Bread Recipes

Making your own bread saves so much money, is better for you, and is so much better than store bought. I spent a lot of time trying and retrying and tweaking bread recipes to find one I loved.

I made honey whole wheat bread for quite some time until I was diagnosed with celiac disease. Then I set out on a year quest to discover the best gluten free recipes. After trying tons of recipes and tweaking everything to my liking, I have come up with some phenomenal bread.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients
3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/3 cup honey
5 cups bread flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon salt
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions
1.In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.

2.Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.

3.Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.

4.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely

Gluten Free French Bread

1 cup rice flour (white)
1 cup rice flour (brown)
1 cup tapioca flour
3 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 tablespoons fast rise yeast
2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine, melted
3 egg whites, beaten slightly
1 teaspoon vinegar
melted butter, for brushing (optional)

In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, place flours, xanthan gum, salt, and egg.Blend with mixer on low.

In a small bowl dissolve the sugar in the water, and add yeast.

Wait until the mixture foams slightly, then blend into the dry ingredients.

Add the butter, egg whites, and vinegar.Beat on high for 3 minutes.

To form loaves, spoon dough onto greased and cornmeal-dusted cookie sheets in two long French-loaf shapes or spoon into special French-bread pans.

Slash diagonally every few inches.If desired, brush with melted butter.

Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 20 to 25 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

Remove from pan to cool.

Gluten Free Sandwich Bread

1 Tbsp. bread machine yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 ½ c. water (105 degrees or a little less than hot)

2 ½ cups of my gluten free flour mix*
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1tsp. salt

3 eggs (or 9 Tbsp. water and 3 Tbsp. ground flax seed)
1 ½ Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. cider vinegar

1. Start by combining the yeast and sugar in a small bowl (I use the smallest in my set of three nested mixing bowls). Add the water while gently stirring the yeast and sugar. Let this mixture sit while you mix the rest of the ingredients – bubbles and foam should form if the yeast is happy.

2. Combine the flour mix, xanthan gum and salt in the largest mixing bowl and stir well.

3. In a third bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and vinegar until the eggs are a bit frothy.

4. By this point the yeast mixture should be foamy, so you can pour the two liquid mixtures into the flour mixture. Blend the dough with a mixer for 4 minutes.

Bread Machine Directions:

Scoop your dough into the bread machine and smooth the top of the dough. I bake my bread using an 80 minute setting that allows for 20 minutes of kneading, 18 minutes of rise, and 42 minutes of baking. However, since I don’t use the paddle in by bread machine, I’m effectively doing a 38 minute rise and a 42 minute bake. (The advantage of not using the paddle is that you don’t end up with a hole in the bottom of your bread.)

Conventional Oven Directions:

Scoop the dough into a greased loaf pan. Allow the dough to rise in a warm area until is is about 1 inch from the top of the pan. Then bake at 375 degrees for 50 – 60 minutes.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

This is my go-to recipe for all sweet bread recipes. I just make cinnamon rolls most often.

Ingredients

Dough

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup skim milk, warmed
1 tablespoon yeast
1 large egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup potato starch
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla


Filling
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened


Icing
8 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1 Dough:.

2 Dissolve the yeast in large mixing bowl with warmed milk. Let bubble for a few minutes.

3 Add sugar, butter, oil, and vanilla to milk/yeast mixture. Stir to combine.

4 Add egg and combine thoroughly.

5 Sift together salt, potato starch, cornstarch, millet flour, baking soda, baking powder, and xanthan gum.

6 Slowly add flour mixture to mixing bowl. Stir until well combined.

7 Remove dough from mixing bowl and place in a greased container and put in a warm place to rise for 45-60 minutes. The dough will be extremely sticky, do not worry, this is normal.

8 Preheat oven to 400°F.

9 Roll dough to 1/4" thick 13 x 13 square between 2 pieces of well floured parchment paper.

10 Remove top sheet of paper from rolled dough and spread softened butter on top of dough.

11 Combine brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough surface. Leave a 2" strip of dough uncovered at one end of square.

12 Using bottom sheet of parchment paper has an aid, roll the dough into a log. Start at the end opposite of that which you left uncovered.

13 Carefully cut into 8 equal pieces using a serrated knife. Place rolls in a greased baking dish, leaving about half an inch between rolls to allow for expansion. Put any remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture in the bottom of the dish.

14 At this point you can either bake them or allow them to rise a bit longer.

15 Bake in oven for ~18-22 minutes until tops are golden brown and delicious. Check for doneness by running a knife between rolls in the center of the dish. Dough should not easily stick to the knife.

16 While the rolls are baking, whip together frosting ingredients until soft and creamy. Try not to eat it all before the rolls are done!

*Gluten Free Flour Mix

2 parts brown rice flour
2/3 part potato starch (not potato flour! Must be starch)
1/3 part tapioca starch