bread

Discard Sourdough Bread Made with a Preferment

This is my new favorite bread recipe. You need to make a gf starter; lots of directions online. its not that difficult and you can buy a freeze dried one on-line. I prefer one made with brown rice flour and it needs to be at least 2 or 3 weeks old before using it. The weeks of forming it include lots of discarding a portion of it in efforts to get rid of harmful or poor tasting bacteria. I suggest you read up on the process, so you have a good idea of the process before you make one.

This is a pretty easy bread recipe for a beginner. You do need these assorted flours but trust me, if you have to eat gf you are probably sick of expensive and flavorless store breads so buying these flours is well worth it. I keep the sorghum, brown rice, millet and psyllium husk powder in the freezer, so they each stay fresh. You should put them in a freezer bag if their container is flimsy.

You could probably use a portable mixer, but a stand mixer is best. I use a scale to weigh most of my ingredients, necessary for exacting measurements. They aren’t that expensive and if you bake much, one is a necessity. My recipe is a take-off of one by Gluten Free Gourmand. I added the preferment step to my version to increase flavor and improve texture.

The preferment is a fancy term for a mixture of the sourdough starter, flour and warm water that stands around for 4 to 24 hours, some people let it stand even longer. Its purpose is to add sour flavor to the bread; without it your bread will be a bit bland, and it also can help the texture especially if you use an active starter (fed with flour and water that day so it is bubbly and active). I find the use of the preferment step makes this bread deliciously sour and with a lighter texture. It isn’t hard to do; I actually use a 32 oz yogurt container with a lid and just leave it sit for that day to get sour; simply dump the entire contents, including any separated liquid, into the bread dough mixture. Super easy and it definitely improves flavor and texture.

There is no tricky kneading or shaping of this bread. I roll it into a tube shape and bake in a metal loaf pan so I have the traditional bread shape for use in sandwiches. This bread made great grilled cheese or panini sandwiches. I slice up the loaf the day after baking it and freeze it in a freezer Ziplock; defrost in microwave for 50-60 seconds and you are ready to toast it or make a grilled sandwich! You can make it in a round or oval boule if that floats your boat; you might want to use a banneton to shape it as it rises and a cast-iron Dutch oven to bake it in. I generally like the boule recipe on Bakerita.com for that sort of sourdough but this recipe below could be shaped, risen in a mold called a banneton and baked in a boule. My Dutch oven is oval, so I tend to make oval loafs in it; they slice in nice slices which are mostly the same size.

Discard Sourdough Bread Made with a Preferment

Preferment:

200 gms (grams) active starter

80 gms sorghum

100 gms warm water (95-115 degrees)

Mix in a plastic lidded container and let stand for 24 or more hours

Dough directions – Ingredients:

Mix in stand mixer bowl

65 gms potato starch (you could do 115 gms potato starch and leave out the cornstarch)

50 gms cornstarch

40 gms millet flour

40 gms tapioca flour

9 gms sea salt

20 gms psyllium husk powder

Mix well and add 1 tsp active dry yeast

Add 280 gms warm water and the preferment. Mix with beater of stand mixer for 1-2 minutes until well blended. I have a beater with a built-in scraper; use it or a separate scraper to push all dough together into a rough ball. Cover with a damp lint free kitchen towel and put in a warm place for 60-90 minutes. I leave the beater in the bowl for this first rise.

Add these three things: 75 gms tapioca flour, 1 tbsp. sugar and 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, Blend well with the stand beater. Turn out onto lightly floured bread board, form into a log; I like to roll it back and forth to smooth the bumpy surface. Place in a metal baking loaf pan sprayed with gf cooking spray. Cover with the damp cloth and put back in the warm place for 60-90 minutes. It should have risen some but doubtful it will double. I like it to be puffy but not too puffy or it might become over risen, not good!

Preheat oven to 450 degrees when the bread is close to ready for baking. While it heats put a low pan of hot water in the oven so it comes to a boil while in your oven. I like my baking shelf set in the middle slot. Bake the bread 30 minutes covered loosely with aluminum foil and then 20 minutes more without the foil. Remove from pan within 5 minutes and cool for a minimum of 4 hours; I like more than that. I often bake this in the later afternoon to evening and then cut it in the morning. Enjoy!

Sourdough Can be Gluten Free and Delicious!

I have been making some gf sourdough breads and other baked goods for quite a few months now; since last winter. Hiatus over summer due to hot kitchen although I did continue to make sourdough bagels regularly. I love them with eggs for breakfast and I often have an open-faced bagel sandwich for lunch. The starter I use is make of brown rice flour and water. Occasionally I treat it to some honey. Currently it sits in the fridge until the day before I bake. Then I feed it more flour and water and stir it up to get active. Hey, I know, sourdough is not for everyone, and it has the reputation of being super tricky and unreliable. I can attest to some of that, but I have my secret weapon; a teaspoon of active yeast is my little helper. Added to the dough with the majority of ingredients it gets that dough to puff up, albeit over about 5-6 hours. Shhh! Don’t tell any serious sourdough bakers; they are somewhat fanatical bakers who are incredibly dedicated to their starters, recipes, the lengthy process and are fairly willing to waste lots of ingredients and hours of time waiting for a rise that often is minimal at best. After a few months of up and down results I have gone over to the dark side; that teaspoon does the trick; it is less than half a packet of yeast but it is enough to boost the rising power of my dough to results that are delightful and give me great joy. Until this year, I hadn’t had sourdough since going gf in January – February 2007. My mom loved sourdough and I sure missed it and looked longingly at the loaf of it at family gatherings. No more longing; I am making my own delicious sourdough breads and bagels.

The recipes I use come from a few sources, Aran Goyoaga bakes an amazing looking loaf of sourdough, but my favorite site is Bakerita; I belong to a fb group dedicated to her recipes and advice. Her boule is delicious if exacting in construction. I use her recipe for gf sourdough bagels, and it is super easy and super forgiving. And for those who think bagels are too difficult to make; Wrong! It is a one rise of the dough in the mixing bowl, cut into 8 equal chunks, roll into a ball, poke a hole through the ball and shape into a bagel. Let rise an hour or more, give each bagel a bath in boiling water with baking soda in it; 30 seconds on each side; place back on baking sheet. Dress up with poppy seeds, sesame seeds or Everything bagel mix (my favorite). Bake for an hour and there they are, chewy, golden and just lovely to munch on. I was driven to making my own when I found all the store gf bagels were lacking in texture and flavor and when Aldi’s stopped selling gf Everything Bagels. The last straw for me!! I slice them in half and freeze. Usually get through them in 3 weeks and I bake again.

Bagels, bathed, sprinkled and ready to bake

You can look on facebook for Bakerita’s site. Also for a gf sourdough baking group although I warn you, they are so deadly serious about it! And on both these sites there are recipes in the notes for a wide variety of baked goods. I have two of Aran’s cookbooks. I do tend to do the Bakerita recipes more often; if you follow them closely and add that tsp. of instant yeast you will get great results. Aran’s cookbooks have a detailed step by step recipe for creating your own sourdough starter; not that difficult to do. I have made sourdough scones too; see a few past blogs. I tried sourdough crackers with some limited success. The most recent recipe was the Bakerita boule but made as a loaf and allowed to rise 6 hours before baking. It has lovely even holes in the bread and my guy swears it tastes just like sourdough bread he buys. [He is not gf except when he is at my house so he eats wheat-based products regularly and can easily compare my breads to them.]

blueberry rhubarb sourdough scones

I find it a fun and almost scientific process; you weigh all the ingredients; strongly urge you to get a good electric scale that can do both ounces and grams. Essential. As is a stand mixer for most recipes. The bagel recipe can be made without a stand mixer. And bonus, far cheaper than buying the bread and far better flavor! Plus your house wil; smell fantastic as the bread bakes. Finally, there are the family’s accolades at your amazing sourdough bagels. Who know it could be so easy and fun to make bagels. I promise you will love them. Have fun and be adventurous! Sourdough is for us gluten free types! Go out and bake some.

Christmas Stollen – Even Better

I am very traditional about certain things and stollen for Christmas is one of them. I made it a couple of years ago but wasn’t that impressed with the gf version I chose. This December I made it from a recipe on King Arthur’s website and it was so easy and so very delish I just had to share it right away with you. My mom and I had some together this afternoon and I marveled at how perfect it was, you would never guess it is gluten free. It is made without a mixer, just a whisk, a pastry cutter, a big spoon and a bread board to knead it briefly. The recipe is found at: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/gluten-free-holiday-stollen-recipe. It uses their basic all purpose blend, does have eggs and butter and some ricotta cheese. No fancy techniques. Sort of almost a quick bread that looks like you were baking all day. Tastes like Christmas should taste!

I made a few changes; I didn’t have the butter flavor additive. I added 1/4 tsp lemon extract to up the lemon flavor that came from the zest of an entire good sized Meyer lemon.  I added 2 more Tbsp. of ricotta cheese. I used full fat and maybe that altered things but it was a bit dry so I added as I mixed it up and kneaded it. I shaped each half into an oval about the size the recipe says and I folded it the short way so it was chubby and appealing; I used to do it the long way; like it much better like this.  Makes  nicer slices and fits on my big sheet pan much easier.

stollen fruit

 

My dried fruit inside was tuned up by 1 Tbsp. of brandy that soaked right in.  I only did the butter brushing after baking once. Did sift powdered sugar then and after it was mostly cooled.  My dried fruit mix was 1/2 cup golden raisins, and 1/2 cup of currants, chopped dried apricots and a cherry and berry dried blend. I started the oven heating and toasted my almonds as it got hot; put them outside in the cold for 2-3 minutes to cool before adding to the mix.  stollen wet ingreds

I baked this about 8 extra minutes as it just wasn’t brown; don’t be afraid to do that if something looks too pale or underdone; far better to be a tad crunchy than saggy underbaked dough insides. stollen ready to bake

This was easy; no yeast to deal with. The only special tool I recommend is a pastry cutter; it has several blades and cuts the butter into smaller and smaller bits which is what gives this bread pastry its flaky tenderness. You could use a butter knife instead; will just take longer. stollen baked

This is the Christmas bread of my dreams. Don’t be afraid; you can make this my friends! Enjoy the holidays and Merry Christmas! stollen sliced

Super Simple Cloud Bread

 

Finding or baking decent gf bread can be problematic.  Poor texture (think crumbly), slightly odd flavors, big holes in the middle of the loaf, leaden or brick like baked products, high prices and lots of ingredients which must be compiled exactly according to the recipe.  It adds up to a fair amount of stress as to just having a sandwich.

A year ago I made some really interesting bread/rolls.  The name is “cloud bread” (also called oopsie bread) and it has no flour, no oats nor any grains.  I was intrigued when I saw this cloud bread popping up in my support group messages and just had to try it. My recipe has five ingredients but three should be in your pantry already.  It was very easy, quick and yes; tasty.  So it made a super bread for a ham and cheese sandwich and a ham/turkey and cheese sandwich.  I ate one warm out of the oven, also enjoyable. Great with a little jam or jelly on top.  Posted it back last March and sharing again so you who missed it can give it a try.

I added a couple toppings which add a lot to the flavor and look of it.  I recommend them but it sure can be made plain.   You have to use full fat cream cheese to make it work, only a few tablespoons so don’t get all freaked out over that issue!

Cloud Bread/Rolls

3 eggs, separated

3 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. honey

Pinch salt

Toppings; sesame seeds and a tbsp. of chopped fresh rosemary.

 

Directions

Beat the egg yolks with the cream cheese until it is very smooth, lemon yellow. Add the baking powder and honey, beat in.

Beat the egg whites until foamy, add a sprinkle of salt. Beat until stiff peaks form.  Fold together with the yolk mixture until mostly blended together.

While the egg whites were beating I lined a big baking sheet with parchment paper and sprayed it lightly with Pam.  Heat oven to 300 degrees. Some people heat the pan in the oven before spreading the dough; I didn’t bother but feel free to preheat your pan.

Using a big spoon spread the bread mixture on in six big circles spaced 1-2 inches apart.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and or finely chopped fresh rosemary. Bake until golden brown between 20 and 30 minutes.  Using a spatula separate them from the parchment paper. Let cool.  Store in a ziplock bag overnight; they will get soft and be ready for sandwiches.  Keep them in the fridge. I put slices of wax paper between them to avoid sticking.  They keep about 3 days there and a week in the freezer.  Wonderful for sandwiches: I used one for the top and a second one as the bottom of the sandwich.  Did I mention they are virtually no carbs in this bread? Yeap; great for my low carbing friends!

Originally published in 2016. Minor changes to text.

Cloud Bread – Yup…That’s Its Name!

Finding or baking decent gf bread can be problematic.  Poor texture, weird flavors, big holes the middle of the loaf, leaden brick like baked products, high prices and lots of ingredients which must be compiled exactly according to the recipe.  It adds up to a fair amount of stress as to just having a sandwich.

A year ago I made some really interesting bread called “cloud bread” (also called oopsie bread) and it has no flour, no oats nor any grains.  I was intrigued when I saw this cloud bread popping up in my support group messages and just had to try it. My recipe has five ingredients but three should be in your pantry already.  It was very easy, quick and yes; tasty.  So it made a super bread for a ham and cheese sandwich and a ham/turkey and cheese sandwich.  I ate one warm out of the oven, also enjoyable. Great with a little jam or jelly on top.  Posted it back last March and sharing again so you who missed it can give it a try.

I added a couple toppings which add a lot to the flavor and look of it.  I recommend them but it sure can be made plain.   You have to use full fat cream cheese to make it work, only a few tablespoons so don’t get all freaked out over that issue!

Cloud Bread/Rolls

3 eggs, separated

3 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. honey

Pinch salt

Toppings; sesame seeds and a tbsp. of chopped fresh rosemary

 

Directions

Beat the egg yolks with the cream cheese until it is very smooth, lemon yellow. Add the baking powder and honey, beat in.

Beat the egg whites until foamy, add a sprinkle of salt. Beat until stiff peaks form.  Fold together with the yolk mixture until mostly blended together.

While the egg whites were beating I lined a big baking sheet with parchment paper and sprayed it lightly with Pam.  Heat oven to 300 degrees. Some people heat the pan in the oven before spreading the dough; I didn’t bother but feel free to preheat your pan.

Using a big spoon spread the bread mixture on in six big circles spaced 1-2 inches apart.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and or finely chopped fresh rosemary. Bake until golden brown between 20 and 30 minutes.  Using a spatula separate them from the parchment paper. Let cool.  Store in a ziplock bag overnight; they will get soft and be ready for sandwiches.  Keep them in the fridge. I put slices of wax paper between them to avoid sticking.  shoe fly pie, hash 012They keep about 3 days there and a week in the freezer.  Wonderful for sandwiches: I used one for the top and a second one as the bottom of the sandwich.  Did I mention they are virtually no carbs in this bread? Yeap; great for my low carbing friends!

Originally posted in spring of 2016. Minor changes, none to the recipe.