The Quest for Crust!

I have been on the quest for a tasty gluten-free, bread that delivered substantial crust and an airy, moist interior, similar to the artisan breads made with wheat flour that crackle when you pull them out of the oven.

I know — its gluten-free, so we shouldn’t expect exactly the same results, but after a bunch of tinkering, I think I’ve come up with something pretty close:  and it delivers in the visual department too!

I started with the idea that I was going to bake this in the dutch oven, similar to the way I cook my wheat-based boule, to trap the steam and create that initial caramelization at high heat.  Second, I have really been impressed with the addition of garfava flours into the gluten-free breads, as it provides bounce and moisture.  Third, I knew that amaranth flour creates a nice tooth and helps with nice crust development.   So, armed with those three starting points, I came up with this recipe.  It is a nice, yeast-bread that you can use for dipping in oil + vinegar, and it also makes tasty panini.

I’m also sending this over to YeastSpotting — catch you there!

Millet and Amaranth Gluten-Free Artisan Bread

Makes one large boule

Equal amounts of grains such as teff or quinoa can be substituted for the millet to achieve different flavours.

This recipe contains no gluten, dairy, eggs, soy or corn, and is also vegan if prepared using agave syrup

• 2 cups high protein gluten-free bread flour mix* (288 grams)
• 1/2 cup millet flour (60 grams)
• 1/2 cup amaranth flour (60 grams)
• 2 1/4 tsp. xantham gum
• 2 tsp. agar powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
• 2 Tb. shelled hemp seeds (or substitute flax-seed meal)
• 2 Tb.  Flax meal
• 2 Tb. Ener-g egg replacer
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 T agave syrup (or honey)
• 1 tsp. cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar
• 1 1/4— 1 1/2 cups club soda at room temperature

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Place a lidded 3 quart dutch oven in the oven to heat.  Let it heat for at least 20 minutes.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl, whisk to combine, and set aside.  Add the 1/2 cup cold water to the Ener-g egg replacer in the bowl of a mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until it resembles very frothy egg whites.  Add the remaining wet ingredients, except for 1/4 cup of the club soda.

Replace the whisk attachment on the mixer with the mixing paddle, and add the dry ingredients to the bowl of the mixer.  Turn the mixer speed to medium, and mix well for 3-4 minutes.  The dough will look more like thick cake batter.  Add the remaining soda water, as needed if the dough looks a little dry.

Remove the dutch oven from the oven, place a dusting of gluten-free cornmeal or quinoa flakes on the bottom, and immediately pour the dough into the centre of the dutch oven.  Do this fairly quickly, replace the lid, and bake for 25 minutes.  After 25 minutes, remove the lid, reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees, and bake for another 30-35 minutes. Until the internal temperature registers 208-210 degrees.

Remove from the oven, and let cool for 10 minutes, before taking the boule out of the dutch oven.  Let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

* I use a variation of Betty Hagman’s Four Flour Bean Mix, containing (by volume) 2 parts garfava flour, 1 part millet flour, 3 parts tapioca starch, 3 parts potato starch.  If you are avoiding plants in the nightshade family, you can substitute cornstarch for the potato starch.