Making Gluten Free Bread Tips and Hints

1. Gluten Free bread will not be the same consistency as “regular” bread. The common mistake when making GF bread is trying to get it to the kneading consistency. Do not add more flour than the recipe calls for. Gf products need to be moist so that they don’t turn out gritty. The dough should be about the consistency of thick cake mix. To knead Gf bread simply turn on your heavy duty mixer.
   
   
2. When adding yeast to your bread it is easiest if you simply mix up the dry ingredients, place them in your large mixing bowl and pour the yeast on top. Do Not Mix It In!! Pour the warm water on top of the yeast/dry mix and let it sit for about 3-5 minutes. Then mix in the rest of the ingredients.
   
   
3. Since you don’t knead GF bread dough with your hands you need to mix it. We suggest beating it on high for around 5 minutes- so set your timer, turn it on and do something else while you wait.
   
   
4. Don’t over proof your bread. This allows too much air to get into your bread dough and will usually make it fall once it is pulled out of the oven. When we make our bread we suggest only letting it rise 20 minutes. Even if it doesn’t look doubled in size stick it in your preheated oven. It will finish rising as it cooks and when it comes out will not fall as easily.
   
   
5. Make sure you are cooking the bread at the right temperature. If you cook it at too low of a temperature the bread will need to cook longer and will turn out heavier and have more of a gritty feel, because it was overbaked. If your temperature is too high, the top and bottom of your bread will cook, but the middle will still be gooey. A good temperature for most bread is 375 degrees.
   
   
6. Cook your bread for the right amount of time. We have discovered for our bread recipe that large loaves only need to cook for 35 minutes rather than the 45-50 we put on the label before. Small loaves take about 25 minutes and English muffins around 20 minutes.
   
   
7. Once you pull your bread out of the oven let it sit for about 5 minutes, then turn it upside down in it’s pan. This also helps your bread to stay light and fluffy, instead of condensing on itself. If you leave it in the pan, the moisture in the pan will make the bread wet and cause it to condense or fall.
   
   
8. GF bread keeps best in the fridge or freezer. Slice it while it is still slightly warm and then put it in a ziplock bag and freeze it. When you want bread pull it out and reheat it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. It will taste just like it did when it first came out of the oven.
   
   
9. Never eat GF bread cold. If possible always warm up your bread before making a sandwich or eating it for dinner. This makes it more pliable, and less crumbly. It also tastes wonderful!
   
   
10. When you make pizza dough, don’t let the bread rise at all. Spread the dough, with a spatula onto a cookie sheet. Stick it straight into a preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 10 minutes. When it is done, remove it from the pan, let it cool and then you can either freeze it or top it!
    
    
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Gluten Free Garlic Bread Spread

½ c. Butter or Margarine
¼ c. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1/4 tsp. Onion powder
1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients. Spread on slices of gluten free bread. Place bread slices, butter side up, on a cookie sheet. Broil until browned, keeping a close eye on them so they don’t burn. (The edges will turn black before the middle is browned – but you can cut the crusts off later!) Remove from the oven and serve as a side dish.

Gluten Free Hearty Brown Bread

If you were a fan of whole wheat bread, you will like this! It tastes a lot like the gourmet grain bread you can buy from the store. From experience most kids don’t like it as much as the white bread, but adults love it. It’s also beautiful when baked.

1 ¾ C. GF flour mix
½ c. quinoa flakes
1 c. teff flour
1/4 c. sugar
3 ½ tsp. Xanthan gum
1 ½ tsp. Salt
1 ½ Tbs. yeast
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 ¾ c. warm water
1 tsp. Rice vinegar
3 eggs

Turn oven to 400°.
Mix flour mix, sugar, xanthan gum, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour yeast on top of the flour mixture. Don’t mix it in yet! Pour warm water directly onto the yeast. Let it sit for 3-4 minutes.

Add the oil and vinegar. Slowly mix the liquids into the dry ingredients, until they are well combined. Add the eggs. Mix on low until combined, then beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Spray 2 loaf pans or 12 English muffin rings well with Pam. Spoon batter into pans (or rings), and let rise on oven as it heats (about 20 minutes).

Bake loaf pans for about 40 minutes. Bake muffin rings about 20 minutes.

Options: add sunflower seeds, 1 Tbls flax seed, or raisins

Gluten Free Streusel Topped Apple Muffins

Dry
2 c. featherlight mix
1 tsp. xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. sugar
1 heaping tsp. cinnamon
¼ heaping tsp. nutmeg

Wet
2 eggs
½ c. applesauce (or sour cream)
4 Tbs. olive oil (or melted butter)
1 ½ c. grated, peeled apples
¾ c. chopped pecans

Streusel Topping
¼ c. sugar
¼ c. chopped pecans
3/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp butter

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Mix dry and wet ingredients together. Fill muffin tins ½ to ¾ full. Blend all streusel topping ingredients. Top muffins with Streusel. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

Gluten Free Kirsti's Blueberry Muffins

Basic Muffin Mix:
½ c. butter or margarine
1 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp salt.
¾ tsp xanthan gum
½ tsp lemon juice
½ c. sour cream
1 ½ c. featherlight mix
½ c. GF mix
½ c. milk

Topping:
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 375°. Grease muffin pans.
In a bowl whip butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each. Add vanilla, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, lemon juice and sour cream. With a rubber spatula fold in half the flour and half the milk, repeat until all the flour and milk has been used. Sprinkle the topping on top of each muffin.

Bake 15-20 minutes for mini muffins, 25-30 minutes for regular muffins. They should be golden brown and springy to the touch.

Options:
1. 2 ½ c. fresh or frozen blueberries
2. Omit lemon juice. Add 1 c. chocolate chips.
2. Drop a teaspoonful of jam on top, then add more muffin batter.

Gluten Free Lemon Raspberry Muffins

Dry:
1 ¾ c. featherlight mix
½ tsp. xanthan gum
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3 Tbs. ground flax seed (optional)
¼ tsp. salt

Wet:
1 beaten egg
¾ c. milk
¼ c. cooking oil
1 tsp. lemon juice (or grated lemon rind)

Fruit:
¾ c. frozen raspberries, broken up
(frozen blueberries may also be used)

Preheat oven to 400°. Grease 12 – 18 muffin cups. Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients, adding lemon juice last. Quickly add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir in the fruit. Fill muffin cups ½ - ¾ full. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes

Gluten Free Cinnamon or Orange Pull Aparts

2 Tbs. Yeast
½ c. warm water
1 c. shortening
¾ c. sugar
2 tsp salt
4 tsp. honey
4 eggs
3 c. GF mix
5 c. featherlight mix
2 ½ tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp egg replacer
1 tsp gelatin
2 c. hot water
½ c. margarine
1 ½ c. brown sugar (or white sugar)
2 Tbs. cinnamon ( or orange peel zest)

Dissolve yeast in ½ cup warm water. In a medium bowl, combine GF mix, featherlight mix, xanthan gum, egg replacer, and gelatin. In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, salt, and honey. Mix well. Slowly mix the yeast water into the creamed mixture. Then alternately add flour mixture and the 2 c. warm water, mixing each addition well. Beat on high 2-3 minutes.

Spray a bundt pan or angel food cake pan with cooking spray. Melt ½ c. margarine.Mix brown sugar and cinnamon (or white sugar and orange peel zest). Spread 2 Tbs. melted margarine on the bottom of the bundt pan. With a spoon or cookie scoop, make one layer of little balls of dough. Leave some space between each ball. Drizzle with margarine, then sprinkle with cinnamon (or orange) sugar. Add more layers of dough, margarine, and sugar. Continue until the pan is ¾ full. Let rise for about one hour.

Bake at 375º for approximately 40 minutes. Top with cream cheese frosting.

Gluten Free Featherlight MIx

1 c. Rice flour
1 c. cornstarch
1 c. tapioca starch
1 Tbs. potato flour (NOT potato starch)

Gluten Free Blueberry Tea Bread

2 Tbs featherlight mix.
1 ½ c. frozen blueberries
2 ½ c. featherlight mix
½ tsp xanthan gum
2½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ c. butter softened
1 c. sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 lg eggs
2 tsp lemon juice
2/3 c. milk

Topping:
¼ c. sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 Tbs. margarine
½ c. quinoa flakes

Spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350º. In a medium bowl, combine topping ingredients and blend with a pastry cutter. In another bowl, toss together blueberries and 2 Tbs. featherlight mix. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine 2 ½ c. featherlight mix, xanthan gum, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and lemon juice until light and fluffy. At low speed, beat flour mixture and milk into the creamed mixture. Stir blueberry mixture into the batter.Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle topping on top. Bake (at 350º) for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Serve with whip cream or icecream.

Gluten Free Gluten Free Streusel Topped Apple Muffins

Dry Ingredients:
2 c. featherlight mix
1 tsp. xanthan gum
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
¾ c. Sugar
1 tsp. Cinnamon
¼ tsp. Nutmeg
Wet Ingredients
2 eggs
½ c. applesauce (or sour cream)
4 Tbs. olive oil (or melted butter)
1 ½ c. grated, peeled apples
¾ c. chopped pecans
Streusel Topping Ingredients
¼ c. sugar
¼ c. chopped pecans
½ tsp. apple pie spice
1 Tbs. butter

Spray or line 2 muffin pans (24 muffins). Preheat oven to 350º. In a small bowl, blend topping ingredients. (Apple pie spice is about 4 parts cinnamon to 1 part nutmeg). Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix dry and wet ingredients together. Fill muffin tins ½ to ¾ full. Top with streusel. Bake at 350º for 20 minutes (or until a knife inserted in the top of a muffin comes out clean).

Gluten Free Featherlight Biscuits

1 ¾ c. featherlight mix (found on the main recipe home page)
3/4 tsp. xanthan gum
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
6 Tbs. Butter flavored shortening
¾ c. milk

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until shortening is the size of peas. Add milk all at once. Quickly mix in with a fork. Pat out, cut biscuits. Place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 450ºº for 10 –– 12 minutes.

Gluten Free Bread Sticks – modified from Bette Hagman’s Seasoned Pizza Crust (GFG Bakes Bread)

Dry ingredients:
3 c. French Bread/Pizza mix (found on main recipe page)
1/3 c. Dry milk powder
1 Tbs. dry yeast

Wet ingredients:
4 egg whites
3 Tbs. oil
1 tsp. vinegar
1 ½ c. warm water

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. In a stand mixer, mix the wet ingredients. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients. Beat on high 3 ½ minutes. Spoon dough into a pastry bag or a ziplock bag with the corner cut off. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam. Squeeze dough onto the cookie sheet in 4 -5 inch lines. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with grated parmesan or cheddar cheese. Let raise until double (about 20 minutes over a hot stove). Bake at 400° for 10-15 minutes. (They will be golden brown). Makes about 2 dozen.For delicious croutons: Cut leftover breadsticks into disks (or smaller pieces). Brush with olive oil mixed with garlic salt or your favorite seasonings. (Check the ingredients of store bought croutons for seasoning ideas.) Bake at 250° or 300° until dry (10-15 minutes). Store in the fridge.

Gluten Free Scones

4 c. featherlight mix1 Tbs. xanthan gum
2 tsp. unflavored gelatin
2 tsp. egg replacer
1 tsp. salt
¼ c. sugar
½ c. dry milk powder
1 Tbs. dry yeast granules
1 egg
3 egg whites
1/3 c. margarine (cut in chunks)
1 tsp. rice vinegar
3 Tbs. honey
2 c. water

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk egg, whites, margarine pieces, rice vinegar, and honey until blend. Add most of the water. Slowly add dry ingredients to the egg mixture (with mixer on low). Dough should be like cake batter. (Add more water if needed). Beat on high for 3 ½ minutes. Beat in an additional ¼ c. featherlight mix. Dough will still be quite sticky. Covering your hands with featherlight mix, take about ¼ c. of the dough and pat it flat – about ¼ inch thick. Fry in hot oil until brown, turning once.

Gluten Free Bette Hagman's True Yeast Bread/ adapted

3 C. GF flour mix
1/4 c. sugar
3 ½ tsp. Xanthan gum
1 ½ tsp. Salt
1 ½ Tbs. yeast
1/4 c. oil
1 3/4 c. warm water
1 tsp. Rice vinegar
3 eggs

Mix dry ingredients in large mixing bowl with yeast on top. Pour warm water on the top of the yeast and let it sit for about 3-5 mintues. Mix in the oil, vinegar, eggs. Beat on high for 5 minutes

Turn oven to 375. Spray pans well with Pam. Spoon into pans (or English Muffin rings), and let rise on oven as it heats (about 20 minutes). Bake loaf pan for about 35 minutes. Bake muffin rings for 20 minutes.

Gluten Free Rolls

3 C. GF flour mix
1/4 c. white sugar
3 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 Tbs. yeast
1/4 c. oil
1 3/4 c. warm water
1 tsp. rice vinegar
3 eggs
1/4 c. brown sugar
3 Tbs. honey

Mix flour mix, sugar, xanthan gum, brown sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Dump yeast on top, but don't mix it in.
Combine warm water, oil, honey and vinegar. Pour directly on top of the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes or so.(The yeast should bubble and foam a bit.)
Turn the mixer on low, and mix well. Mixture should be slightly warm.
Add the eggs, then beat on high speed for 5 minutes. Turn oven to 375 degrees.
On a greased cookie sheet spoon four Tbs. dough into a pile. Wet tips of fingers and smooth the top of the dough. Continue until all the batter is in the size of rolls you desire.
Let rise 20 minutes in a warm spot. Bake for 25 minutes. While still hot place a tsp. butter on top of roll and let it melt.

Gluten Free Cornbread

1 c. corn meal
1 c. featherlight flour mix
½ tsp. Xanthan gum
2 - 4 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
½ tsp salt

Mix together.

1 c. milk
1/4 c. oil
1 egg

Mix well and add to dry ingredients. Beat on high speed about 1 minute (until it’s well blended).Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes for an 8x8 pan or 12-15 minutes for a 9x13 pan.

Gluten Free Tortillas - modified from Bette Hagman's Rice Flour Tortillas

2 c. GF mix
1 ½ tsp. Xanthan gum
2 tsp. Sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 c. warm water

Mix dry ingredients. Mix the hot water with the sour cream. Add to dry ingredients. Mix for 1 minute. The dough will be slightly sticky - more sticky than playdough, but less sticky than cookie dough. Roll out in between waxed paper or saran wrap. If the dough is too sticky, dust it with some of the GF flour to keep it from sticking. Cook on a hot griddle about 1 minute per side.

Gluten Free Bread Stuffing (modified from a Better Homes and Gardens recipe)

½ c. finely chopped celery
¼ c. chopped red onion
2 Tbs. shredded carrots
¼ c. margarine or butter
½ tsp. poultry seasoning
1/8 tsp. pepper
3-4 dashes of salt
4-6 c. dried bread cubes*
½ to ¾ c. chicken broth or water

Sautee celery, onion, and carrot in butter until soft (but not browned). Remove from heat and add poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Place bread cubes in a bowl. Add onion mixture. Pour on enough broth to moisten the bread. Bake in a covered casserole dish at 375° for 20 – 30 minutes. (Or use to stuff an 8-10 lb. Turkey).

*To dry bread: Cut into ½ inch cubes. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 300° for 10-15 minutes. Let cool.

Gluten Free Banana Bread

4 c. featherlight mix
1 c. GF mix
2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 c. sugar
7 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
6 Tbs. oil
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 c. mashed bananas
2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 3 regular loaf pans with Pam (or grease and flour using GF mix). Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Mix dry and wet ingredients together. Beat well. Pour into pans. Bake about 50 minutes (until a knife inserted in the middle of a loaf comes out clean).

* The mixture of featherlight and GF mixes gives this banana bread the correct texture. You may use 5 c. of featherlight instead, but the bread will be much spongier.