Take #6: Honey Almond Sourdough

I am not a huge fan of sourdough bread. I mean, it's bread, which means it can't be all bad, but I would also never buy a loaf of my own volition. That said, one of my roommates is from San Francisco and loves sourdough, and since she just broke up with her boyfriend I thought I would be nice and try out one of "The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread"'s sourdough recipes. I think the bread turned out pretty well, but  I may only think that because it didn't really taste like sourdough. It used bean flours but it was less dense than the bean breads I've made before, and it rose really nicely. It takes a few days to get your sourdough starter going (and I may have done it wrong), but if you're gluten intolerant and missing sourdough, this isn't a bad place to start.

Sourdough Starter

Ingredients:
2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast granules
1 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon instant potato flakes
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups white rice flour

Combine the potato flakes and water in a 1-1/2 quart glass jar. Dissolve the yeast in the water, then add the sugar and rice flour. Cover and let the jar sit until the mixture is fermented (1-3 days). It will bubble up a lot, so stir it every few hours for the first day.  Replenish by feeding with 1/2 cup water and 3/4 cup rice flour.

Fermented!

Note: I was completely unclear whether or not to do this at room temperature or in the fridge, so I did one day out on the countertop and then two days in the fridge.



Four Bean Flour Mix

Ingredients:
1 cup garfava flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1 1/2 cups cornstarch
1 1/2 cups tapioca flour

Mix flours together.



Honey Almond Sourdough Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups Four Flour Bean Mix
2 1/4 teaspoons xanthan gum
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon egg replacer
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
4 1/2 tablespoons almond flour
1 1/2 teaspoons RapidRise dry yeast granules
1 egg plus 2 whites
3/4 teaspoon white vinegar
3/4 cup sourdough starter
4 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 1/2 tablespoons honey (we were out so I used agave nectar)
1 1/2 cups warm water

Somehow sugar snuck in to the pictures but eggs did not.

Combine flours, xanthan gum, salt, egg replacer, gelatin, and yeast. Whisk the eggs and then add the vinegar, honey (or agave), sourdough starter, vegetable oil, and about 1 1/3 cups of the warm water.
If you're using a breadmaker, throw them together per the instructions and wait. Once the bread claims to be done, bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
If you're not using a breadmaker, combine the dry and wet ingredients slowly and mix for three minutes on high and spoon in to a greased and floured bread pan. Allow to rise for 35-45 minutes and then bake at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes, covering after 10 minutes with aluminum foil.

My loaves never look good straight out of the oven...

It's not sweet, just kind of nutty and bread-like. In fact, I'd say it is pretty nondescript. Maybe if I'd done something different with the starter it would have a more distinct taste.


Bonus Linus Pictures:

Frolicking in a pile of newspaper (see if you can spot the ear!).

Who is that bunny in the mirror?

Take #5: "Whole Wheat" Rice Bread

Last night I decided to act like a normal college student and go have a few drinks with some friends for the inaugural meeting of Chemistry Senior Pub Night(scratch the normal out of the first clause of that sentence). My body has decided to reward me justly... I woke up after a few hours of sleep with a fever, cough, and very swollen glands. Dumb body.
Anyway, fortunately I have something to do because yesterday I made some very tasty bread. The recipe is called "Touch O' Bean Bread," but that is dumb name, and I also made a couple additions that gave this bread a taste and texture very similar to wheat sandwich bread. It was the perfect snack when I got in last night, and it's going to make the perfect breakfast after the strange person sleeping on my couch leaves (I had nothing to do with his/her being there, for the record). There aren't quite as many pictures for this because my mean housemate started teasing me super mercilessly for documenting my baking adventures. Psh. All the cool kids do it.
Onward and upward!



Featherlight Rice Flour Mix

Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon potato flour

Blend flours together. One fun way you can do this is to put them in a hole-free plastic bag and shake it around.




"Touch O' Bean Bread"

Ingredients:
3 cups Featherlight Rice Flour Mix
4 1/2 tablespoons garfava flour
2 1/4 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer
1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 tablespoons dry milk powder
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 tablespoons dry yeast granules
1 egg plus 2 whites
4 1/2 tablespoons butter
3/4 teaspoon white vinegar
3 teaspoons molasses
1 1/2 cups of warm water (probably less)

Ingredients plus coffee maker and white sugar

Mix together the flours, xanthan gum, egg replacer, gelatin, salt, dry milk powder, brown sugar, and yeast. Whisk the egg slightly and then add the butter, vinegar, molasses, and most of the warm water (I ended up using about 1 1/4 cups).

Awesome Bonus Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Salba/Chia Seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon whole flax seeds

If you are adding the extra bonus ingredients (which I highly recommend), just plop them in with the dry ingredients and stir 'em up.

If you're using a breadmaker, follow the machine's directions and cook on the normal white bread setting. After it has finished remove the pan from the breadmaker and bake (uncovered) in a 400 degree oven for an additional 20 minutes.

If you're doing this without the aid of technology, add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet ones and beat for 3 1/2 minutes (if you like your arms I suggest using a mixer). Spoon the dough into a greased pan dusted with rice flour, cover, and let rise for 40 minutes for RapidRise yeast(or 60 minutes for normal yeast). Bake for 50-60 minutes in a 400 degree oven, covering after 10 minutes with aluminum foil.

Bad, fuzzy picture

I cut it open for a taste more or less immediately...

OMNOMNOMNOM.

The thing I like most about this bread is that it combines the dense, nutty flavor that the garfava breads have with the springy texture of rice flour. The seeds gave it a little extra crunch, and if I made it again I might even put in walnuts. In general, despite the dumb name I'd say that this is a repeat recipe. It's definitely the closest mimic to normal whole wheat bread that I have made yet.


Linus was washing his nose this morning. I groomed him yesterday and he was a total trooper about it. He even conked out while I was de-fuzzing his tummy.

French Bread: Attempt the First

Last night I tried to make the New French Bread recipe out of "The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread" by Bette Hagman. While I was unable to make anything remotely resembling bread, I did make some pretty tasty flat stuff that would make a great pizza crust, and with time and practice would probably make for a good loaf of French bread as well. I scaled down the French Bread/Pizza Mix from 6 cups to just enough for the recipe, hence the weird measurements. I think if I was going to do this again I'd make a larger loaf (partially because my roommate and I polished this one off in under 20 minutes and partially because I think it might work better with more dough), let it rise for a bit longer (HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN IT HAS RISEN ENOUGH?!?), and maybe add some rosemary.

French Bread/Pizza Mix

Ingredients:
1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons tapioca flour
2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
2 teaspoons egg replacer
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar

Ingredients!

Blend flours, xanthan gum, gelatin, egg replacer and sugar well.




New French Bread

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups French Bread/Pizza Mix
3 tablespoons dry milk powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon yeast
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2/3 cup warm water

Combine the flour, dry milk powder, salt, baking powder, and yeast. Put the dry ingredients in the bowl of a mixer. In a small bowl beat the egg whites, dough enhancer, and oil with a fork for a bit (the recipe is not very clear as to how well beaten they should be. Does she want them fluffy? Or just combined? I don't know!). Then add about 1/3 cup of warm water.

FUN FACT: Whenever I make bread I boil extra water so I can have a tea break. It is great. Right now I am really in to Lady Grey tea.

Tea time!

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones. Slowly add more warm water until the dough is thick but not dry (I think I added too much water when I was making this... somewhere between 1/3 and 2/3 cup is the right amount). Beat on high for 3 minutes.

Using the big girl kitchen supplies.

Now Hagman tells you to spoon the dough in to a French bread pan or a cook sheet that has been greased and cornmealed. Now, I don't have a French bread pan (nor do I have any idea what they look like), and my cookie pan was dirty, so I decided to put it in another bread pan we have. I also decided to disregard any spoon-related advice and just use my fingers. This was a mistake. In fact, it was right around here that I found myself wondering what I had wroth, and if I was going to make it out of this alive.

AHH. What have I done?

Um, yeah. So, spoon the dough into a pan of some sort that you have greased and dusted with cornmeal. Then cover and let rise for 35 minutes for rapid-rising yeast, 60-75 minutes for regular yeast. I have RapidRise yeast, but I am pretty sure I should have let it rise longer because this is what it looked like after 40 minutes.

Probably not what risen dough looks like.

Cook in a 425 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the loaf sounds hollow when thumped.
My "loaf" cooked in 30 minutes, though the center was a tiny bit undercooked and the outside was pretty brown.

Mmm, crunchy.

So, it doesn't look like much, but it was actually pretty delicious. It didn't have the texture I typically associate with French bread (light and airy), and in fact fell pretty solidly on the denser side of things, but it had a really nice flavor, and I doubt that anyone would have guessed it was gluten-free. The texture I got this time was ideal for a focaccia or pizza dough recipe, and the next time I make it I'm going to let it rise for longer and add less water with the hopes that it will be less flat and more like French bread.

No bonus Linus picture this time, but I have a video of him playing that I might upload later.

Triply Bad Decision Cookies

Like most of the bad decisions I make, these cookies were inspired by equal measures of boredom, hunger, and reality television. "Top Chef: Just Desserts" regularly leaves me feeling as if I do not get some sweets right now I am going to rip your heart out of your chest and eat it so help me God. So, unlike making a decision of a murderous nature, I made these cookies. They're pretty much just the chocolate chips cookies I made last month, but with butterscotch, milk, and white chocolate chips. They're very good with milk (or the blood of your enemies, if you're in to that kind of thing).

I recommend making these cookies whenever you are about to do any of the following: make toast in the bathtub, joust with a narwhal and/or unicorn, jump through a closed second story window a La Quinta Inn in Walla Walla, Washington, shut your sister's head in a car door, read Finnegans Wake, vacuum your oven, talk about Proust in a non-classroom setting without sounding like an asshole, or attempt to eat chicken wings in a ladylike manner.

Gluten-Free Flour Mix

Ingredients:
2 cups brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour

Mix flours together well.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup Gluten-Free Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

*GASP*

Mix together flour, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Cream the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients, then stir in the assorted chips. Refrigerate dough for one hour. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop dough on to cookie sheets, leaving three inches between cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.






















BONUS LINUS SHOT:

In which Linus examines my laptop.

Take #4: Featherlight Rice Bread

I was initially really skeptical about the Basic Featherlight Rice Bread recipe in Bette Hagman's "The Gluten-free Gourmet Bakes Bread". Most of the gluten-free bread available in stores is made with rice flour, and dear lord is it horrible. But last night I was having a crazy sandwich craving and we were out of garfava flour, so rice bread it was. And it turned out good. Really good. I think this might be the best gluten-free bread I've made so far. It's got good springy texture, it's not too moist or too dry, and it tastes like real bread. Glorious.

Featherlight Rice Flour Mix

Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon potato flour (I used garfava flour)

Mix flours together well. (I spilled cornstarch EVERYWHERE while making this flour mix.)


Basic Featherlight Rice Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups Featherlight Rice Flour mix
2 1/4 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer
3/4 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup dry milk powder
2 1/4 teaspoons RapidRise yeast
1 egg plus 2 egg whites
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 teaspoons white vinegar
3 teaspoons honey
1 1/4 cup warm water

Mix together the flour mix, xanthan gum, gelatin, egg replacer, salt, sugar, dry milk powder, and yeast granules. Use a whisk to mix together the eggs, butter, vinegar, honey, and water. If you're using a breadmaker, cook on normal white bread setting. If the bread isn't fully cooked (mine wasn't), wrap the loaf in aluminum foil and cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

If you don't have a breadmaker, slowly  add the dry ingredients to the wet ones. Beat on high for 3 1/2 minutes, then spoon in to a greased and floured pan and let rise for 40 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes, covering after 10 minutes with aluminum foil.

Delicious! I had some for breakfast this morning.

Additionally, Linus says hello.

Take #3ish: Quinoa Bread

So, I've actually made a fair few number of bread varieties recently, but I keep forgetting to take pictures as I go and blog posts are boring without pictures. A few loaves were re-makes, and I've also found one recipe that I really like that I'll probably be making again shortly (this time, with pictures). I made a loaf of Quinoa Bread from "The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread" earlier this week. I (perhaps unwisely) decided to make a "small" loaf instead of my normal "medium," which mean that the loaf itself turned out a bit funny looking (not to mention an awkward size for sandwiches). I have mixed feelings about this recipe. On the one hand, the quinoa adds depth of flavor to the bread (it gives hints of corn and nut flavors). On the other, the bread turned out a little dense and weirdly rubbery. It made a delicious tuna melt, but it wasn't nearly as good served plain with butter as some of the other breads I've made. This might be one I try again when I'm more experienced at breadmaking.


Four Flour Bean Mix

Ingredients:
1 cup garfava bean flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1 1/2 cups cornstarch
1 1/2 cups tapioca flour

Mix flours together well, and presto, you're done.



Quinoa Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups of Four Flour Bean Mix
2 tablespoons quinoa flour
2 1/4 teaspoons xanthan gum
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons RapidRise dry yeast granules
1 egg plus 2 whites
4 1/4 tablespoon (softened)
3/4 teaspoon white vinegar
1 1/2 cups warm water

What is honey doing in this picture?

Mix dry ingredients together well. Blend eggs, butter, vinegar, and water together in a bowl.

Note that I am watching Die Hard whilst making bread.

If you're going to use a breadmaker, throw them all in to the bowl (wet ingredients first) and set for a 1.5 pound loaf on a normal white bread setting. After the breadmaker claims to be done, you're probably going to need to cook the loaf for 15-20 more minutes in an oven at 400 degrees.

If you're not using a breadmaker, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. Beat for four minutes, then let rise (covered) in a prepared pan for 45 minutes. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 50-60 minutes.

Either way, you get this out.

It tasted less gross than it looks, I swear.

Yeah, so it wasn't the prettiest loaf in history. I think maybe I'm adding too much water to my dough (which is why I'm having so much trouble getting loaves to cook through all the way). I might also need to do some research in to mixing properly (and whether melting my butter before adding it is in fact a bad idea).  Irregardless, it was tasty and made me think I was eating something more wholesome than I probably was. So that is good news.

Additionally, a picture of Linus playing "dead bunny."

He likes napping under my dresser.

Linus' Carrot Cupcakes

Last week I welcomed a new member to my apartment... an adopted rabbit named Linus (after Linus Pauling, chemist and Portland resident). To celebrate, I decided to make gluten-free carrot cake. I used "The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Healthy and Fast" by Bette Hagman for the cake recipe, and topped the cupcakes with the traditional cream cheese frosting.


Carrot Cake

Ingredients:
1/2 cup garfava flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup tapioca flour

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put liners in cupcake pan. Mix together flours, cornstarch, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, egg replacer, and salt. Beat the eggs with the sugar and mayonnaise until blended. Slowly add dry ingredients, then beat in carrots and coconut. Fill cupcake tins and cook for 30 minutes. Cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
1 package of cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend everything together until smooth and frost cupcakes.

The cupcakes turned out fantastically. They're moist and delicious, and the frosting adds the perfect amount of sweetness. Linus approves (though he wasn't allowed to have one and was instead given some left over carrot).

Chocolate Chip Cookies

A few weeks ago I was really craving sweets and we had some people coming over for a game of Munchkin, so I made a batch of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies out of "Gluten-Free Baking" by Rebecca Reilly. They turned out very well. I overcooked them a bit, but even the day after I made them they were delicious and not too dry.

This book had a different gluten-free flour mix than the bread book does, so I had to make some.

Gluten-Free Flour Mix

Ingredients:
2 cups brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour

Blend the flours together well.


Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup Gluten-Free Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips


Mix together flour, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Cream the butter and sugars until fluffy (I normally take a break to eat some of this delicious mixture). Add the egg and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients, then stir in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for one hour. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop dough on to cookie sheets, leaving three inches between cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, then enjoy!

There were a lot more, but we ate all of them!

Take #2: Sesame Bean Bread

Another recipe from "The Gluten-Free Gourmet  Bakes Bread." I didn't take nearly as many pictures with this one.

Sesame Bean Bread

Ingredients:
1 cup garfava bean flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup cornstarch
2 1/4 teaspoons xanthan gum
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons arrowroot (you're actually supposed to use unflavored gelatin but we didn't have any)
1 1/2 teaspoons
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast granules (rapid rise)
1 egg plus 2 whites
3/4 teaspoon vinegar
4 1/4 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 teaspoons molasses
1 3/4 cup warm water

Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together all the wet ingredients. Combine in breadmaker bowl. I used the gluten-free setting on the breadmaker again.
If you aren't using a breadmaker, let the dough rise for 35 minutes in a floured pan. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 50-60 minutes (covering with aluminum foil after 10 minutes).

In my case the bread wasn't done when I took it out of the breadmaker. I stuck in back in the oven at 400 degree for 15 minutes.

End result:

This bread has a similar taste/texture to wheat bread, and it is super tasty. I think it might have benefited from a little more baking time, and maybe more sesame seeds (this is when I realized that using the normal bread setting on the breadmaker would probably be way easier than the gluten-free one). Overall though, it's really good and nutty and tastes awesome with Nutella on it.

Gluten-Free Bread, Take #1: Bette's Four Flour Bread

I made this bread in late August, and it was my first attempt at gluten-free baking. I used a recipe out of "The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread" by Bette Hagman and my roommate's breadmaker. The "Four Flour Bread Mix" is a really good bread mix to have on hand, and I've since made it in larger batches (the cookbook gives a recipe for 24 cups of the stuff).


Bette's Four Flour Bread Mix (4 cups)

Ingredients:
1 cup garfava bean flour
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1 1/3 cup tapioca flour
1 1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon egg replacer
1 envelope of unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup sugar

Blend ingredients well.


Bette's Four Flour Bread 

Ingredients:
3 1/3 cups of Bette's Four Flour Bread Mix
2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast granules (rapid rise)
1 egg plus 2 whites
4 1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3/4 teaspoon vinegar
1 1/2 cups warm water

Mix together wet ingredients (including butter, which isn't actually wet but a solid that happens to have a really low melting point). If you are using a breadmaker, you are almost done (seriously). Put wet ingredients into basin of breadmaker, pour flour mix on top, and then add yeast. Push the appropriate buttons and wait. I used the "Gluten-Free" setting on our breadmaker for this batch.

If you aren't using a breadmaker, you're allegedly supposed to mix the yeast and flour mixture together, then slowly combine with wet ingredients. Beat with a mixer for 3 1/2 minutes, then put into a floured pan. Cover and let the loaf rise for 35-45 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then cover with aluminum foil and bake for another 40-50 minutes.


So, here is my loaf straight out of the breadmaker:

Having never made gluten-free bread (or any bread at all for that matter), I didn't know that this was pretty undercooked. Which is why this happened:

So sad. But it was still super delicious. I tore hunks out of it and made an egg "sandwich"!

In short, I would (and have) made this again, but it needs to be cooked longer. It has a similar texture and taste to normal white bread, and since you can pre-make the flour mix it's pretty easy to whip a loaf up mid-day.