I love making bread and have been baking it weekly for years now. However, I’ve been trying a low-FODMAP diet recently and really struggled to find a good gluten-free (GF) bread recipe. Eventually I found a half-decent one in a library book ( Bette Hagman, The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread, published 1999) and did some playing around with the ingredients and method in that. I’ve made quite a few successful loaves now, so I’m sharing the recipe to help anyone else who wants to make their own GF and FODMAP-friendly bread. I reckon it’s as good as the GF bread sold at the supermarket, if not better! Of course, it’s not as good as regular bread, but it’s pretty tasty when it’s warm, and delicious toasted for several days after baking.
I can get all the ingredients except one at the local supermarket. The exception is xanthan gum, which is often used in GF baking to help bind the ingredients. You can find it at health food stores, but mine was out of stock so I bought it online. It comes as a powder – try not to spill it, as it can make a gluey mess if it gets wet!
This recipe makes one medium-sized loaf. It takes less time than regular bread to be ready as it has one rise rather than two.
INGREDIENTS
1 ¼ cups warm water
2 ¼ tsp active yeast
1 whole egg plus 1 large egg white
70ml oil
¾ tsp vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 cup rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes called arrowroot)
1 cup cornflour or cornmeal
1/3 cup almond meal
2 ¼ tsp xanthan gum
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)
2 tbsp poppy seeds (optional)
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds (optional)
METHOD
Put the warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside to start activating while you complete the next step. Put the egg, egg white, oil, vinegar and maple syrup in a large bowl and beat together well. I use a handheld electric beater, but if you have a flash cake mixer you could use that. Add the water/yeast mixture to the egg mixture and mix a little more. Add all of the remaining ingredients, including seeds if you are using them, to your wet mixture. It will create a dough that is too wet to knead by hand – it looks like a thick cake batter. Beat together for 3 minutes using an electric beater or cake mixer. Pour the mixture into a lined loaf tin – I use a scraper to spread it evenly. Cover it with a clean tea towel. Put the tin in a warm place to rise for 60 minutes. I set my timer for 45 minutes to remind me to turn the oven on to heat! Bake at 200ºC fanbake for 10 minutes, place some foil loosely over the top of the tin, and bake another 40-45 minutes. The loaf can be removed from the tin as soon as it comes out of the oven. Put it on a rack to cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting. Once I’ve cut into it, I wrap the remainder of the loaf firmly in a clean tea towel to stop it drying out. Once it’s completely cool you can store it, still wrapped in the towel, in an airtight container. If you’re wondering what to do with the leftover egg yolk, my favourite thing is to add it to another whole egg plus a little milk and make scrambled eggs for lunch! A loaf after rising, ready to go into the oven.The finished product – this loaf doesn’t have the optional seeds.A finished loaf with seeds included.
