I could eat bread all day long, every day...

Which poses a problem for a person with a gluten sensitivity. I was biopsy-tested for Celiac Disease after having a positive blood test, but the results were negative. My doctor concluded that I just have a sensitivity to it, and I now know how much I can tolerate, and usually abide by those limits. Bread is my vice. There's nothing I love more than a toasted piece of sourdough with a little bit of Earth Balance, followed by the rest of the loaf.

I've gone on and off gluten free diets, and currently I'm mostly back on one. Sometimes I slip, like last week when I hadn't made any gluten free bread in a while, and was at Trader Joe's and saw a loaf of ciabatta, bought it, and ate a giant chunk.

I've made a few bread recipes lately, and here are two from Karina's Kitchen. The first was for English Muffins, which is one of my favorite breakfasts, and the second was a good old Sandwich Bread.

I followed her recipes to the tee, outside of not using a bread machine for the loaf and then altering the baking time slightly—my edits are in italic, but visit Karina's site for the full posts. Get the recipes after the jump.



Gluten-Free English Muffin Recipe

Those of you still able to consume dairy and eggs, I imagine this GFCF recipe would translate into a more traditional recipe using milk and happy eggs. You might try adding slightly less liquid to start out. The dough is more akin to a thick, sticky cake batter. ****(LM Note: we bought our english muffin rings at Sur La Table)****

Turn your oven on for minute to warm it, then turn it off. Grease 8 English muffin rings and place them on a lined baking sheet. Sprinkle a little cornmeal inside the rings if you like.

Whisk together the dry ingredients:

1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup potato starch (tapioca starch will work)
1/2 cup millet flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt

Proof your yeast. You'll need:

1 cup water at 110 to 115 degrees F.
1/2 cup plain hemp milk (or non-dairy milk) at 110 to 115 degrees F.
1 pinch of raw sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast

Mix the warm water and milk; add the sugar and the yeast; stir. Set aside until the yeast begins to get poofy.

Add the proofed yeast and liquid into the dry ingredients.

Add:

4 tablespoons light olive oil
2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
Egg Replacer for 2 eggs (1/4 cup mixed with warm water)

Mix thoroughly. It should be more like a thick muffin batter than a bread dough. A wee bit sticky. If you need to thin a little, add a tablespoon of warm water and mix. Allow the dough to rest for a few minutes.

Karina's Note: You can also create this dough in your bread machine. Use the mix/dough cycle. Let it rest a bit in the machine; then spoon it into the muffin rings for rising.

Spoon the dough into the eight English muffin rings. Using wet fingers press and smooth out the tops of the dough.

Place the baking sheet into the warm oven and allow the dough to rise. Check after 15 minutes. The dough needs to double in height.

Bake in the center of a 350 degree oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, until firm and slightly golden (gluten-free dough doesn't brown very much; go by touch to see if they're done). ****(LM Note: I don't know why, but our muffins took between 50 and 55 minutes, and we've made them 3 times - I'd recommend following Karina's timing, and increasing if necessary)****

Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Fork split in half, and toast for maximum crispy edged tender goodness.

Makes 8 English muffins.

Wrap leftover muffins in foil, bag, and freeze for the freshest muffin experience.

My New Delicious Gluten-Free Bread Recipe

Most gluten-free bread recipes rely on eggs for texture and rise. Not this one. This gluten-free bread is tender, crusty, vegan, dairy-free, rice-free, and egg-free. I baked it in my Breadman bread machine.

First- whisk together your dry ingredients and set aside:

1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup potato starch
1/2 cup millet flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/ 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 tablespoon instant dry yeast- or rapid yeast

You'll need sesame seeds for the top (or hemp seeds); set aside for later.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the bread machine pan:

1 1/4 to 1 1/3 cup warm water (at 110 to 115 degrees F)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons honey- or raw agave nectar to keep it vegan
1/2 teaspoon mild rice or white wine cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
Ener-G Egg Replacer for 1 egg whisked with warm water

Gently pour the mixed dry ingredients on top of the liquid.

Set your bread machine program for 1.5 loaf medium crust. I used the gluten-free cycle on the Breadman; if you don't have a gluten-free cycle, I believe a rapid rise cycle will also work. Check the dough after a few minutes of kneading- it should be closer to a muffin batter than bread dough, soft but not too wet. Adjust dry to wet ratio with a tablespoon of flour or warm liquid, as needed.

Here's a few tips and notes on how I made this new recipe.

• Having all ingredients at room temperature helps.

• Water should be 110 to 115 degrees F.

• Yeast should be fresh- check expiration date.

• After a minute or two of mixing, open the machine and scrape down the sides of the pan with a spatula to help incorporate the flour; I had to do this twice.

• After the mixing/kneading cycle was finished I reached in and removed the paddle; then smoothed and pressed the dough and with wet fingers to even out the shape.

• I sprinkled a generous tablespoon of sesame seeds all over the top.

• When the machine beeped "done". I immediately removed the pan from the hot machine, and within a minute released the bread from the pan (if you don't do this, it steams and gets a bit soggy) and placed it on a wire rack to do the thump test. It should sound hollow when tapped.

• I thought the sides were a tad soft so I placed the naked loaf directly into the oven- on the center rack- and turned on the temp to 350 degrees. I baked it for another 12 to 15 minutes, keeping an eye on it. When I tapped the bread it sounded hollow. Done.

• Cool the loaf on a wire rack. Slice with a sharp serrated knife.

• This bread would make fabulous burger buns.

• A note regarding altitude. I bake at high altitude- so I used only one egg's worth of egg replacer; you may need two.

• Readers sometimes ask if they can lessen either the oil or the sweetener in a recipe- in this case, I'd suggest, no. What really makes this bread tender and not crumbly is the give it gets from the honey and oil. When you don't use eggs or butter, you need to boost the stickiness factor- and flavor. That's why I use good tasting olive oil and honey (agave would work).
  

This yummy bread was not only the most successful egg-free yeasted bread to date- the taste, texture and tenderness make it one of my all-time top faves in gluten-free bread land. It didn't crumble. And it didn't taste ricey (well, there's no rice!). The combination of sorghum and millet with potato starch imparts a springy bread texture that reminded us both of our favorite ciabatta bread recipe from our pre-gluten-free days.

If you don't have a bread machine:

Follow the instructions for whisking together the dry ingredients.

Proof the yeast in the warm water (110 to 115 degrees F) and a teaspoon of the honey/agave (add the yeast to the water and honey stir; allow it to get poofy).

Add the proofed yeast to the dry ingredients; add the olive oil, remaining honey/agave, cider vinegar and mixed egg replacer (or egg); beat until a smooth batter forms. I use the word batter because gluten-free bread dough is more like muffin batter than wheat based bread dough.

Scrape the dough into a 1.5 pound loaf pan (or 7 to 8-inch round cake pan for ciabatta style) and smooth evenly (I use wet fingers). Top with sesame seeds. Loosely cover the pan and allow the dough to rise for 20 minutes in a warm spot.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. When the oven comes to temperature bake the bread until it sounds hollow when thumped. This might be anywhere from 35 to 45 minutes, and even up to 60 minutes if you're at higher altitude. Lower style round pan loaves will bake at 30 to 40 minutes, usually. ****(LM Note: Mine baked for a full 60 minutes, and I did an additional 5 minutes without the loaf pan)****

If you like a crusty loaf, remove the bread from the pan and return it naked to the oven for an additional 10 minutes- keep an eye on it and don't let it get too brown. It should be a light golden color.

Cool on a wire rack.