No Fail Gluten Free Bread

Are you looking for a recipe that you can put in the bread machine and forget about, knowing that when it is done the bread will be tasty for everyone in the family, not just your gluten free crowd? Does it need to be gluten, dairy and soy free? Here is a recipe that tastes good, performs like regular bread, does not turn to a rock or dust in 24 hours, doesn't need to be refridgerated, and on day 2 still tastes great or makes great french toast. We have even sliced it and frozen the loaf in 2 slice packges so we can make sandwiches anytime by just thawing it in the microwave. The best part is that the recipe is reasonably forgiving. I have an absent minded tendency to forget the salt or lose my place and it still turns out workable.
This recipe uses yellow pea flour which is an Indian staple as one of the flours. It is this flour which really gives it the flexibility that lasts for several days. We use the SWAD brand that we get at a local Asian grocer. I know that Whole Foods carries it as well. If it is very humid and the flour is lumpy it has to be sifted because otherwise you get hard little lumps in the loaf. We use a bread machine to do the work for us. Although we have the cuisineart that has the special gluten free cycle but we use the rapid white cycle for this bread.

No Fail Gluten Free Bread

(dairy and soy free)

Dry ingredients:

1 cup white rice flour

1 cup yellow pea flour(SWAD) also called gram flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch

1/4 cup white sugar(this works well with a direct substitution of honey as well)

1 Tbsp xanthan gum

1 scant Tbsp yeast (we use saf instant- we get a large cake at the health food store. We have used the jarred bread machine yeast from the grocery which works ok but increase to a whole Tbsp. For best result we use saf instant. The yeast really makes a difference.)

1 1/2 tsp salt

Wet ingredients

1 1/2-2 cups warmed plain rice milk (we warm ours up in the microwave for just 45 seconds or so)

2 tsp cider vinegar

1/4 vegetable oil (we use organic canola)

2 eggs

2 egg whites

Step 1

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk them together. If you are using honey, put it in with the wet ingredients.

Step 2

In the bread machine bowl combine all of the wet ingredients using just 1 1/2 cup rice milk to start.

Step 3

Start the bread machine using the rapid white or equivalent cycle. Once the liquid ingredients are mixed slowly add the dry ingredients using a rubber scraper to assist in the mixing. Our machine makes a horizontal loaf and since the gluten free dough ends up the consistency of thick cake batter the material in the ends needs mixing in by hand. The goal is a thick cake batter type of dough. Add as much of the extra rice milk as necessary to reach that consistency. How much milk you will need depends on any number of things including the current humidity. Once all of the ingredients are well mixed you just close the bread machine and walk away. Once all of the dough cycles are completed you can remove the kneeading paddle if you like but we rarely bother.

Step 4

Once the bread machine has completed the baking cycle remove the bread to a cooling rack. It is important to let it cool to get the largest number of slices per loaf. It is however really yummy straight away.