So I finally broke down yesterday and bought a package of xanthan gum. After a few attempts at making a decent GF bread using only egg and flax seed as binders, I decided to see what all the hype was about. Like I said in my previous post, my first 2 attempts were edible. The loaves just weren't sandwich bread material. They never rose above the bread pan. Actually they never made it to the edges of the bread pan. For those of you who don't know what xanthan gum is....It's a binder/ stabilizer used in GF baking to give the flour something to hold on to in the rising process. Wheat flour has gluten to do that.....
Over the last few days I have been looking for the perfect sandwich bread recipe. The internet is a wealth of information. Unfortunately looking at pictures and recipes all day long won't give me an idea how any of them are.....so I just had to pick one and see for myself. What I came up with was a guideline of ingredients from one site and instructions from another.
Now for anyone out there who has delved in the world of bread making, you know you have to put a bit of work into it. Unless of course you're so lucky as to have a Kitchen Aid mixer which does most of the work for you.....( No I am not bitter some of you have Kitchen Aid mixers.....Not. At. All!). Anyway, what I am trying to say here is.....Gluten Free baking is easy. No really it is!! I have done my fair share of homemade bread making in the past and GF bread baking is a breeze in comparison. Once all your ingredients are in the bowl....The only tool you need is a hand mixer. A hand mixer people! No kneading is required.
As I write this blog entry, the bread is baking in the oven. And by the looks of it the xanthan gum truly works! I mixed the ingredients together, poured the batter/ dough in to the pan and after proofing for an hour the bread rose up just over an inch above the pan. I just checked on it and it hasn't fallen. It still looks like bread. And it smells like bread too. Here is what it looked like once I took it out of the oven.....
Gluten Free White Sandwich Bread
1 cup Tapioca Flour
3/4 cup Brown Rice flour
3/4 cup Potato Starch
2 tsp Xanthan Gum
3/4 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Sugar
2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1 Egg + 1 Egg yolk
3/4 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 1/2 tsp Oil
1 1/3 cup Warm Soy Milk
Instructions
1~ Warm soy milk on the stovetop. You just want it warm not scalding or boiling hot. Place in a bowl along with yeast and sugar. Let it sit about 5 minutes until it's nice and foamy.
2~ In the meantime, measure and mix first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
3~ Beat eggs with a hand mixer until frothy. Then add oil, vinegar and the yeast mix. Beat for about 30 seconds.
4~ Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Taking your hand mixer blend together until it comes together and resembles a muffin batter. It will be thick and somewhat sticky.
5~ Scrape batter/ dough into a greased 4x8 bread pan. I also lined the bottom with parchment paper. Now cover the pan with plastic wrap and set it in a warm dry area. What I did was to warm the oven to 200F then turned the oven off and placed my pan inside. Let it rise for about 1 hour. Until the dough comes above the edges of the pan or doubles in size.
6~ Preheat your oven to 350F. Once dough has risen, place the pan in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes. I baked mine for 45 and I should probably have left it in for a bit longer. You know it's done when it's sounds hollow when you tap the loaf. Once done remove pan from oven and then the bread from the pan. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. Enjoy!
The resulting bread turned out great. Lots of airy bubbles inside the loaf. And it was light and moist....But like I mentioned in the recipe, I should have baked it a bit longer. I found it a bit too soft to slice but managed it by being careful. For my first attempt using xanthan gum, I am ecstatic with the end result. I can't wait to try different flour mixes to try and up the nutritious factor.
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