Sunday, September 24, 2006

New Artisan-Style Gluten-Free Multi-Grain Bread Recipe

Artisan-Style Gluten-Free Multi-Grain Bread
Artisan-Style Gluten-Free Multi-Grain Bread

Gluten-Free Recipe: Artisan-Style Multi-Grain Bread

If you have been following this gluten free blog, you may have read about my pursuit of a gluten free multi-grain bread recipe. In a previous gluten-free multi-grain bread blog entry, I discussed my wife's first attempt at this, which was very close, but not quite 100%.

Well, that was then and this is now. My wife has now created a wonderful gluten-free Artisan-Style Multi-Grain Bread. That is the link to the PDF of the recipe and a color picture of the final product.

This is soda-bread type recipe that uses Flax, Quinoa flour, Sorghum, and Rice Flours, coupled with caraway seed (like rye bread uses for flavor) to achieve a wonderful flavor balance. It is simple to make and is baked in a round 2-quart Pyrex (oven safe) glass dish. The bread is finally topped with sesame seeds and poppy seeds for even more flavor and visual appeal.

It does use eggs and dairy products: sorry to any who can't consume those. And, this final version did use some Xanthan Gum to obtain optimal bread texture. This is our first "real" recipe that uses any gums amazingly enough. We have created many cakes, cookies, tortes, and other gluten free recipes (even dessert-type sweeter breads) without ever needing the gums, but this particular recipe did benefit from the xanthan. So, I guess there is a time an place to admit that some recipes do benefit from the use of added gums: I admit it as I finally have proof with this particular bread.

We taste-tested this GF bread on a few non-GF persons, and it went over very well. One proclaimed it the best bread they have ever had, which seemed a bit over the top to me, but we accepted the compliment nonetheless.

Hope everyone likes it.
I hope to bring to this blog quite a few more gluten free recipes to share with all. Please leave feedback if/when you have the chance to bake this bread and let me know what you think. Thanks.

8 comments:

Lynn Barry said...

But did the racoon test it yet, that it what hubby and I want to know? It looks like a winner! Good job!

Mike Eberhart said...

Sorry, no raccoon testing this time - we actually used humans :)

I have one test-person repeatedly telling me it is the best bread they have ever had. I think they are trying to get me to bake them a loaf or something. heh. I do think it is very good, but I do remember having better "real" artisan breads from some bakeries back when I could still consume gluten.

We now have a test deer that has joined in the fun recently. We call her "sweet tooth", since she definitely prefers sweeter things like muffins and cakes. I have a picture to post soon.

Lynn Barry said...

I look forward to the pic of Bambi AKA Sweet Tooth.Keep a-goin'...my gluten-free pal, we shall overcome our desire for all things gluten...why do things that taste so good make us feel so bad...regressed a little but now I'm back.
I think I might try the bread, but I don't care for quinoa pasta and am not a fan of flaxseed so we shall see...it looks amazing, though. I am tempted.

Anonymous said...

Is the pyrex you used like a shallow bowl or like a cake/pie pan?

Mike Eberhart said...

Anonymous,
The Pyrex pan we used was a 2-liter round glass one (model D-20) that measures 8.5 inches in diameter x 3 inches deep -- so, definitely deeper than a pie/cake pan.

Lynn,
Sorry you don't care for quinoa or flax. For gluten free grain options, I like both. But yes, if too much of either is used, the bread would gain a strong flavor. But, with the Caraway seeds and just a bit of each flour, the result is quite nice. It has a bit of a rye taste from the caraway, and it does still maintain some quinoa taste I suppose. If you lived close by, I would just say stop by for a slice so you wouldn't have to make it in order to try it. Oh well.

My wife is working on a much more subtle-flavored gluten free bread as we speak. It's not perfect yet. She made one last night using some GF Sorghum beer just for kicks. It tastes fine, but I have a hard time getting past the smell of the beer evaporating out of it or something. She is going to try a version without beer today or tomorrow. I'm confident she will perfect it soon.

Mike Eberhart said...

For all you dairy-free persons out there, a reader named Judy Haight was kind enough to sent the following feedback, which includes her approach to making the bread dairy-free/milk-free (and even egg-free) to us regarding this Gluten-Free and Wheat-Free Artisan-style bread recipe of ours:

Thanks Judy!

------------
"From: Judy Haight
Subject: Artisan Bread

Just wanted very much to say THANKS for posting the recipe for the Artisan Bread! It's awesome! I'm also dairy-free in addition to
gluten free. Unsweetened almond milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice substitutes nicely for the buttermilk, and unsweetened applesauce substitutes just fine for yogurt.

We celebrated Thanksgiving twice, and the second time I made it egg-free with Ener-G egg replacer, and used a teaspoon of almond milk mixed with a teaspoon of honey to brush on the top to hold the seeds down. All the non-Celiacs that we shared it with were impressed!

Keep up the good work! I will be ordering your dessert book soon and look forward to future publications as well.

Judy Haight"

Denisa said...

Mike,
I am extremely new to the GF diet. After a few attempts to eat a purchased GF chaulky bread, I decided to try your recipe for the Artisan Multi Grain bread. It turned out delicious and even the rest of my non-GF family loved it! However, I have noticed after eating a couple of slices, on three different occassions, I got a horrible stomach ache. I wonder, if it is my body just trying to get used to the mix of all the flours. Have you or anyone else had similar experiences?

Mike Eberhart said...

Denisa,

I personally have not experienced any issues after eating this bread or any other truly gluten-free bread. I say *truly* GF because you want to be sure that all the ingredients you are using are definitely gluten-free.

One thing that can cause some issues for people is perhaps fiber-content, though that is usually only an issue if you haven't had much fiber in your diet for a while. This recipe isn't even terribly high in fiber (highest concentration is the Flax, but I doubt there's enough to cause issues). Another thing that some newer Celiacs face is, while their body is recovering from the damage caused by wheat and gluten in the past, it has a more difficult time with the milk proteins (casein espec.), and perhaps even lactose. That can lead to some "twisties" in the GI tract. Thankfully, I don't encounter such problems unless I seriously overdo it on such things -- it takes a lot.

Actually, come to think of it, I did have some issues with breads with Xanthan Gum in them for a while... took my body time to get used to the vegetable gums in general. That's also one reason we didn't use any gums in our dessert-recipes book.