Spreading the Gluten Free Bread in the pan before baking.
When making Gluten Free bread, you can expect a different consistency than that of typical wheat breads. While wheat breads require kneading to develop the gluten proteins into an extensible but elastic dough, Gluten Free bread dough gets it’s consistency from xanthan gum added to the flour. This means kneading isn’t required and simply a good mix will do. Here in the Bob’s Bakery, we like to mix on medium-high speed for about 4-5 minutes
Take care not to overproof your bread before putting it in the oven. Letting it rise high above the pan will let too much air into the dough and cause the loaf to collapse either in the oven or after removal. When we make our Gluten Free breads in the bakery, we seldom need to let our loaves proof for more than 20-25 minutes. While your loaf might not look doubled in size, it will most likely gain height through oven spring during the first few minutes of bake time.
Gluten Free bread keeps best in the fridge or freezer, unlike typical wheat bread which can last just fine at room temperature. Slice your bread while it is still slightly warm and then place it in one or two plastic bags. It will then be able to last for a while and maintain its consistency. To create the right-out-of-the-oven flavor and texture, heat a refrigerated slice in the microwave for 10-20 seconds before enjoying!
When making Gluten Free bread (or any yeasted product), measure out your flours ahead of time so they are at room temperature. Gluten Free flours, unlike wheat flours, store best at refrigerated temperatures. Simply pulling cold flours out of the fridge will cause the yeast to take a much longer time to react. We sometimes hear people asking why their bread is having trouble rising and often the case is that the ingredients are too cold for the yeast.
When you start experimenting with Gluten Free baking of any kind, you should stick to Gluten Free recipes until you feel comfortable with the changes of consistency and workability. Once you start getting the knack for it, you can try adapting some of your favorite “regular” recipes with some of these tips:
Find flours with higher protein contents to build structure. For instance, a rice flour will not give your bread loaves the same sturdiness as an amaranth, sorghum, or teff flour would.
Gluten-free breads will require more liquids than the equivalent wheat bread recipes require. When you convert wheat breads to gluten free, be sure to add extra water, milk, oil, honey or other wet ingredients to make sure that all of the flour is properly incorporated in the dough. Your gluten-free bread dough should be too wet to knead but thicker than cake or muffin batter.
Try out alternative ingredients in your favorite recipes to see what the effects are on the finished product. Ingredients such as eggs, carbonated water, and even gluten-free beer can act as natural leaveners that can give a fluffier crumb and a fuller volume.
Have fun! Gluten Free baking of any kind can take a while to get used to so be sure to take it lightly and have a good time.
Below is our Gluten Free, Dairy Free Bread Recipe. Give it a whirl to try out your new skills!
Bob’s Red Mill
Dairy Free Wheat Free Bread
Mix together with a spoon in a small bowl:
5 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 Cup Water
Yeast Packet (found in Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Bread Mix)
When corn starch is dissolved, pour into large bowl and mix in the following (with spoon or dough hook on upright mixer):
1 2/3 cups Rice Milk
¼ Cup Vegetable or Safflower Oil
1 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Bread Mix
Pour Mixture into a Bread Pan and let rise until dough is just above the top of the pan (30-40 minutes).
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour, rotating pan once during the bake. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack Enjoy!
Tip: For a lighter crust color, cover pan with tin foil or place a cookie sheet (above the bread pan) on a higher shelf in the oven during the bake.
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Would love to see more tips about baking gluten-free bread in a bread machine. I’ve done it once, with fairly good results, but I’d like to actually know what I’m doing!
I’m looking for a good recipe using store-bought “Gluten free baking mix”. Is there any such recipe out there? I occasionally want to make bread for my grandma but don’t want to buy and measure 8 ingredients just for the special flour blend. I’ve tried one recipe and the dough was like play-dough ( : Thanks!!
Courtney, have you tried our Gluten Free Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix? All you have to do is add a few wet ingredients and it’s ready to bake!
This is extremely helpful. I’m making my first gluten-free bread right now and the consistency had me baffled. My nephew was just diagnosed with serious Celiac, so we are learning new things!
I’m using a mixture that closely resembles the one published. My problem is that my bread turns out to have a bitter taste, and I think it has been burned during the baking process.
I’m trying another loaf just now, and will place a cookie pan beneath (lower rack) to disperse oven heat, and plan to cook it so that the lowest internal temp is 170 degrees. Then I will wrap it the loaf in a towel help it to finish it outside the oven. What do you think about this bitterness issue?
It sounds like you may have an ingredient issue. Is it possible that one of your ingredients has gone rancid? There is nothing inherently different about gluten free bread baking that would cause it to taste bitter.
I need a recipe for making bread with Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose baking flour sold at Costco. Do you have one????? Gayle Horn at gaylenstu@msn.com
Gayle,
You can find recipes for all of our products at http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes.
what is the amount of the gluten flour ~ the whole package?
Do you mean how much does the package weigh?
Can I use coconut milk instead of cow, soy, or rice?
Yes, coconut milk should work just fine.