the recipe.

The texture of the dough is a touch softer when grapeseed oil is used as fat ingredient of the recipe. But the texture of the baked bread is identical when both butter or oil are used. Baking time for baguettes is 40min using the same temperature regime.

I have found that this flour mix gives the best taste and texture for a gluten free loaf bread. Increased quantities of buckwheat flour (compared to my other recipes) allowed to reduce xanthan gum from 8g to 5g in the recipe, and provided more solid structure to a loaf. Quite often gluten free bread loaves have a flat top and very rarely exhibit typical loaf shape with elevated top crust. I managed to overcome this predicament. I am also happy with the ratio of whole grains to starches, with only less than 1/3 of dry ingredient mix is represented by potato flour. This bread can be considered as a healthy option for not only gluten free bread, but bread in general, especially compared to highly processed commercial bread mixes.

Loaf bread is perfect for sandwiches, either served with salads, or as a takeaway lunch. This bread freezes and defrosts without any loss of taste and texture.