GlutenFreeBaking
Musings on gluten free baking
I've done extensive searching on the web for how to make gluten free bread for my 11 year old daughter who can't eat gluten. Most of what I found was not very helpful, recipes as well as sources for the uncommon ingredients. It is really not that difficult to obtain the various gluten free flours. Some can be gotten at east Indian groceries. I found the best selection at large Chinese supermarkets in the Houston, TX area. The several gluten free flours can be purchased for less than $1 per pound at Hong Kong Supermarket. King Arthur Flour sells a good mix for gluten free bread, but really, is not worth $7-8 for a single loaf. Adding bean flour (chickpea) is a good idea as well to add protean to the mixture to make up for some of the protean in wheat flour.. Bean flour can affect the taste though. Other good flours to try are sorhum, wild rice, and buckwheat.
The flours I have had the best luck with are a mixture of brown rice flour, glutenous rice flour made from short grain rice that contains no gluten even though it is "glutenous", and tapioca flour. Also helpful is xanthan gum, a thickener that helps to hold things together. I got the xanthan gum on ebay, it seems ebay has everything. Also helpful has been the purchase of a Nutrimill flour mill to make my own gluten free flours.
You will find out that the consistency of gluten free bread "dough" is nothing like wheat bread dough. In the following recipe the "dough" is very loose, sticky, and squishy rather than elastic like a wheat flour dough is. If you stick your finger into the "dough" it will come out wet and covered with "dough."
One advantage to gluten free baking is over-beating won't in tough cookies or cakes like it will for wheat flour recipes.
You will find recipes for gluten free doughnuts and bagels. Lets face it, your gluten free "bagel" will not taste or have the chewy shell of a real wheat bagel. Doughnuts might be OK if what you are trying to reproduce is a cake doughnut. Gluten free Krispy Creme? I don't think so.
Gluten Free Sandwich Bread
This recipe is a slight variation on one from here: Gluten Free Cooking School. I don't use the same flour mix however. Don't expect the sandwich bread to taste like wheat flour bread. It tastes good and has a good texture but it isn't wheat. But hey, gluten free bread is better than no bread isn't it? BTW the whole family has not gone gluten free along with my daughter except for pancakes and cookies.
My best luck has been with the following flour mixture:
2 parts brown rice flour
1 part tapioca flour
1 part glutenous rice flour.
Really Good Gluten Free Sandwich Bread
dry ingredients:
1 tablespoon yeast
2 1/2 cups flour mixture
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
wet ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 1/2 cup water
Beat the wet ingredients until frothy. Add to the dry ingredients and beat 4 minutes. Put the mixing bowl into a larger bowl filled with hot water. It should rise to double in volume in 10-15 minutes. Beat down and put into a loaf pan and let rise a second time. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes
Gluten Free Pizza Dough
Use the recipe for sandwich bread but spread the mixture on a heavily oiled baking sheet with hands dipped in vegetable oil.
Gluten free bread baking in a bread machine
Some recipes suggest using a bread machine. I've had very good luck using a KitchenAid stand mixer. I'm very experienced using a bread machine. I've used them both for baking bread and for making just the dough for artisan breads. I've worn out 2 of them if that is any indication. I've used a stand mixer for my gluten free bread making. Since there is no gluten, extended kneading like for wheat bread is not necessary. The above recipe says to mix for 4 minutes and let rise for 10-15 minutes. Your bread machine won't have a setting even remotely like that. If your bread machine can be custom programmed it might be worth a try. As a start I'd try the following:
Mix for 5 minutes
First rise for 20 minutes
Beat down for 2 minutes
Second rise for 20 minutes
Bake time as for a wheat flour loaf
Gluten Free Baking with baking powder or baking soda
We are in luck. Recipes calling for baking powder or soda usually work quite well with gluten free flours as they don't rely much on gluten for texture. Usually a wheat flour recipe is a good start to develop a successful gluten free alternative. Substitute gluten free flour for wheat flour and see how the recipe turns out. Usually they turn out pretty good with gluten free flour mixtures. This is one hint I haven't seen on other gluten free recipe websites.
Pancakes
Pancake recipes work quite well with gluten free flours. Many years ago I had my first taste of yeast raised pancakes. After that I haven't made a single recipe of baking powder pancakes. Yeast raised are that good. The pancakes however can tend to be a little too tender and not hold together as well as wheat flour pancakes. But again, better gluten free pancakes than none at all.
Yeast raised gluten free pancakes
2 cups flour mixture
2 cups milk, room temperature
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon yeast
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Mix all ingredients until mixture is even in texture. Let rise 15 minutes or until doubled in bulk. Cook on electric skillet and enjoy. These are even better left out overnight to ferment for a sourdough twang.
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
These are very easy to make just use the flour mixture in place of wheat flour for any cookie recipe. Extra flour may be necessary for the proper texture. In the following recipe I've added 1/2 cup flour to the original wheat flour recipe.I started this recipe with 3 cups of flour from the wheat flour recipe it is based on. The cookies spread too much, were too flat, and didn't harden well when cold. Adding 1/2 cup flour made them just right. If cookies are too cakelike next time add 1/4 cup less flour. If cookies are too thin next time add 1/4 cup flour. One good hint, you must be careful when removing cookies from the baking sheet. The cookies tend to fall apart until they are cool.
I made these cookies with 100% sorgum flour and they turned out too cake-like for me. 100% brown rice flour also works very well.
3 1/2 cups flour mixture or 100% brown rice flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 cups chocolate chips
Cream sugars until light, add eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in dry ingredients and beat until well mixed. Add chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet and bake at 350F for 12-14 minutes.
Musings on gluten free baking
I've done extensive searching on the web for how to make gluten free bread for my 11 year old daughter who can't eat gluten. Most of what I found was not very helpful, recipes as well as sources for the uncommon ingredients. It is really not that difficult to obtain the various gluten free flours. Some can be gotten at east Indian groceries. I found the best selection at large Chinese supermarkets in the Houston, TX area. The several gluten free flours can be purchased for less than $1 per pound at Hong Kong Supermarket. King Arthur Flour sells a good mix for gluten free bread, but really, is not worth $7-8 for a single loaf. Adding bean flour (chickpea) is a good idea as well to add protean to the mixture to make up for some of the protean in wheat flour.. Bean flour can affect the taste though. Other good flours to try are sorhum, wild rice, and buckwheat.
The flours I have had the best luck with are a mixture of brown rice flour, glutenous rice flour made from short grain rice that contains no gluten even though it is "glutenous", and tapioca flour. Also helpful is xanthan gum, a thickener that helps to hold things together. I got the xanthan gum on ebay, it seems ebay has everything. Also helpful has been the purchase of a Nutrimill flour mill to make my own gluten free flours.
You will find out that the consistency of gluten free bread "dough" is nothing like wheat bread dough. In the following recipe the "dough" is very loose, sticky, and squishy rather than elastic like a wheat flour dough is. If you stick your finger into the "dough" it will come out wet and covered with "dough."
One advantage to gluten free baking is over-beating won't in tough cookies or cakes like it will for wheat flour recipes.
You will find recipes for gluten free doughnuts and bagels. Lets face it, your gluten free "bagel" will not taste or have the chewy shell of a real wheat bagel. Doughnuts might be OK if what you are trying to reproduce is a cake doughnut. Gluten free Krispy Creme? I don't think so.
Gluten Free Sandwich Bread
This recipe is a slight variation on one from here: Gluten Free Cooking School. I don't use the same flour mix however. Don't expect the sandwich bread to taste like wheat flour bread. It tastes good and has a good texture but it isn't wheat. But hey, gluten free bread is better than no bread isn't it? BTW the whole family has not gone gluten free along with my daughter except for pancakes and cookies.
My best luck has been with the following flour mixture:
2 parts brown rice flour
1 part tapioca flour
1 part glutenous rice flour.
Really Good Gluten Free Sandwich Bread
dry ingredients:
1 tablespoon yeast
2 1/2 cups flour mixture
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
wet ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 1/2 cup water
Beat the wet ingredients until frothy. Add to the dry ingredients and beat 4 minutes. Put the mixing bowl into a larger bowl filled with hot water. It should rise to double in volume in 10-15 minutes. Beat down and put into a loaf pan and let rise a second time. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes
Gluten Free Pizza Dough
Use the recipe for sandwich bread but spread the mixture on a heavily oiled baking sheet with hands dipped in vegetable oil.
Gluten free bread baking in a bread machine
Some recipes suggest using a bread machine. I've had very good luck using a KitchenAid stand mixer. I'm very experienced using a bread machine. I've used them both for baking bread and for making just the dough for artisan breads. I've worn out 2 of them if that is any indication. I've used a stand mixer for my gluten free bread making. Since there is no gluten, extended kneading like for wheat bread is not necessary. The above recipe says to mix for 4 minutes and let rise for 10-15 minutes. Your bread machine won't have a setting even remotely like that. If your bread machine can be custom programmed it might be worth a try. As a start I'd try the following:
Mix for 5 minutes
First rise for 20 minutes
Beat down for 2 minutes
Second rise for 20 minutes
Bake time as for a wheat flour loaf
Gluten Free Baking with baking powder or baking soda
We are in luck. Recipes calling for baking powder or soda usually work quite well with gluten free flours as they don't rely much on gluten for texture. Usually a wheat flour recipe is a good start to develop a successful gluten free alternative. Substitute gluten free flour for wheat flour and see how the recipe turns out. Usually they turn out pretty good with gluten free flour mixtures. This is one hint I haven't seen on other gluten free recipe websites.
Pancakes
Pancake recipes work quite well with gluten free flours. Many years ago I had my first taste of yeast raised pancakes. After that I haven't made a single recipe of baking powder pancakes. Yeast raised are that good. The pancakes however can tend to be a little too tender and not hold together as well as wheat flour pancakes. But again, better gluten free pancakes than none at all.
Yeast raised gluten free pancakes
2 cups flour mixture
2 cups milk, room temperature
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon yeast
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Mix all ingredients until mixture is even in texture. Let rise 15 minutes or until doubled in bulk. Cook on electric skillet and enjoy. These are even better left out overnight to ferment for a sourdough twang.
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
These are very easy to make just use the flour mixture in place of wheat flour for any cookie recipe. Extra flour may be necessary for the proper texture. In the following recipe I've added 1/2 cup flour to the original wheat flour recipe.I started this recipe with 3 cups of flour from the wheat flour recipe it is based on. The cookies spread too much, were too flat, and didn't harden well when cold. Adding 1/2 cup flour made them just right. If cookies are too cakelike next time add 1/4 cup less flour. If cookies are too thin next time add 1/4 cup flour. One good hint, you must be careful when removing cookies from the baking sheet. The cookies tend to fall apart until they are cool.
I made these cookies with 100% sorgum flour and they turned out too cake-like for me. 100% brown rice flour also works very well.
3 1/2 cups flour mixture or 100% brown rice flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 cups chocolate chips
Cream sugars until light, add eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in dry ingredients and beat until well mixed. Add chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet and bake at 350F for 12-14 minutes.