So, if you haven't figured it out by now, I love to bake. Cooking is fun too, but baking is where my heart is at. I bake when I'm sad, happy, bored, depressed...really any excuse is a good one. Before I realized that I had to go gluten free, I baked all of our family's pasta, bread, cookies, treats...everything from scratch. I was shattered when I found out I couldn't do that anymore.
Over the years I've experimented with bread recipes, and though I have not yet found a good one that actually lets you manipulate and shape the dough like traditional bread, I am proud to say that I have finally found what is probably the best sandwich bread recipe ever. My husband couldn't stop exclaiming "it tastes like the real thing!" and though I haven't had said "real thing" in about 10 years, I couldn't imagine that anything could be better than this. Freakin' delicious. We ate a hunk of it fresh out of the oven with our dinner tonight as a roll to accompany the oven baked ribs I made (with plum bbq sauce - plums from our trees, of course!)
It *does* take some special ingredients and a food scale, so be sure to read through and assure you have what you need on hand. You *DO* need them if you want to make the best loaf possible. I've linked to my favorite sources (and am NOT receiving any compensation for doing so. I truly love Vitacost.com!)
Special thanks, once again, to Gluten Free on a Shoestring's white sandwich bread recipe for my jumping off point!
Gluten Free Sandwich Bread
INGREDIENTS:
3c (420 g) Gum-free, GF bread flour:
66 g potato starch
36 g tapioca flour/starch
75 g whey protein isolate
45 g Expandex
2 ¼ tsp xanthan gum 2 ½ tsp instant yeast ¼ tsp cream of tartar 2 tbsp honey or sugar 2 tsp kosher salt 1 cup warm milk ½ c plain yogurt 4 tbsp salted butter, melted and cooled 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 2 egg whites
INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine all ingredients thoroughly until you have a soft, wet dough.
Transfer dough to a 4x9” loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
Allow to rise for 1 hour in a warm, draft-free location.
15 minutes before the rise time is up, preheat oven to 375*F.
Gently slash the top of the bread about ¼ inch deep in either one long slash lengthwise of two slashes diagonally.
Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour, or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
When finished, place bread loaf on a wire rack to cool completely.