This is the recipe I use to make gluten free dairy free basic sandwich bread for my family every week.  Enjoy!

 

I am SO very excited to be part of the Gluten Free Ratio Rally!   Each month the group posts recipes based on a specific food (normally made with gluten but changed to gluten free) that they have created by starting with a ratio.  Some use the same proportions (taken from Michael Ruhlman’s book Ratio), but you also have the freedom to create new ones based on your preferences. The goal is to remove the mystique from baking and inspire a sense of ability and adventure.  That is my kind of fun!

 

This month, Karen of Cooking Gluten Free challenged us with bread.  You know, that stuff you gave up on when you became gluten free, that stuff that is ridiculously expensive if you by it pre-made (and is a bit of a dry disappointment, if you DO buy it).  Yeah, that stuff.  The ratio for gluten bread is 5:3 (flours to water).  However for gluten free bread, I do not find that to be the case.  Gluten free works much better if you start with a wetter dough.  My ratio works out to be about 2 parts flours and starches:1 part liquid:1 part eggs or flax egg replacer.

 

At first, I was all excited to offer up some fancy-scmancy bread; something flavored, something braided or something with surprising ingredients.  But then I realized ALL my breads start with one base, the bread I make every week for my family.  Have taught this bread in classes.  I have increased the sweetener and fat and used it as a base for cinnamon rolls.  Half of the time I make it with eggs, the other half without.  I change the sweetener and flours a bit and turn it into Swedish limpa bread at Christmas time.  I add herbs and use it as my bread to make stuffing out of.  Etc., etc., etc….  I make two to three loaves of this bread most Sunday afternoons (if I make three, two are regular loaves and one has a cinnamon swirl inside). Yeah, all that and I have never offered it up on the blog.  It is just something I make and don’t really think about, but it is the base bread almost all other breads I make start from.  So, come on.  Stop paying big bucks for gluten free bread.  Make it your self.  Everything is better fresh from the oven and made with love.  I hope you like it as much as we do.  🙂

 

For those of you wanting a chick update, our chicks are 2 weeks old today.  They have progressed in feathering to have little epaulettes on their shoulders.  So cute!

I make a sponge with part of the ingredients and let it rest for 2 hours to overnight.  I do this with most of my breads.  I think it adds a better flavor, texture and evens out some of the flavors of some of the gluten free flours.  Try it with your bread recipe.  You will be surprised how much this technique changes things!

Printable recipe card for Our Family’s Basic Gluten Free Dairy Free Bread

The Recipe: Our Family's Basic Gluten Free Dairy Free Bread

This is the base gluten free dairy free bread I make every week for our family. I change it up when we need variety.
5 from 1 rating

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup room temp. milk substitute of choice, rice, almond, etc. or water (169 grams)
  • ½ cup 63 grams garbanzo or garfava flour
  • ¼ cup 31.75 grams sorghum flour
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons dry active yeast
  • 2 tablespoons sugar or sweetener of choice
  • 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
  • *2 large, 110 – 114 grams room temperature eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons oil
  • ½ cup 64 grams corn starch
  • ½ 96 grams cup potato starch
  • ½ cup 60 grams tapioca starch
  • 1 Tablespoon xanthan gum
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • depending on bread dough texture: up to 2 tablespoons more milk substitute of choice

Instructions 

  • In a non-reactive bowl, combine ¾ cup milk substitute, garbanzo flour, sorghum flour, yeast, sugar, and cider vinegar. Mix well. Cover bowl and set aside for 2 to 4 hours.
  • In the mixing bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, beat eggs until frothy. Add oil, blend. Add garbanzo flour mixture and stir well. Wisk dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients, mix well on low speed until all ingredients are incorporated. Check texture of dough. If needed, add 1 Tablespoon of milk substitute at a time until the correct texture is achieved (not too stiff, not soupy – thick and sticky). Beat at high speed for 3 minutes. Scoop dough into an oiled 8 inch x 4 inch bread pan. Smooth dough with oiled hands.
  • Let dough rise in a warm area, covered with oiled plastic wrap for 20-45 minutes. Do not let dough rise past top of pan or it will be over proofed.
  • Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 50 -60 minutes. If the crust is browning too much for your taste, set a piece of foil over the top of the loaf during last half of baking time.
  • One more tip for all gluten free bread baking: If you take some ice and put it on an old baking pan you don’t mind warping, and put it in the oven (on the bottom rack) with the bread (on the rack next one up from the bottom one), you will get steam in your oven which I find helps eliminate the weird hard top gluten free crusts can get sometimes.

Notes

*For an egg free version: Mix 2 Tablespoon ground flax seed, golden or dark varities, with 6 Tablespoons warm water. Let this sit for a couple of minutes, stir again, then add to recipe when the eggs are called for. Due to not needing to worry about the variables in egg size (lucky you!) you should be able to use the entire cup of milk substitute.

 

Need more gluten free bread?  Check out what everyone else baked up:

~Aunt Mae (aka ~Mrs. R) | Honey From Flinty Rocks – Millet Chia Bread & Variations
Adina | Gluten Free Travelette – Seedy Sandwich Bread
Angela | Angela’s Kitchen – Our Family’s Basic Gluten Free Dairy Free Bread
Brooke | B & the boy! – Buckwheat-Oat Bread
Charissa | Zest Bakery – Cherry Pecan Pot Bread, Gluten Free
Claire | This Gluten-Free Life – German Vollkornbrot (Seeded Bread)
Erin | The Sensitive Epicure – English Sandwich Bread (gluten-free & egg-free)
Jenn | Jenn Cuisine – Gluten Free Boule
Jonathan | The Canary Files – Gluten-Free, Vegan Mediterranean Soda Bread
Karen | Cooking Gluten Free – Gluten Free Sandwich Bread and Gluten Free Naan
Meaghan | The Wicked Good Vegan – Vegan Gluten-Free Bread
Meg | Gluten-Free Boulangerie – Ciabatta (gluten-free, egg-free/vegan)
Monika | Chew on This! – amaranth skillet flatbreads, amaranth mini pita rounds
Morri | Meals with Morri – No Knead Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Flatbread (yeast free & grain free)
Pete & Kelli | No Gluten, No Problem – Gluten-Free Challah
Rachel / The Crispy Cook – Gluten Free Chickpea Sandwich Bread
Tara | A Baking Life Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread & Boule
TR | No One Likes Crumbley Cookies Gluten Free White Bread