Gluten-Free Oatmeal Sorghum Bread

After almost 7 months I decided I needed to be brave and attempt making homemade Gluten-Free bread. I REFUSED to continue to pay $5 or more for 1 loaf of GF bread!! After about 2 hours of perusing varies GF cookbooks, blogs, websites, etc. for tips and recipes. I combined tips and 2 different recipes. The result was WONDERFUL!!! Today I made my 4th loaf and I LOVE it! The family now begs for bread. :) Yay! I know man cannot live by bread alone, but after living WITHOUT bread essentially for 7 months you almost want to try. ;)

Here is my recipe:

Gluten Free Oatmeal Bread

1 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup certified gluten free oat flour (You can pulverize oats in a food processor to make oat flour. This is what I did and it worked GREAT! It added just a bit of texture, which we LOVE in our bread.)

3/4 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup white rice flour

1/4 flax seed meal (you can’t taste it and it adds fiber and LOTS of good nutrients!)

1 Tablespoon xanthan gum

3 eggs

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 packet active dry yeast+ 1 tsp granulated sugar for proofing yeast

1 Tablespoon molasses

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

4 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 ¼ cup hot tap water

1. Preheat oven to 200^oF and then turn off and crack the door. This is the perfect temp to let the dough rise in, but you wouldn’t need to do it if the house is really warm. J

2. Combine all the dry ingredients (I mixed it with my hands, but you could use a whisk.) in the bowl of your stand mixer EXCEPT the yeast and 1 tsp. of granulated sugar.

3. Sprinkle yeast and 1 tsp. sugar on top, but DO NOT MIX IT IN! Gently pour the hot water on top and let it sit about 5 min. (Make SURE that your yeast is still good, before you do this otherwise you will waste all those PRECIOUS flours!!)

4. Using the paddle NOT the bread hook, turn the mixer on low. Add in the eggs, oil, molasses and vinegar. Mix until combined.

5. Turn the mixer on high and let mix for 5 minutes (this is your kneading).

6. Grease your bread pan (mine is about a 9 inch loaf pan, but if yours is 8 inch than the recipe calls to use 2 pans).

7. Turn off mixer. Scrape paddle well. Using a rubber spatula put dough in greased pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and rise for 40 min. in a warm place.

8. Preheat oven to 375^oF (be sure you have taken the bread OUT if you were rising in the oven!). Bake for about 40 minutes (less if using an 8 inch pan). You want the bread to look dark (not black, but darker than golden).

9. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Then, remove bread from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

I dare you to wait until it cools completely to cut it! I have yet to be able to do so! J

Tips

1. Gluten Free bread will not be the same consistency as "regular" bread. The common mistake when making GF bread is trying to get it to the kneading consistency. Do not add more flour than the recipe calls for. Gf products need to be moist so that they do not turn out gritty. The dough should be about the consistency of thick cake mix. To knead Gf bread simply turn on your heavy duty mixer.
2. When adding yeast to your bread it is easiest if you simply mix up the dry ingredients, place them in your large mixing bowl and pour the yeast on top. Do Not Mix It In!! Pour the warm water on top of the yeast/dry mix and let it sit for about 3-5 minutes. Then mix in the rest of the ingredients.
3. Since you do not knead GF bread dough with your hands you need to mix it. We suggest beating it on high for around 5 minutes- so set your timer, turn it on and do something else while you wait.
4. Do not over proof your bread. This allows too much air to get into your bread dough and will usually make it fall once it is pulled out of the oven. When we make our bread we suggest only letting it rise 20 minutes. Even if it does not look doubled in size stick it in your preheated oven. It will finish rising as it cooks and when it comes out will not fall as easily.
5. Make sure you are cooking the bread at the right temperature. If you cook it at too low of a temperature the bread will need to cook longer and will turn out heavier and have more of a gritty feel, because it was overbaked. If your temperature is too high, the top and bottom of your bread will cook, but the middle will still be gooey. A good temperature for most bread is 375 degrees.
6. Cook your bread for the right amount of time. We have discovered for our bread recipe that large loaves only need to cook for 35 minutes rather than the 45-50 we put on the label before. Small loaves take about 25 minutes and English muffins around 20 minutes.
7. Once you pull your bread out of the oven let it sit for about 5 minutes, then turn it upside down in its pan. This also helps your bread to stay light and fluffy, instead of condensing on itself. If you leave it in the pan, the moisture in the pan will make the bread wet and cause it to condense or fall.

I want to say thanks to http://www.eatingglutenfree.com/recipes_bread/ for their tips & tricks segment.
And thanks to http://glutenfreemommy.com/baking-gluten-free-bread-millet-oatmeal-bread/ for this recipe which I adapted mine loosely from. :)

Gluten-Free

As of February 2011, I began my Gluten-Free journey. Now we are a Gluten-Free family! Josh and Evrett don't seem to be affected by Gluten, but the rest of us are feeling SO much better!

31 Days To Clean

So I keep seeing things about this book, and I NEED to read it!!! I am OBSESSED with having everything "just so", which is nigh unto impossible with 4 kids ages 6 years down to 20 months. Not to mention this bone contusion which I have on my shin from my escapade to find the new kittens on Easter Sunday. Ladders are NOT my friend! At least not when I climb one without unfolding it, or having someone hold it. Honestly, I know better, but I was just dying to see those kittens that I could hear on the shelf above. :{ 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way is not only something to help me in my life for the long term, but VERY much in the here and now!! Can't WAIT to read it! I will keep you posted on how it helps!

Thanks Grandma "Boots"!!!

New Slippers!!!!!

Great-Grandma Boyer made each of the kids a pair of slippers. THEY LOVE THEM!!!!! Never mind that it is July right now, they HAVE to wear their new slippers in the mornings! :~) They especially enjoy "ice skating" on the kitchen floor. A VERY dangerous sport that I am not exactly fond of, but allow them to do until things get out of control, which usually only takes about 5-10 minutes. That is okay because my nerves only last about that long. : }

Evrett is MOBILE!!!!

On July 10 (only 1 day after turning 10 months old) Evrett decided to join the ranks of the "on-the -go" in our house. He is at this point stuck in reverse when it comes to "scooting" on his belly. He can while sitting up spin in a circle, and lean forward, then sit up straight, and then repeat the whole process over and over until he is halfway across the room ( or able to reach WHATEVER it was that caught his attention in the first place!). It is soooooo funny to watch him! :~) He is very intense about the whole process, and doesn't stop until he gets STUCK. That is what most often happens when is goes backwards on his belly. I think that is why he prefers the "sit, lean, spin, reach" method best.

Evrett Joins the "Red Chair" Crew

Evrett LOVED his first time sitting in the little red chair! He cried when I finally got him down, but he was getting so excited and bouncing that he almost popped out several times. Elysia was MORE than happy to have Evrett sitting in her chair, but Ethan, on the other hand, was not so keen to have Eoin in his chair. The funny thing is that Eoin has been sitting in Ethan's chair for almost a year. I think the root of the annoyance was that Ethan wanted to sit next to Evrett. :~)
Ethan managed to dethrone Eoin for 1 picture, but Eoin promptly pushed him back off after that 1 shot. I love my kids!

Giving Evrett His Red Bull

The children always pick out a gift to get for the new baby. This time Ethan picked a Red Bull. Elysia & Eoin liked it too, so that is what they got for baby "Eagle". The plan was for the boys to wear their matching Eagle shirts to the hospital to meet Evrett & then all 3 of the kids would give the baby his bull. However, things don't always go according to plan, so they got dressed in their shirts and gave him the bull after we had been home a few days.

Evrett was "thrilled" with the red bull, as you can see! :~) He really does enjoy it now that he is older. According to Evrett "Red Bull" tastes really yummy! ;~)-

Here is Evrett wearing his OSU hat gift from the NICU. This picture cracked us up because it looked like he was saying, "Peace out, bro." Or, maybe, "Wazzz Up!" Also amusing, that the hat BARELY fits him!!

Here the kids are excited because we told them that we got them some surprises from the hospital while we were gone.

We bought them a Buckeye's Stadium puzzle from the gift shop, and brought them each a scrubber sponge from the NICU wash-up station. Ethan was informing us in this photo that Mimi had already brought home and given them each a scrubber from the hospital. We told him that was OKAY because you can NEVER be TOO CLEAN! (Wrong thing to tell Ethan! Over the course of the next few day we had to BAN him from using the scrubber because he was making a HUGE ordeal out of EVERY hand washing!)

We bought every a little pair of "kick-proof" booties at the gift shop. They really did work, too! At least for the few months he fit in them. :~)

This outfit was from Great-Grandpa & Great-Grandma Calhoun & Aunt Dawn. I LOVE it! It says "Mommy's Little All-Star" on it. It was also special because it was his ONLY newborn sized outfit. He only fit in it for about 1 month, but I enjoyed every wearing of it! :~)

"Is that food?!"

Welcome Home Evrett!

The children were SOOOOOO excited to FINALLY get to meet Evrett. 13 days was a long wait to be together as a family.

Ethan & Eoin wore their matching Eagle shirts to welcome home baby "Eagle" , which they called Evrett the whole time I was pregnant. Ethan came up with that nickname when we found out we were having another boy. Ethan said, "What are we going to call our new brother?" We told him that we didn't know yet, but that it would be an "E" name. He responded with, "I know a great name that starts with an "E"! Eagle!!! And it is a really cool bird, too!" :~) And the nickname stuck with Evrett until a few weeks after we brought him home from the hospital. Now days they mostly call him "Ev".

Mimi was excited to get to hold Evrett for the first time, at last! :~)

Grandpa was happy too, but his turn had to wait because Evrett pooped out of his outfit. :~) Grandpa didn't mind waiting a few more minutes, especially if it meant a CLEAN baby!