Savory 'n Sweet

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.” 
 - James Beard

Here’s the recipe I told you about in our first Savory ‘n Sweet blog posting. This is the ABSOLUTE BEST gluten-free multi-grain bread recipe I’ve tried, and believe me when I say I’ve tried a lot.

When I decided to give up wheat, I was able to find delicious alternatives for most of my favorite baked goods. Either I was able to buy something ready-made or more usually I was able to find recipes that I could bake myself.

The black hole in my culinary world was a gluten-free alternative to fragrant, dense and delicious home-made whole grain bread. I tried the breads available in whole foods markets. Without exception they tasted more like starchy cardboard than bread.

I felt like Julia Child when she said, “How can a nation be great if their bread tastes like kleenex?” 

I then tried countless recipes I found on-line. Some were passable, but tended to be more like white bread than whole grain. I was looking for a bread that had some nutritive value to it as well as wonderful heft and flavor.

After many discouraging attempts I happened upon treasure - a recipe for whole grain teff bread. I tried the recipe purely out of curiosity about teff flour (which by the way, is delicious) and was astounded. Here was the fragrant, deeply flavorful, moist, multi-grain bread I’d been searching for.  

OK now we were cooking!

Sadly, I’ve been unable to find that original recipe on-line so that I may give the author the thanks they are due. So, I’ll send my thanks on a prayer off into the ethers, with a blessing added in for many delightful baking experiences to come. Thank you whoever you are!

Now I had found my master recipe. Through additional experimentation I discovered that I could substitute any combination of whole grain, gluten-free flours that appealed to me and it still came out deliciously moist, fragrant and satisfying.

Here is the recipe I settled on as my favorite. This is the bread I bake every week. It is fragrant, flavorful, full of holes and heft. I use it for toast, for sandwiches, for croutons, for bread crumbs and for anything else I can think up. What's more, a warm, fragrant loaf of this bread is always a hit at pot-lucks.

Although this is a yeast-raised bread (with the attendant delicious fragrance and flavor) it is a snap to mix up. The dough is scooped directly into the bread pan for rising. No kneading necessary.

Not so long ago a wonderful friend gave me a bread pan worth its weight in gold. It is specifically intended for baking gluten free bread. It has ridged sides that support the sponge as it rises, and makes for a perfect rise without the concave center that so often happens in gluten-free baking. If you love to bake as I do, and love home-baked bread it would be a worthwhile purchase for you.

Here is a link to where you can purchase it.
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A tip - as soon as you remove the bread from the oven, immediately flip it upside down onto a cooling rack, and cool for 30 minutes upside down. This will allow the bread to firm up before you remove it from the pan and prevent the top from caving in slightly. As you can see from the picture above I forgot to do this and the top is slightly concave!

Without further ado, here’s the recipe, along with several yummy variations. Wait till you see how flexible this recipe is! 

Best Gluten Free Multi-Grain Bread

Ingredients:
1 ½ c warm water
1 package dry active yeast (2 ¼ t)
4 T canola oil or olive oil
4 T honey, maple syrup or agave syrup
2 T ground flax seeds

Flour Mix:
2 c whole grain teff flour OR
1 c sorghum flour plus ½ c oat or buckwheat or corn flour plus ½ c millet flour
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Starch Mix:
½ c potato starch or arrowroot starch
½ c tapioca flour

1 ½ t xanthan gum
1 ¼ t sea salt

Directions:

1. Oil a 9x4” loaf pan on the bottom only.
2. Place warm water, yeast, honey or agave syrup, oil and ground flax seeds in a small bowl and whisk until it thickens slightly.
3. In a large bowl, add flour mix, starch mix, xanthan gum and sea salt. Combine the flours with a wire whisk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and beat with an electric mixer, scraping the sides of the bowl. Continue to beat for another minute or so or until the dough thickens and becomes smooth.
4. Transfer the dough to bread pan. Cover pan loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise. Let rise for about one hour or until doubled in size.
5. While the bread is rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6. After the bread has risen, place pan into the oven and bake for 50-55 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately flip pan upside down on a cooling rack. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes in the pan. Then run a knife around the edges to release bread from sides of pan. Remove bread and place onto a wire rack to finish cooling. If you allow the bread to cool completely before slicing the texture will be better.

Yummy Variations:
Hi Protein Seed Bread: Add to flour mix - ¼ c chia seeds, ¼ c hulled pumpkin seeds, ¼ c sunflower seeds. Increase water to 2 c. Bake for 60-70 minutes (This is my favorite breakfast bread!)

“Rye” Orange Caraway Bread: Make flour mix using 1 c sorghum flour, ½ c buckwheat flour, ½ c teff flour. Add in 1 ½ T caraway seed. Use 1 T molasses and 3 T honey for sweetener. Add in ¼-1/2 t orange essence.
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Anadama Bread: Make flour mix using 1 c sorghum flour, ½ c corn meal, ½ c millet flour. Use 1 T molasses and 3 T honey for sweetener.