Saturday, October 8, 2011

A night in the world of GF bread baking...

Tonight I finally finally lucked out...By combining a new yeast bread recipe that I altered, with a few tips/tricks from my gluten free baker friend (at PVH), I have had a successful night in the world of GF yeast breads!  Gluten free yeast breads almost NEVER turn out even slightly close to a regular yeast bread, so to finally have some luck is pretty exciting:-)  Paying $6-8 for a loaf (ONE LOAF!) of GF bread is pretty outrageous, and most of the time it tastes like one of the two things; cardboard or sawdust.  Mixing your own flours and making  homemade bread is so much cheaper, tastier, and of course, more therapeutic!....This winter/fall, I hope to do some more experimenting when the weather turns cold, and we need some extra heat added to the house (always a great excuse to bake in the winter;-)
Below is the GF loaf/yeast bread I made tonight (See links at top of blog for GF flour/blend info)

This bread contain sorghum as its main flour....First a little nutrition.... & below is the spice:-)   
Like other slightly exotic grain crops, sorghum is used primarily for animal feed in the United States, although cultivation of this grain is on the rise. The seeds, stalks, and leaves can all be fed to livestock or left in the field and used as a forage crop. In the United States, a wet milling method is used to make sorghum starch, used in a variety of industrial applications such as adhesives and paper making. In much of the rest of the world, however, it is consumed by humans as well as animals.
Sorghum is favored by the gluten intolerant and is often cooked as a porridge to be eaten alongside other foods. The grain is fairly neutral in flavor, and sometimes slightly sweet. This makes it well adapted to a variety of dishes, because, like tofu, sorghum absorbs flavors well. It can also be eaten plain.
This grain is commonly eaten with the hull, which retains the majority of the nutrients. The plant is very high in fiber and iron, with a fairly high protein level as well. This makes it well suited to its use as a staple starch in much of the developing world.  (Any grain that is whole and not refined is preferred for maximum nutritional value!)
Sorghum was probably brought to the United States by African slaves, who cultivated it in the Southern states. Some classic Southern recipes include sorghum, suggesting that it was integrated into American cuisine by the 19th century, when additional strains were brought over from China. The grain is also used around the world to brew beers,(how they make GF beer currently) with its close relative, broom corn, cultivated for the manufacture of traditional straw brooms.

Tasty Sorghum Bread
Dry Ingredients:
Sorghum Flour 1.5 cups
Tapioca Flour 3/4 cup
Cornstarch 3/4 cup
Xanthan Gum 2 1/4 tsp
Soy Milk Powder 1/2 cup
(or if you don't have a milk allergy/intolerance, you can use dry milk powder)
Salt 3/4 tsp
Unflavored Gelatin 1 1/2 tsp
Egg Replacer (I used Flaxseed meal) 1 1/2 tsp
Sugar 3 T
Dry Yeast Granules 2 1/4 tsp

Wet Ingredients:
Eggs 2 eggs plus 2 whites
Canola Oil 3 3/4 T
Dough Enhancer (or could use vinegar) 3/4 tsp
Water 2 cups

Grease a loaf pan & dust w/ rice flour.
Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Set Aside.
In another bowl (or your mixer bowl), whisk the egg and white slightly; add the canola oil, dough enhancer, and most of the water. The remaining water should be added as needed after the bread has started mixing, either in your mixer or in the pan of the bread machine.
Add the dry ing. a little at a time to the wet, mixing well for about 3.5 mins.  The dough should be a cake batter (or just a little thicker) consistency! This is super important that your dough is not the consistency of a "normal" yeast bread dough.
Spoon into the prepared pan, cover, and let rise in a warm place about 55 mins.  Barely mix once again, let set for 10-15 mins, and then place pan in oven  and bake @ 400 for 15 minutes.  Turn the temp down to 375, and bake for another 45-50? mins.  The baking time and temp is all experimental and will differ for those of you at lower altitudes and with different ovens.  The top should be a dark brown, but not a burnt look.  If the top is getting too dark, cover loosely with foil for the rest of the baking time.  Let set for 20 mins in pan, then remove, slice and enjoy!
*This recipe is modified for high altitude baking; If you are at lower altitudes, try leaving out 1 egg and adjusting your oven temp/baking times.
Nutrients per slice: Kcals: 110, Fat 3 g, Carbs 17g, Chol 0 mg, Sodium 100 mg, Fiber 2 g, Protein 6 g.
*You can add flaxseed, spices or nuts to this bread for a boost of flavor, healthy fats and fiber.





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About Me

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Welcome! As a Registered Dietitian with diet restrictions, I had a sparked interest to share healthy, gluten free recipes with readers! Over the years, cooking has truly become an obsession...and stress reliever. The last five years, I have had to learn how to cook and bake gluten free after being diagnosed with a severe gluten intolerance. With that being said, I have researched, experimented and developed a whole new way to go about food preparation. I now mix all my flours, bake my own GF bread, and alter and create my own recipes. I would love to hear from you with questions, comments, recipe ideas and/or anything and everything in between. Hope you enjoy! Email with questions or comments at: sharleyschreiner@yahoo.com