Gluten Free "Rye" Bread

Rye bread has been my favorite bread since I first discovered it as a seven year old child. Toasted with bread and butter has been my go to breakfast for most of life. But when I realized I had to go gluten free, it was goodbye to my love!

But maybe not! After making Jeffrey Larsen's basic bread recipe, I adapted it to make this version that is pretty darn close to my favorite no knead rye bread recipe. Ahh, "rye" bread and butter for breakfast again!

Gluten Free Baking at Home by Larsen is a fantastic GF cookbook, with so many helpful hints that have taken my baking to a whole new level. He is clearly more interested in sweet baking than savory, but his bread recipe (which is adaptable to rolls as well) is brilliant and very versatile. 

Although the recipe appears long, that is because it is filled with tips to ensure your first attempt is successful. I now make this regularly, and just keep the list of ingredients amounts handy to make preparing the loaf faster.

Notes:
There are two key tools that you must have. One is a kitchen digital scale so you can measure your ingredients by grams. They are usually about $20, easy to find online or in stores such as Target; mine is a Taylor. Secondly, you need a smaller loaf pan than the average bread pan; 8 1/2 inch by 4 1/2 inch pans. This is because the density of the loaves will cook unevenly in a larger size pan. I happen to find a glass pan at the thrift store, but they also should be less than $20. 

In mixing the dough, he requires a dough blade on a food processor or kitchen aid machine; I do not have one and have been just as successful mixing by hand. 

Potato puree is one of his ingenious ingredients. It adds both starch, heft and moisture in a way that creates a better crumb and prevents the loaf from being too dry. I boil one peeled russet potato, and when super soft, pour off all but 1/2 cup of the cooking water. I mash the potato and add water slowly until it is the consistency of very mashed potatoes. Then I puree it in a blender - if you don't already know this trick of how to use a small mouth mason jar to puree the potato, click on the link. You can then refrigerate or freeze the leftovers for another loaf.

Gluten Free "Rye" Bread 

(makes one loaf)

See Notes Above before starting recipe!

174 g potato starch

101 g sorghum flour

82  g tapioca starch

25 g psyllium husk powder (not flakes, grind it in a coffee grinder)

41 g buckwheat flour

41 g kasha flour (grind whole kasha in a spice/coffee grinder)

2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (must be instant)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon caraway seeds

11 oz warm water or dark GF beer (warmed to wrist temperature)

2 tablespoons of melted butter (1 oz if you want to weigh it)

1/2 cup (133 g) potato puree

oil for greasing baking pan

Using your scale, place a mixing bowl on the scale, set to grams, and press the "tare" button. This brings the scale to 0. Add each of the following ingredients to the weight needed, than press tare after each addition, so the scale returns to 0 before adding the next ingredient. Be careful to add ingredients slowly, and in a steady stream in the middle of the bowl, so that if you add too much, you can use a spoon to scoop out the excess. Precision is key!

- Potato Starch

- Sorghum flour

- Tapioca starch

- Buckwheat flour

- Kasha flour

- Psyllium husk powder

After these ingredients are weighed out, you no longer need the scale. Add yeast, salt, baking soda and caraway seeds and using a whisk mix very well to throughly blend the flours. You also want to ensure there are no lumps - the tapioca and potato starches can lump up. I mix for at least 30 seconds, not briskly but throughly.

Pour your warm liquid - water or beer - into a 2 cup measuring cup to 11 oz. Add the 2 tablespoons melted butter and the potato puree and gently mix with a rubber spatula to combine well. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and using the rubber spatula, blend and mix the liquid into the dry ingredients. To do this well, it will take 1-2 minutes, making sure that all the dry ingredients are mixed into the ball of dough. The dough will begin to absorb the liquid and become slightly tacky. 

Oil your baking pan, either with oil spray or I simply pour some olive oil into the pan and smear it around with my fingers. Inside the mixing bow, use the rubber spatula to pat the dough into an oblong shape and roll it into the pan. Using the rubber spatula, press it evenly into the pan, then bevel the sides of the dough, using the tip of the spatula to press the edges down. See this link for a visual explanation. Smooth the top of the loaf and spray or rub oil on top. Cut a vent - a 1/8 inch deep slit - across the top of the loaf. Set in a warm, draft free place (on top of the refrigerator) to rise.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Keep an eye on the rising loaf, if your home is warm and humid, it can rise in 30-45 minutes and you do not want it to over rise. The entire loaf should rise to just above the rim of the pan before it goes in the oven. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes and then remove from the oven. Resist the urge to open the door and check it; this is a delicate baking operation!

When you remove it from the oven, tap the top to see if it sounds hollow; then it is ready to remove from the pan. Use a knife to release the bread from the sides of the pan, and gently try to pry and tap the loaf out of the pan. You want to remove it from the pan immediately, otherwise the loaf will steam cook inside the pan and become soggy. Be persistent but gentle with your loaf, and it will detach from the pan. Allow to cool on a drying rack for several hours before cutting into slices. 

This loaf is so well made that you can keep a few slices in the refrigerator to eat within the next 48 hours, but as with most GF loaves, it's best to freeze them for use after that initial time. Freeze the slices individually on a sheet pan in the freezer before storing them in a freezer bag so that they don't stick to each other when frozen. Toast lightly or longer as you desire.

Hugs!