Gluten Free Mom

Gluten Free Brown Bread Recipe

Finally we have a winner in our gluten free bread recipe competition.  We have tried a lot of different recipes (some successful, others complete failures) and have learned a lot along the way.  Mostly we have gained confidence and understanding of different flours.  In the end, most Gluten Free bread recipes are variations on a common theme but the exact blend that will be your favorite is largely dependent on your taste buds.  If you are experimenting as well, I have added links to some of the bread recipes we tried below.

This is the recipe that satisfied all of our criteria:

1.  Easy enough for me, and hopefully the Gluten Free Kid at some point,  to make it once a week.  (This recipe rises very quickly making it easy to add into our weekly schedule).

2.  Somewhat nutritious - no white rice flour with a bunch of starch.  If I am going to make homemade bread, I want it to have some health benefits. That is why I added the rice bran for added fiber.

3.  It has to taste good!!  .

4.  It needed to be moist - no more dry bread!

5.  When sliced, it needs to be sturdy enough to stand up in the lunch box challenge.

The recipe was a creation of our own that came about as a fluke.  I was talking to a chef about how to get some moisture in the bread and she recommended adding apple sauce.  I did, but this made the texture more like a quick bread than a sandwich bread. For the next loaf, I added some more protein flours, but was out of apple sauce so I added apple juice.  I am not a chemist, but the chemical reaction worked.  At about 25 minutes into the rising time, something activates and this bread rises like crazy.  Better yet, the beautiful air pockets that are created during this process manage to stay through the baking and cooling process. 

I hope it works for you.  If you try it, please let me know what you think.  Especially, if you have any suggestions.

Gluten Free Brown Bread Recipe

1 ¼ cup milk or almond milk

1 T sugar

1 package yeast

¾ cup brown rice flour

¼ cup sorghum flour

1 cup potato starch

½ cup tapioca flour

½ cup rice bran (you can substitute ground flax seed)

1 ¼ t xanthan gum 

1 ¼ t guar gum  (if you do not have guar gum you can use an additional 1 1/4 t xanthan gum)

2 T brown sugar

3 eggs

3 T canola oil

2 t cider vinegar

2 T honey

1 T 100% apple juice

Lightly spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray and dust with rice flour.

Prepare a Warm place for Bread to Rise:

I have found that my oven is a great place for bread to rise. When I start making the bread, I turn my oven on to its lowest setting. For my oven it is 135 degrees. As soon as the oven preheats to this temperature, turn it off. By the time everything is mixed together and in the bread pan, the oven is at a perfect temperature for the bread to rise.  Caution – be careful with this procedure.  If you put your dough in a place that is too warm, it will cook and not rise.

Proof the Yeast:

The thought of proofing yeast was overwhelming to me at first. Before going gluten free, I was "challenged" in the cooking department and as such, had never even considered the idea of making bread and proofing my own yeast. But for you first timers, it really is not that scary.

The most important part is getting the liquid to the right temperature. I have found that the easiest way to do this is to fill a two cup glass measuring cup with 1 ¼ milk and microwave it. After experimenting with my microwave a few times, I have found that 55 seconds gets me the perfect temperature of around 110 - 115 degrees F. Once you figure this out, you never have to worry about checking the temp again.

Warm up the milk, add  1 T sugar and then sprinkle the yeast on top and give it a quick stir. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. If it is working properly, you will get a tanish foam on top of the liquid.

.

While yeast is proofing, thoroughly mix together the dry ingredients. The idea is to get all of the different gluten free flours to mix together in such a way that they become one flour. Some recommend sifting the flour to achieve this. I have adopted Donna Washburn’s method in The 125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes  Simply add all of the dry ingredients into a large gallon size freezer bag. Shake the bag around to mix the flours together. Mixing them all together with a whisk also works well.

Once the dry ingredients are well mixed, add to bowl on your stand mixer.

In a separate bowl, mix together the 3 eggs lightly beaten, oil, vinegar and honey. Mix well then stir in the apple juice.

To the dry ingredients, add the wet mixture and then quickly add the proofed yeast.  Mix until blended, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat at high for 4 minutes. Don’t be surprised if the dough does not resemble your idea of wheat bread dough. It will be just a little thicker than cake batter.

Spoon into the prepared baking pan, spray a piece of saran wrap with cooking spray and lightly cover. Put in a warm place (around 75 degrees) to rise.

Please note that this bread rises very rapidly. Thirty minutes is generally all it takes. Only let it rise to the top of the bread pan or the bread will lose its strength and not be strong enough for sandwiches.

Once it has risen to the top of the bread pan, remove the saran wrap and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until an internal temp of 200 degrees is reached.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then let cool on a bread rack. This bread is super moist so if the sides and bottom of the bread seem "wet" simply turn the bread on its top to rest and the sides and bottom will dry out nicely.

We tried a lot of recipes along the way and incorporated what we learned into this recipe.  It is Carol Fenster in 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes who recommends using a combination of xantham and guar gum.  Here are some other recipes we tried.  This is an all star list of gluten free recipes and you cannot go wrong with any of them. In the end, we just came up with the our own recipe that works best for our family.  Hoping all of this information will help you do the same.

1.  The Gluten Free Girls Bread Recipe

2.  The Food Philosopher's Bread Recipe

3.  Jules Sheppard's White Bread Recipe

4.  Rebecca Reilly Bread Recipes

5.  Celiac Chicks Gluten Free Bread

The Best Gluten Free Pizza Shells, Pie Crust, Hamburger Buns and more ~ Bavaria Mills Gluten Free Bakery

Generally I try to write a new post once a week, but every once in a while I run across something so good that I cannot wait to share it.

Before I go on, please know that for every recipe, product and book that gets written about on this site, many, many,oh so many more are rejected!  Because I truly appreciate anyone who tries to make our gluten free world a little better, I try to stay away from negative reviews.  But believe me, we are a very picky group here and we have tried many products that go straight into the trash without any mention.  That being said, here is the story of Bavaria Mills.

It all started with Garlic Jim's gluten free pizza - as you know we loved it!  It was not only the convenience of it, but the taste of the pizza shells.  Anyone who has tried them knows how wonderful they are.

Then all of a sudden, the pizza crusts changed.  And they were not as good - as a matter of fact, my kids did not like the pizza.  The crusts had reverted back to that gritty rice texture that we all know so well (so much for no negative reviews).

You have probably figured this out by now, but I am not one to just let things drop - we had found the pizza of our gluten free dreams (okay I am being a little dramatic here) and we were not willing to just let it slip away.

After a little research, I found the answer to the pizza crust mystery and what is now our favorite gluten free pizza shells.

Bavaria Mills is a Gluten Free Wholesale Bakery located in Vancouver, Wa.  It is run by a lovely couple and, you guessed it, the makers of the gluten free pizza crusts that we love. 

Marie was studying to be a Holistic Nutritionist and her husband, Mike, was an Industrial Process consult when they both discovered they had celiac disease.  After eight years of perfecting gluten free cooking, Marie and Mike opened Bavaria Mills.  The bakery distributes gluten free goods in Washington and Oregon, and supplies restaurants with gluten free fare.  As you guessed it, they suppy Garlic Jim's with those wonderful pizza crusts. 

After a short conversation with Mike on the phone, we soon received a huge box loaded to the top with gluten free baked goods. 

These are absolutely the best pizza gluten free crusts!! 

I was worried that the pizzas would not taste as good as the ones from Garlic Jim's - how much of the   novelty would be lost by making them at home?  Would they taste as good cooked in a normal oven?  No worries - my kids actually liked the home cooked pizzas better (and there are no concerns about cross contamination).   If you have the shell, you can whip together a homemade pizza in about two minutes - just add sauce, cheese and whatever other toppings you like and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.  How easy is that?

We are lucky enough to live within a two hour drive of a great place to snow ski and we spend many of our weekends skiing at Steven's Pass.  The Weekend Chef recently made pizzas with these shells. After taking his first bite, my six year old son declared "I didn't know Garlic Jim's delivered to the mountains." 

Okay, can you tell how excited we are about these crusts.  And for the final icing on the cake, they are extremely reasonably priced. 

 

The pizza shells come in 8, 10, 12 and 14 inch and they are gluten free, corn free, soy free, dairy free, no trans-fat and, because of the healthy flours they use, high in fiber. 

As to Garlic Jim's, I believe they are once again using the Bavaria Mills pizza shells.  It is up to you to make the requests if they are not.

We were happy to discover that Bavaria Mills makes many great products. 

The gluten free hamburger buns moved to the top of our "best" list.  They are actually sturdy enough to hold together a hamburger.  How many times has your gluten free bun crumbled under the weight of a juicy burger?  Better yet, they were very moist

.

Then the muffins arrived - these are not wimpy little muffins.  These were Costco sized.  We sampled four different kinds - Lemon Poppy seed, German Chocolate (basically like a cake in the shape of a muffin), Blueberry and Apple Cinnamon.  They were all wonderful - ironically enough we could not agree on one favorite.  It seems that everyone had a favorite and we were all different.  The Gluten Free Kid loved the Blueberry muffin.  My six year old of course liked the German Chocolate one - who wouldn't like cake for breakfast?

  

Other things you will want to try include an absolutely beautiful 9 inch pie shell, dinner rolls and of course, their breads. 

Did I mention that their products are both gluten and soy free.    Most of the products are also corn free and dairy free and because of the products they use, they are high in fiber, antioxidants and essential oils.  And they are extremely reasonably priced.

How do you order these great products? 

Because they are a wholesale bakery, you need to call them at 1-360-571-7611.  Ask for Mike, and tell him I said "Hi."  You can also send them an email at bavariamills@earthlink.net

They request that orders be a minimum of $50.  The prices are so good, that you can get a lot of food for $50 so load up the freezer!! 

Bavaria Mills will hopefully be selling their products in the Seattle area soon. 

Gluten Free Valentine's Day - Chocolate Fondue and Pound Cake

It all started with the obligatory wedding gift - the fondue pot from Crate and Barrel.  Come on - I am sure there is more than one of you out there who received a fondue pot as a wedding gift.

 

I am not sure if we actually asked for a fondue pot, but we did love going to the Gaja's Cafe and eating fondue when we lived in Chicago.

In those early days of our marriage, we may have eaten fondue but we certainly did not make it.  The pot was stored on the top of the back shelf in our kitchen in Chicago, backed and moved to Kansas City where it assumed the same distinguished place in my kitchen, then packed and moved again to Seattle to our first house and then our second house. 

Finally one year when we realized Valentine's Day was not the day to go out to dinner, we started eating at home and out came the fondue pot.  Not to cook dinner in (though you can make wonderful cheese dips and fried meats) but for dessert - oh, that delicious melted chocolate dessert.

And so it began, our tradition of having chocolate fondue on Valentine's Day . . . and as each new member of our family was added, they joined the celebration around the chocolate pot. 

Now, it is a tradition - regardless of the main entree, dessert on Valentine's Day is chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate with bananas, strawberries and pound cake. 

And it is extremely easy to make.

And, technically, you really do not need a fondue pot.  It is just the added bling.

And in these economic times, traditions are free, but priceless to a family.  As a matter of fact, my family loves this tradition so much that I am certain some day I will be looking down from heaven and watching my kid's, kids eat chocolate fondue on Valentine's day. 

If you are casein free, read on - I actually have made a casein free chocolate fondue. 

Chocolate Fondue

• 12 ounces good quality semi-sweet chocolate  (try Enjoy Life or Baker's)
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

Serve with bananas, strawberries and pound cake.  Ener-G sells a pound cake, 123 Gluten Free has a pound cake mix,  or you can make the recipe below.

Glutino Voluntarily Recalls Organic Chocolate Peanut Bars

Due to the expanded Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) recall of last Friday, Glutino is voluntarily recalling its Organic Chocolate Peanut Bars item UPC 678523 030929 (specific lots 0358A, 0368A, 1338A, 1968A, 1978A, 2548A, 2558A, 2908A, 3368A).

The recalled Glutino Organic Chocolate Peanut Bars come in 5 oz packages (5 bars per box) and are sold nationwide as well as on ww.glutenfree.com. It is important to note that there have been NO cases of illness related to these bars. The products and lots in question have been tested for salmonella and were NEGATIVE but Glutino is nonetheless voluntarily recalling this product as a precautionary measure since the safety of our customers is of utmost importance to us.

Please note that the recall is ONLY related to the Glutino Organic Chocolate Peanut Bars and does not affect the Glutino Organic Chocolate Banana Bars or Glutino Organic Wildberry Bars or any of the Glutino Breakfast Bars.

All our products are gluten-free and the recalled bar in question is gluten-free; this recall is strictly in response to the peanut recall in the USA.

Consumers, who have purchased this product and still have not consumed them, can return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the Company at 1-800-363-3438.

Consumers and representatives of the news media may obtain more information about Glutino, as well as any updates on this recall notification on our website: www.glutino.com, or by contacting customer service at the number listed above.