How to have great success with Yeast Breads!

Ahhh! The wonderful aroma of fresh baked bread is too irresistible! Many restaurants entice you with an appetizer course of wonderful breads baked fresh in their kitchens before your main entree arrives. It smells so good, but for us celiacs, the bread basket passes us by.

Well, no more! The art of making great gluten free bread  at home is alive and well in my kitchen and I hope it will soon be in yours. Imagine biting into a soft roll that stays supple and fresh for a couple of days.

 How about your own gluten free hamburger buns so that you can enjoy your burger WITH a bun! Not to mention sandwich buns, dinner rolls, english muffins, monkey bread, pizza and numerous other variations that is only limited by your imagination.

So... how do you make all these scrumptious things! Does it require long hours and numerous recipes to concoct all this bread? Will you go crazy trying to read a recipe that is 3 pages long? The answer, of course, is NO!

All you need are a few basic recipes to create endless variety in your bread baking repertoire. You will learn, through a step by step process, how to make breads your   non-celiac family will enjoy.

Tip #1

All gluten free yeast bread dough's are on the wet side. They resemble a batter bread, that is loose, soft and sticky. It keeps the gluten free bread from becoming a brick when you bake it. Bricks happen when you try to make your gluten free bread dough behave like regular yeast bread dough.

Tip #2

Gluten free bread dough must be scooped out (this is where cookie scoops come in handy) and smoothed with your oiled or wet hands. To make roll shapes, you will need pans that the bread can form to, like a muffin tin or special bread roll pan.

Tip #3

Below is a list of pans and what you can use them for.

Hamburger Bun Pan: hamburger buns, sandwich rolls
Loaf pan ( any size): Loaf bread, hot dog buns, monkey bread
Bundt or Tube pan: monkey breads
Round cake pans: dinner rolls, one large sandwich bun ( these are fun!)
Silicone pans: dinner rolls in fun shapes, great for a children's sized sandwich
English muffin rings: english muffins, a must have for them
Shortcake pan: use to make gluten free bread "bowls" for children(good size)
Small bowl cake pan: use to make bread "bowls" for adults
Pizza pans (all sizes): pizza (also good for cookie pizzas)
Muffin pan or ramekin's: dinner rolls, individual monkey bread servings
Donut pan: Bagels

I am sure you can come up with a whole lot more ideas once you get started. let me know, so we can share these with everyone else!

 Tip#4

 When using your bread machine, make sure the dough is soft enough after the first mixing. If you need to add more liquid until it looks right, do so. You can also use the dough setting on your machine if you want to make rolls or pizza. I would make the first two to three batches of bread dough by hand just so you can get used to what the dough should look like. It's just like when your grandma would make pie crust or biscuits by looking at it and saying, "that's look just right". You will be able to do the same.

Tip#5

Use your microwave! No, not to bake your bread, but to get it to rise faster.  After you place your gluten free bread dough into whatever container you are going to bake it in, you can use your microwave to speed up the rise process. Take a microwave proof container that will hold about 4 cups of water. Use one that will give you enough space to place your bread dough container in there too. Fill your microwave container with 2 to 3 cups of water and heat up in the microwave for 2 to 4 minutes, enough to just bet it to boil. You want VERY hot water. When this is done, place the pan with your bread dough into the microwave and close the door. DO NOT TURN YOUR MICROWAVE ON WHILE YOUR BREAD PAN IS IN THERE! The heat and steam generated by the water in the microwave will promote a faster rise for your bread. After about 35 minutes, go ahead and check on your dough. If it has risen enough, take it out and place in the over to bake. If not, leave in the microwave for another 10 minutes. I love proofing my bread dough this way.

Tip#6

You can use your food processor to mix and knead your dough. It is so easy to do it this way.  Place your dry ingredients in the bowl and pulse to blend. Put in your yeast and pulse again. Add the warmed liquid ingredients and pulse until combined. You're done! Grease up your hands or cookie scoop and portion out your dough. Let rise and then bake.

Tip#7

Add flavorings to your dough! Make Garlic Herb Bread or Asaigo Cheese Bread or Dill Bread. Look at your favorite recipes and come up with some good combinations. Add dry flavorings like dill or garlic powder along with the dry ingredients. Add cheese, tomatoes, chilies, mashed potatoes or anything else that is moist with the wet ingredients.

Tip#8

Streamline your bread baking process by placing all your dry ingredients for one bread recipe together in a zip type bag. Every time you go to make a loaf of bread, make up 3 or 4 "bread mixes" for later. Label these and place them in your cupboard, refrigerator or freezer depending on how fast you will use them and how many you make. Then you have the mess ONCE and are ready for three more batches of bread. I do this with alot of things, not just bread ( think cookies, cakes, muffins, pancakes).

Tip#9

Add toppings to your bread! Just like ice cream, you can have a great variety of toppings for your bread. You can use poppy seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, parmesan cheese, garlic bread topping, gluten free seed mixes or anything else that may be gracing the top of store bought bread. Take one egg white along with 2 tablespoons of water and whisk together with a fork until combined. Using a silicone pastry brush, dip it into the "egg wash" and GENTLY paint the top(s) of your bread or rolls. Sprinkle on your toppings and you are done.

Tip#10

Remove your baked bread and allow it cool on a wire rack. This promotes air circulation and keeps the bread from getting soggy on the bottom and the sides. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before you dig in. It's very hard to slice fresh bread out of the oven.

For Monkey bread, make sure you turn it out immediately onto a platter so the bread doesn't stick to the pan.

Tip#11

To keep your bread fresh, make sure to use it right away. If you have made enough to save for the rest of the week, go ahead and wrap your completely cooled bread in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag. For large loaves ( usually made in the bread machine) cut individual slices of bread for toast or sandwiches. Wrap two together with plastic wrap and place in a zip type bag for the freezer. When you want two slices of bread, just pull one packet out, thaw and you're all set. The bread will taste just as fresh and wonderful as when you first baked it.