If there’s a respectable gluten-free bread available in stores, I’d love to hear about it. What’s commercially available is dry, tough and bland, which has led me to pursue the perfect gluten-free bread recipe.
Even my least favourite of the gluten-free breads I’ve made has tasted far better than what I’ve purchased in stores. The only downside of homemade gluten-free breads is how little they rise, resulting in very short slices. Okay for toasting, not so much for making a sandwich.
This honey walnut bread is my favourite so far. It’s soft and moist, nutty and sweet, and although the slices aren’t as big as traditional bread, they’re big enough to pile on some veggie toppings (or meat, if you’re not vegetarian).
This recipe comes from the Complete Gluten-Free Cookbook, which has more than a dozen recipes for bread, so I’m very much looking forward to trying the rest of them!
Honey Walnut Bread
1 ¼ cups sorghum flour
½ cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup rice bran
1 tbsp xanthan gum
1 tbsp bread machine or instant yeast
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted (I toasted them this time, but probably wouldn’t bother doing it again – I’m lazy that way)
2 eggs
1 egg white (I used the book’s egg-free option and added 1/3 cup ground flaxseed with ½ cup warm water)
1 cup water
3 tbsp walnut oil (I didn’t have walnut oil, so I used hemp instead)
1/3 cup liquid honey
1 tsp cider vinegar
In a large bowl or plastic bag, combine sorghum flour, brown rice flour, cornstarch, rice bran, xanthan gum, yeast, salt and walnuts. Mix well and set aside.
In a separate bowl, using a heavy duty electric mixer with paddle attachment, combine eggs, egg white (or flax mixture), water, walnut oil, honey and vinegar until well blended. With the mixer on its lowest speed, slowly add the dry ingredients until combined. Stop the machine and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer on medium speed, beat for four minutes.
Spoon into prepared pan. Let rise, uncovered, in a warm, draft-free place for 60 to 75 minutes, or until dough has risen to the top of the plan. Meanwhile, preheat over to 350 degrees F.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from the pan immediately and let cool completely on a rack.
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