Allergy-Free Sandwich Bread
The great thing about this bread recipe is its adaptability. First of all, it’s already gluten-, nut- and casein-free… so no worries there! But it’s also very easy to render corn and soy free as well. You can make it in either bread machine or loaf pans.
FIRST, start with a fresh, clean kitchen, hair pulled back, and an apron - these flours will get all over you!
Combine the following in a large bowl or bread machine pan (don’t forget to put the little mixer-thingamajig in the bottom of the bread machine!):
- 1/2 cups very warm water
- 3 large eggs or 4 small eggs, or equiv. amount of egg replacer (this recipe works fine with flax egg replacer)
- 3 T olive oil
- 3 T honey, maple syrup, or other sweetener
Add 2 1/4 tsp yeast.
Then mix 1 tablespoon of xanthan gum (do not use xanthan if corn allergic! use guar gum according to mfr directions instead!) into 1 cup of white bean flour (I use dhokla or urid), dump on top of liquid. Then add 1 cup white or brown rice flour, 3/4 cup potato starch, 1/2 cup tapioca or corn starch, 1/8 cup soy flour (if soy allergic use jowar/sorghum instead), and 1 1/2 tsp salt.
If you really hate bean flour (like my friend Frances), substitute 1 cup of any “medium” weight flour that you like - millet, amaranth, or what have you.
Then mix in the “secret” ingredient - a couple of tablespoons of sweet rice flour. If you have a hard time finding it elsewhere, check the Oriental food markets. (Thanks to Mark for sharing the secret!)
If you’re using a bread machine, you get to close the lid, walk away, and come back three hours later to a nicely risen loaf of bread, ready to eat. If you’re not, you have a little bit of work to do! Stir it all up, spoon it carefully into a lightly greased(*) deep loaf pan, and let it rise in a warm place, covered with a thin towel - just like regular bread. Be very careful not to bump it. It’s not going to look like normal bread, and it’s not going to rise over the top of the pan like normal bread. Let it go for about an hour, maybe a bit longer. Then bake it at 350 for an hour or so (it’ll look “done” on top, and sound hollow). It’s normal for the center to sink in a LITTLE, but not too much.
(*) Note that if you use a product like PAM to grease your loaf pans, do check the ingredients carefully. Some of these products contain glutens!!This bread recipe takes additions VERY well - try lemon and poppy seeds, onion, cinnamon and raisins… whatever your favorite is, as long as it doesn’t add liquid (or as long as you take the liquid OUT in the process! For example if you add lemon juice, take out an equal amount of water)
We’ve had non-celiac guests rave over this bread!
