What those who suffer from gluten intolerance usually have the worst is not being able to eat bread. For this reason, many are those who have decided to start preparing it themselves with gluten-free foods, but they may not know where to start.
And it is that there are many new ingredients and it is easy to make mistakes with the measurements when you are starting out. Get to work to prepare the following recipe for bread with gluten-free flours, you will see how easy it is to prepare and how rich it is. Here we go!
How to make gluten-free bread
Follow these steps to make a delicious and crunchy gluten-free bread recipe for celiacs at home.
- The ingredients
A recipe for bread with gluten-free flours can be as simple or as complex as we want to make it. However, there are only five basic and essential ingredients: flour, water, ferment or yeast, a substitute for gluten and salt . Although there are other dispensable that contribute to improve the properties of bread.
By adding proteins in the form of eggs, dairy or isolated proteins, you get a bread with more volume, keeping it fresh for longer, as is the case with fiber. Fats, on the other hand, make the crumb more airy, looser. And finally, sugar or honey, which is usually added to short-leavened breads, help make the bread brown.
As we have said, these gluten-free foods are not essential, but they help to achieve better results.
- The mixture of gluten-free flours
Each flour is different and, therefore, with each one we will get a different bread. With some flours we will obtain wet crumbs, others dry, more crust, some have a neutral flavor … However, when it comes to achieving similar results to bread made with wheat, various flours and starches are usually mixed to try to reproduce their properties.
It will not be necessary to mix too many ingredients, but the results will be better when combined. For the recipe that we offer you in this article, we have wanted to simplify its preparation as much as possible, so you will only need two ingredients with a more neutral flavor and easy to obtain: rice flour and corn starch .
- Starch
If you are intolerant to gluten, you should know that starch is a complex hydrate present in vegetables, especially grains and cereals, but also in some tubers. All gluten-free flours, as well as normal flours, have at least 60% starch, but if we want to get a fluffy bread we need to add extra starch .
There are two families of starches: some that help us to form a good crust and others to obtain a fluffier crumb. If you want to sacrifice the crust for the crumb, use only cornstarch. However, using a small amount of potato or tapioca starch gives a better result.
- The gluten substitute
Although gluten has many functions, the main ones in baking are viscoelastic, that is, cohesion, elasticity … Gluten-free bread will crumble, for this reason gluten-free foods are used to help bind the dough to make it more manageable.
In this recipe we have used psyllium husk , which is the husk of the seed of a plant called psyllium plantain . Make sure it is only the shell and that it is ground, as it does not need kneading and has other beneficial properties for bread.
The result will be a more tender bread with a pleasant taste and texture. However, due to its high starch content it dries quickly, so if you are not going to consume it for the day, cut it up and freeze it in an airtight bag.
Gluten-free bread recipe
Preparation of gluten-free bread for celiacs.
Ingredients for 2 muffins:
- 70 gr of white rice flour
- 130 grams of cornstarch or 100 grams of cornstarch + 30 grams of potato starch (better to choose another brand that is not Maizena, it does not give good results in bread dough).
- 8 grams of psyllium husk
- 4 grams of salt
- 4 grams of sugar
- 2 g of dry yeast
- 10 gr of oil
- 190 gr of water
All ingredients must be certified for those with gluten intolerance, like all gluten-free foods on the market.
Elaboration:
- Mix part of the water with the yeast and sugar in a glass. Dissolve the yeast well and let it rest for five minutesto activate it.
- In a large bowl, add the dry ingredientsand stir with a whisk or a fork until well combined.
- Add the activated yeast (it should be foamy), the oil and the rest of the water and mix again. It takes about 10 minutes for the psyllium husk to absorb all of the water, so let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
- Next, mix with a spoon, with a mixer or with your own hands for a couple of minutes, but make sure it is well mixed.
- Divide the dough in two and form two balls with your oiled hands. Let them rest on two pieces of parchment paper.
- Cover each ball with kitchen wrap, leaving room for them to grow, and let it rest until they almost double in size.
- When they are ready, heat the oven to 220 ºCwith heat underneath with the tray in which you are going to bake the bread.
- Place the muffins on the hot pan and cut where you want them to open. Place in the oven at medium height and bake for about 15 minutes.
- It is important that you place your muffins next to a tray of boiling water at the bottom to form steam. After 15 minutes, remove the tray from the water, lower the temperature to 200 ºC and bake for 25 more minutes.
- Then lower the temperature back to 150 ºC, turn on the fan and let them brown for around 10-15 minutes.
- Turn off the oven and let it cool for a few minutes with the door open. Then, let them cool completely on a wire rack before cutting them.
