I've been gluten free for close to a decade now. I can't say that I've regretted the decision at all. I saw a marked improvement in many troublesome digestive and skin problems when I stopped eating wheat.
I didn't eat any bread for a long time, and I was okay with that. Most store-bought gluten free products taste like cardboard, anyway, and it usually falls apart in your hands as you try to eat it. But in recent years, I've learned how to bake bread, and I started to wonder if there was a better recipe out there somewhere. So I tried a few, and then I found a recipe from America's Test Kitchen. I started making it, and tweaking it, and a couple years later, I'm happy to share the final recipe I came up with. I hope you'll find it useful!
First of all, this is what you'll need. You can use any gluten free flour blend, but I like the one from America's Test Kitchen. They guard their recipes pretty carefully, but it's worth looking into. Here's the link, but you'll have to jump through some hoops to get the recipe. Other than that, you need oat flour, milk powder (I've used both dairy and goat milk and they both work great), psyllium husk powder, sugar, salt, baking powder and dry yeast. For the wet ingredients, you need eggs, butter and warm water (100-110 degrees F.)
I like using a scale to measure a few of the ingredients, but I'm including (roughly) the cups if you don't have a scale.
Once you clear out your mess, this is what you'll be left with. I use an electric mixer with a dough hook to combine the ingredients. First you'll combine your dry ingredients on low speed, and after a minute add your wet ingredients. Combine on low for another minute, then increase the speed as it starts to come together. Then, let it go on high speed for 7 minutes.
After it's done, you're going to split the dough between your two pans. These are the ones I use, and I love them. I grease them with a little ghee and dust them with the ATK flour.
I like making sure they are exactly the same size so they both bake evenly. I weigh them in grams, and they usually come out to something between 1350-1400 grams each.
After that, they are ready to spread into the pan. Be aware - gluten free dough is very sticky. It's not going to be as easy to handle as regular bread dough. But I just get my spatula a little wet and mash it down, going around the sides at an angle to make it into a bread shape. This takes a little practice, but you get the hang of it after a while.
Time to let it rise. I usually just leave them to sit on top of the stove, but there was actually a little sunshine today, so I set them in the sun. After an hour, they looked like this:
I put them in the oven at 350 for an hour and a half. This is how they looked when they came out.
After they cool, use an electric knife to slice them. I like to make them pretty thin, but it's up to you how big you want the slices. Store in a reusable bread bag. If you'll be using it quickly, the fridge is fine, or keep it in the freezer if you want it to stay fresh for a while. I usually toast or warm them up in the microwave before I use them.
Enjoy! Recipe below.
Miranda's Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread (inspired by America's Test Kitchen's recipe)
21 oz (3 1/2 cups) gluten-free flour blend (mine does NOT have xantham gum)
6 oz (1 1/2 cups) oat flour
2.25 oz (1/2 cup) dry milk powder
4 1/2 tablespoons psyllium husk powder (must be the powder)
3 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
3 eggs
3 tablespoons butter
3 cups warm water (it takes about 2 minutes in the microwave to get to the right temp)
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