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Try This Delicious Gluten-Free Bread Loaf (Easy Recipe)

bread gluten-free May 19, 2021
How To Bake Gluten-Free Bread

Have you ever wondered how to bake gluten-free bread?

Traditionally, bread has been baked mostly with wheat or spelt flour. Most of the bread you find nowadays at the bakeries or supermarkets still uses these main flours types.

Finding gluten-free bread, therefore, can be a real struggle. When you happen to find a place where you can get gluten-free bread, it tends to be not as fluffy, crunchy, and delicious as the regular type of bread.

In baking, you simply cannot replace regular wheat flour in a 1:1 ratio with one type of gluten-free flour. Instead, you have to combine different types of flour and ingredients to get the same qualities that bread with gluten has - such as stretchiness and elasticity.

What is gluten?

Gluten is a group of proteins found in some cereal plants, including wheat, barley, rye, durum, Emmer, Einkorn, and spelt. When combined with water, the gluten in the flour will allow it to become stretchy and elastic.

This allows bread to rise during the fermentation and baking process. It also helps the bread to retain a soft, chewy texture even after baking.

In gluten-free baking, the main challenge is to get the same qualities since gluten-free flours alone all behave a little differently.

Why would you bake without gluten?

For some people, gluten can be a problem. It is estimated that around 1% of the population suffers from a condition known as celiac disease. This autoimmune condition affects your small intestine and can cause problems such as bloating, gas, diarrhea, fatigue, and more.

In this recipe

In this recipe, plant-based chef Diana Kronenberg shares a simple technique to create a gluten-free bread loaf that feels similar to regular bread. It is crunchy on the outside, yet soft and light on the inside.

You don't need any pre-made gluten-free flour mixes. All of the flour can be made at home and the ingredients are readily available.

Are you ready? Let's dive in.

How to Make a Gluten-Free Bread Loaf

Recipe Author

This recipe is from plant-based chef Diana Kronenberg.

You can learn more about her on "Krodi Plant-Based Cooking"

Instagram: @krodi_plant_based_cooking

Website: https://krodi.de/

 

Watch the Full Recipe on YouTube

 

Ingredients

Flour Mix

200 g (7 oz) gluten-free oats

200 g (7 oz) millet (our quinoa)

170 g (6 oz) corn starch (or tapioca, arrowroot)

15 g (0.53 oz) grounded psyllium husk

15 g (0.53 oz) flaxseeds (preferably golden)

 

Additional

270-300 g (9.5-10.5 oz) water (lukewarm)

12 g (0.42 oz) salt

10 g (0.35 oz) fresh yeast (or half-dried yeast)

1 tsp. maple syrup or sugar

 

For the poolish

100 (0.53 oz) flour mix 

100 g (0.53 oz) water (30 °C)

1 g (0.04 oz) fresh yeast

 

For the brew piece

100 g (0.53 oz) flour mix

100 g (o.53 oz) boiling water

 

Instructions

For the exact instructions, follow the steps in the video.

Day 1

First, start by making the flour mix. 

  1. Grind the oats, millets, and flaxseeds in a high-speed blender – one after the other. Alternatively, you can buy the flour instead. 
  2. Mix the flour together with the grounded psyllium husk and sugar in a bowl.

Make the poolish.

What is a poolish? A poolish is a highly fluid yeast-cultured dough. It's a type of pre-ferment and improves the texture, flavor, and shelf life of your final bread. 

  1. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and add the flour mix and combine. Cover it and leave it outside at room temperature for 12-24 hours.

Make the brew piece (hot soaker)

The brew piece (from German: Brühstück) and the soaking piece (from German: Quellstück), known in English as a soaker, are part of the preliminary stages in indirect dough processing. Since they do not contain yeast, they belong to the so-called zero doughs. Boiling or warm water is poured over certain amounts of ingredients such as grains, seeds, dried fruits, whole grains, or old bread for the brewed piece and warm water for the soaked piece and left to swell for a few hours or overnight. The swelling with liquid before it is added to the dough prevents dehydration during kneading/proofing and thus prevents the bread from drying out.

  1. Pour the boiling water over your flour mix and combine. Cover it and leave it outside at room temperature for 12-24 hours.

Day 2

  1. On the next day mix the water (start with 270 g) with the yeast and then add the other ingredients. This is best done by hand. 
  2. Depending on the flour type you are taking you might want to add another 30 g of water. The result should be quite sticky dough. It does not need kneading: you rather combine the ingredients.
  3. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes. The dough should have doubled afterward. If you use a transparent bowl, you will even see the bubbles on the side. 
  4. Have your work surface lightly dusted with any gluten-free flour, preferably rice flour. Place the dough on top. 
  5. Take your dough and fold the sides into the middle. Work carefully and don’t push too hard, as you want to keep the air bubbles. 
  6. Then turn around and form it with your hand to the desired shape. Let it proof again in a bowl/tray or in a proofing basket for around 60 minutes. Cover it with a clean towel. 
  7. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 220 °C (430 °F) top and bottom heat. Place a baking tray at the bottom so it can heat up as well. When the temperature is ready, place the bread on a tray on the middle rack and bake for 20 minutes. Pour water on the hot tray to create steam. After 20 minutes, turn down the heat to 200 °C (390 °F), take out the tray with the water, and continue to bake the bread for another 20-25 minutes.  
  8. Before baking, you can score your bread. You can also add some seeds on top: make sure to moisten the surface slightly with water before applying the seeds. 
  9. Let the bread cool down for at least 3-4 hours before eating it.

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