Last post, I teased you with a pic of the fail loaf, with the promise of the Success Loaf to come!

So I’m starting by sharing some of the non-sourdough experimenting I’ve been doing with this flour blend that Dr. Jean Layton has come up with for her sourdough feeder. As she mentions in her post, she was aiming for something that was close in composition to hard white winter wheat — a wonder grain when it comes to bread baking with long ferments.

So I’m sharing a few things as we go…I’ve been playing around with this flour blend, both with regular baking and as a sourdough, to see what kind of properties it had, and whether it was versatile enough for some other applications like bagels, which also normally rely on the unique properties of high-protein bread flours.

This first loaf is not, in fact, a sourdough, but just a regular loaf which I had hoped to make both dairy-free and egg-free. I was also aiming for structure that was pleasant and springy, and would have good shelf-life, and retain lots of bounce and moisture, so that it could be eaten without toasting. As many of you know, gluten-free breads, by the nature of the ingredients, tend to lose that elasticity quite quickly, and in applications such as bread puddings, absorb moisture from the inside-out.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this loaf — Its been sitting on the counter now for two days, and each day, I’ve been able to slice it and make a sandwich with it, without having to toast the bread first!!!  The loaf is crusty on the outside the day of baking, but after being in a ziploc bag, the crust becomes tender and springy also.  The  combination of the flour, plus the addition of the chia seeds really seems to be working some gluten-free magic here!

Bread #1 with Dr. Jean Layton’s flour blend

• 200 grams Dr. Jean Layton’s sourdough flour blend
• 50 grams tapioca starch
• 50 grams cornstarch
• 1 1/4 teaspoon xantham gum
• 1 teaspoon guar gum
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Mix all dry ingredients together in a medium bowl, whisking to combine very well

• 2 Tablespoons chia seed, ground in a coffee grinder
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water

Mix the chia seed with the water in the bowl of a stand mixer  (mix well).  Let sit for 15 minutes until it forms a gel.  Add:

• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 1/4 cup lukewarm water

Mix wet ingredients well, Add the dry ingredients and mix with the paddle attachment on medium speed for at least 3 minutes.  Grease an 8 1/2 X 4 1/2 loaf pan, and transfer the bread dough (it will look like thick cake batter), to the loaf pan.  Smooth out the top, and cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap.  Let the dough rise for 30 minutes.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is calibrated!).

After rising, bake the loaf at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until the interior registers 205 degrees F.

Stay tuned for more baking with this flour!  I see chewy bagels in our future, as well as lots of sourdough bread!!!

As always, this is made with yeast, so we’re sending a link over to Yeastspotting!  Go check out all the amazing bread bakers out in the blogosphere!