Friday, June 22, 2012

The Best Gluten Free Vegan Bread!


Welcome to Hope's Kitchen.  Since this bread recipes receives so many views each day, I wanted to let you know about a current giveaway I'm hosting by The Sneaky Chef.  Check out the blog post here to find out how to enter for your chance to win!  The contest opens Wednesday, May 15th and closes Monday, May 20th at 10 pm CST.

 



Yesterday marked a BIG VICTORY in our home!  I made a new recipe for bread that I found at WholeIntentions.com and adapted it a little.  You need to try this one.  Seriously!  This bread has a tender crust and is soft and light on the inside.  It doesn't crumble.  You can slice it thin and it doesn't fall apart.  I'm so glad the recipe doesn't call for kneading and punching, because I don't know about you, but I get intimidated by those recipes.  This is so easy to make.  It tastes a little like an English Muffin Bread and is even wonderful the next day.  This is definitely our new "go to" bread recipe.

Noah, our gluten eating son and toughest food critic, surprisingly LOVES this bread.  He has not liked any other Gluten Free Egg Free bread we have had at our home.  So when he told me he liked it and wanted more, I did a little victory dance in the kitchen.   When I was making him a sandwich today, he actually asked for this bread instead of his regular whole wheat bread.  And that is amazing!  So thank you again Paula @ WholeIntentions for sharing this delicious recipe.

*Make sure dry ingredients are at room temperature before starting

3 c GF Flour Mix - I used Paula's GF Flour Mix - see below for her recipe
2 t xanthan gum
1/2  t sea salt
3 T sugar
1 t dry yeast
2 t coconut oil (melt before measuring)
1 1/2 c + 2 T warm water

1. Grease and dust with GF flour an 8×4 loaf pan.  Heat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Combine GF Flour Mix, xanthan gum, salt, sugar, and dry yeast in a medium sized bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
3.  In mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil and warm water together and then add the dry ingredients. Mix on high for 2 minutes, this activates the yeast. It should resemble a thicker cake batter.
4.  Pour batter into prepared pan and cover with a tea towel.  Turn OFF the oven and set the covered bread in the warm oven to rise. Carefully shut the oven door.
5. The bread will take about 30 min. to rise to just below the top of the pan.  Take the bread out carefully and set aside. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
6.  Place bread in preheated oven and bake 45-55 minutes.  After the first 10-15 minutes, tent tinfoil over the bread for the remainder of the baking time to prevent the crust from darkening too much.
7. Test the bread with a toothpick. After you’ve removed the bread from the oven, immediately rub the top with butter (or to keep it vegan, try a little melted coconut or olive oil). Remove loaf from the pan to a wire rack to cool.
8.  Let cool completely before cutting.   This makes a big difference on how well it will slice and stay together.



This is great for Sunflower Seed Butter sandwiches, toast, or fresh with Homemade Strawberry Jam.   My family prefers this recipe over the Bread Machine Gluten Free Vegan Bread recipe, but I will still use the bread machine recipe on days that I need the convenience of a bread machine.

Paula also recommends this recipe for dinner rolls...
  If you let the dough sit a bit longer after you’ve mixed it, it will thicken to the point that you can scoop the dough in a muffin-sized scoop and drop it in rows of three. I leave a bit of room in between them, maybe a 1/2 to 1 inch or so.
I use a 9×13 cake pan that has been greased well. I let them rise about the same time – enough to get just to the top of the pan. I cover them with tin foil for the first ten minutes just like I do the bread and I bake them the same amount of time and at the same temperature.



I would like to try this recipe for making monkey bread.  I'll keep you posted :)


Enjoy!

Paula's Gluten Free Flour Mix (this makes enough for 2 loaves of bread plus 1 extra cup)
1 1/2 c. millet flour
1 1/2 c. sorghum flour
1 c. tapioca flour
1 c. potato starch
1 c. arrowroot powder 




This recipe has been shared on Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays and Gluten Free Fridays.


46 comments:

  1. Hi Melanie,

    I'm so glad the bread worked and that your little gluten guy even enjoyed it. :) I can definitely remember doing that same happy dance!

    Have a great weekend!

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  2. Thank you Paula! You made my day with this wonderful bread!

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  3. Do you have a good recipie that is just gluten free? I csn still have egg and milk, and I'm not intimidated by kneading and punching ;)

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  4. I do not. I have not ever been one to attempt making bread until recently, out of necessity. If I could try a recipe that included eggs, I would try Nicole Hunn's at www.glutenfreeonashoestring.com. The photos of her bread are beautiful and they look delicious. However, I will say that even if we could do eggs, I would still love this bread recipe, it's a great one to try. Good luck!

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  5. Just tried this recipe. Unbelieveable!!!!!! Had a nice crust and sooo soft and tender inside. It reminded me of the Danish pancakes I used to make on Christmas morning. That's how wonderful the taste is. And, the ease of making the dough for anyone with arm, hand or shoulder problems - no worries - mixer does all the work. I am blown away!

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  6. I made this bread and I am sooooooooooo grateful for your post of the recipe. You are right. It is so good! I had a little trouble with the "let cool completely before slicing" however. I couldn't wait. I will be making this bread a lot. Finally--something that looks and tastes like the bread I remember. Thank you Thank you.

    (Because I already had it mixed up and it was almost exactly the same, I did use Cybele Pascale's Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook gluten-free flour for bread in place of the one you posted. The only difference I could see is that in addition to the potato and tapioca flours there is arrowroot in the one you use and not in hers--hers has only the potato and tapioca, so it's a slight difference in the starches.)

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    1. You made me smile when you said you had trouble with the waiting for it to cool before slicing. It's so hard to wait, isn't it?! So glad you like it. I've started making up a few batches of the dry ingredients and storing them in a baggie. That way, when I'm ready to make them all I need to do is add the wet ingredients. It makes me feel like I bought a convenient bread mix. :)

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  7. I'm making this bread today for the church I work for. We've decided to use just one single bread for communion--one that everyone can eat. So gluten-free and vegan fit the bill. I got all the way to the end of the recipe and see that it calls for brushing with butter! Maybe it could be olive oil ... or Earth Balance to keep it vegan? I'll try the olive oil as that's what I have. Thanks!

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    1. Good call Alyce! Thanks for the heads up, I edited the post to make note of that :) I'm so glad it will be a helpful recipe for you.

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  8. Yum!! I don't think I've ever seen vegan GF bread look so...normal! lol What would you suggest as a substitute for the coconut oil? Would almond milk be okay?

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    1. I'd recommend substituting the coconut oil with extra virgin olive oil, but the almond milk might work :) Please let me know, thanks and enjoy!

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  9. Do you think this bread would do well in a bread maker?

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    1. I'm not sure how it would do in a bread maker. If you give it a try, please come back and share if it works for you. Thanks!

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  10. Mine wouldn't rise. :( Haven't been able to find millet flour in my area, so I substituted buckwheat flour. I needed it for guests coming over. My house is very cold, so I preheated the oven to 150C and turned it off, hoping the bread would rise like that. I've had success with rising breads like that before. Any ideas as to what I did wrong? :-S

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    1. Oh, that is a bummer. I think you might be right on track though that it could have been partially due to the buckwheat flour. Also, my bread doesn't rise as high in the winter months. The humidity and warmth of summer days help it rise. Hope you try it again with millet flour.

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  11. I love this bread, so far it is the best gluten free bread I've tasted, and it's so easy!

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  12. Thanks for this recipe. It's difficult to find a GF bread recipe without eggs/egg replacer! Mine came out delicious--I was hoping against hope that it wouldn't be rock hard, ad it was great!

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    1. You are so right, finding a gluten free bread recipe without eggs is a difficult task. I'm so glad you like it!

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  13. I'm looking forward to trying your recipe, however, I don't use oils - any oils - too unhealthy all the way around. Have you ever tried substituting with a nut butter instead? Which one?
    Thanks
    Barbara

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    1. Hi Barbara!
      I don't have any experience substituting oils with nut butters, due to nut allergies in our home. It is an interesting idea.

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  14. This is my 5th attempt at making any kind of gluten free bread with not-that-great of results. I can see why this bread is so much more expensive. Made this last night and even though the bread didn't rise as much as hoped for, it was fantastic!

    Going to try it again today and mess with the yeast... that *might* be my issue.

    Questions
    Store ingredients at room temperature or refrigerator? (read about both)
    Weighing it out vs measuring it out? (read about both)

    Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Hey Rosie! These winter days can really impact how much your bread will rise. Mine rises beautifully without effort in the summer but I have to work a little harder at it in the cold months.
      1. First of all, make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.
      2. Then, my mixing bowl and loaf pan are chilly in the winter when I take them out of the cupboard so I warm them up before starting. Last week when I made a loaf, after it finished baking I placed it in a warm, more humid spot in our home to cool and it didn't fall.
      3. When measuring your ingredients, spoon them gently into the measuring cup and then level with a knife.

      I hope this helps.

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    2. Took another go at it last night and OMG I DID IT RIGHT!!!!
      ~Room temperature ingredients
      ~Spooned in the ingredients into measuring cups, not scooped
      ~Covering with plastic wrap during the 30 minute rise
      ~And my biggest mistake with the last loaf was not mixing it long enough. (by hand until batter like)

      It's now my job to make bread and I couldn't be happier about it.

      Thank you so very much Melanie!

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    3. Yay!!!! You are welcome, I'm excited for you!

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  15. Hi Melanie,

    I have tried to make gluten free vegan bread 25 times. I have made every mistake in the book and all 25 were failures in one way or another. I actually gave up. Today on a whim I happened upon your recipe and gave it a shot. I followed your directions exactly except could not find arrowroot locally so i substituted with more tapioca and potato starch. Finally, success! I ended up with a tall, light and delicious bread, not a short, dense brick i had become so used to. Can't thank you enough. Btw i used red star act/dry yeast.

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    1. Jim,
      You are so welcome! I am excited for you and glad you gave it a try! Welcome back bread :)

      Thanks for letting me know what yeast you used. I've always used the Fleischman's brand. I was just in Costco and found a 2 pound package of Red Star Yeast for a little over $4! I couldn't believe what a great price that was, so I will be giving it a try.

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  16. This looks amazing!! I hope you stop by Gluten Free Fridays this week to link up this yummy recipe! It will be live Thursday evening at 7:05 pm! We are having a Gluten Free giveaway this week to one lucky person! Hope to see you there! Cindy :)

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    1. Thanks Cindy! I will head over Thursday night to share this recipe :)

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  17. I love, love , love this recipe! The bread is incredible - better than any gluten free bread I've had, and it also makes fabulous buns. I was craving a sweet yummy this morning and used it to make monkey bread. It's just come out of the oven, and looks and smells delicious. Can't wait to dig in!!

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    1. Yay Carolyn! I'm so glad you love it too!!! The monkey bread sounds so yummy! I can't believe I still haven't tried that :)

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  18. YUM, I can't wait to try this! Thanks for coming over~ Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! :)

    Thanks for linking back to the Gluten Free Fridays post!

    Party starts tomorrow night (thursday) at 7:05 pm eastern time! Hope to see you there!

    Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com

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  19. This bread is a winner!!! I've made countless varieties of gluten free bread (wheat allergy) and a few were even vegan but none as easy and yummy as this! I had the flours on hand but was 1/2 c. short of millet flour so I used a multi-grain blend I already had mixed up to make up the difference. I baked one loaf of bread and one pan of rolls adding a teaspoon extra of salt and one tsp. each garlic powder, minced dried onion and Italian seasoning to the roll batter. OMGoodness are they yummy! Thank you, thank you! This is it for me...the go-to bread for our gluten free family members. WooHoo!!!

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    1. Hooray! What a great idea to make a savory version of the bread! I'm so glad you like it!

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  20. Would I be able to use Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour?

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    1. I'm not sure. The flour mixture (Paula's) I use for this is heavier, a little heartier looking than my regular all-purpose Natalie's Gluten Free Flour Mixture I use. Natalie's is really light and fluffy while the bread flour (Paula's mixture) is a little heavier looking with the millet and sorghum flour in it. Let me know if it works and which GF All-Purpose flour mix you try.

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  21. Melanie, thank you so much for posting this bread recipe! It's now my go-to bread. Both this one and the cinnamon raisin are delicious. I've made hamburger buns with it as well. For the flour mix, I use 2 cups of Shauna Ahern's gf mix, 70% whole grains/30% starch by weight (Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef), and 1 cup tapioca starch. It works very well. So good to find a good egg-free bread recipe, thanks again.

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    1. Wonderful Leslie! I'm so happy to hear you like the recipe! The buns sound like a great idea, I will have to try that as well soon :) Thanks for sharing another option for the flour mix that is successful. Everyone has such different allergies/intolerance so that will be helpful for readers.

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  22. My expierience in the past with GF bread is that the batter should stick to the paddle on the mixer rather than dripping off. It seems really wet! It isn't runny like water but it does drip off the mixing paddle. Is that normal? The bread looked so yummy in the picture I wanted to try it. Thanks for your help!

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    1. The consistency is more like batter than dough. It will run off the mixing paddle but I do have to use a spatula to get it all off. Make sure that when you measure the dry ingredients, you lightly spoon the ingredients into the measuring cup and level with a knife. Did you give the recipe a try? How did it turn out for you?

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  23. So the bread was way too wet and fell right away baking. Should I just use less water? Thank you!

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    1. Here are a few thoughts....When measuring the ingredients, lightly spoon dry ingredients into the measuring cups and level with a knife and use a liquid measurement cup for the liquids. Make sure to close the oven gently, if it closes hard/with a bang/gets bumped, it will make the bread fall. Please let me know if you need more ideas. :)

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  24. Any way to use another way for rising instead of yeast
    thank you

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    1. I'm sorry Larry, but I'm not familiar with baking bread without yeast. Maybe another reader that has experience baking without yeast will comment. I will post the question on my facebook page and see if any comments. Do you "like" Hope's Kitchen on facebook? If not, please let me know so I come back to this comment and let you know what I hear.

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  25. What kind of yeast? Dry yeast means.....? thank you

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    1. I buy Fleischman's or Red Star dry yeast located in the baking aisle. Dry yeast means measuring the yeast as it comes out of the jar (as opposed to adding water to it).

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