Crusty Gluten-Free Bread

Adapted from Shauna Ahern's Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups (227g/8oz) potato starch

1 1/4 cups (100g/3.5oz) almond flour

2/3 cup (85g/3oz) oat flour (make sure it's certified gluten free)

1/2 cup (85g/ 3oz) gf flour blend

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/3 cups warm water (about 110 degrees)

2 large eggs (or egg substitute*)

1/4 cup evoo 

1 tablespoon honey (or maple syrup)

1 tablespoon olive oil for oiling bowl

 

1. Mixing the dry ingredients.

Put the potato starch, almond flour, oat flour, and gf flour into the bowl of a stand mixer. Whirl them up together for a moment. (If you don't have a stand mixer, sift the flours together into a large bowl.) Add the yeast and salt. Stir to combine.

2. Adding the wet ingredients.

Pour the warm water, eggs, oil, and honey into the dry ingredients. Mix with the paddle attachment (or with a large spoon if you are mixing by hand) for a few moments until the dough has fully come together. It will be soft. It will sort of slump off the paddle. Don’t worry. That’s the right texture. 

3. Letting the bread dough rise.

Put the dough into a large bowl lined with parchment paper.  Cover the bowl with a clean cloth, then set in a warm place in the kitchen. Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours. The risen dough will have a texture closer to traditional bread dough than the unrisen dough had.

4. Preparing to bake.

At the end of the rising time, turn the oven to 500 degrees F.  If cooking directly in Dutch oven, put a cast-iron Dutch oven into the oven to come to heat. If cooking directly on a pizza stone, cut the dough in half and form two small boules (rustic-looking oval loaves). Make three 1/4-inch deep cuts with a serrated knife on the top of the dough.

5. Baking the bread.

If you have a pizza stone, put the loaves directly onto the pizza stone. If using the Dutch oven, when the Dutch oven has been heating for 30 minutes, take it out of the oven, carefully.  Gently lift the parchment paper containing the dough out of the bowl and place it into the Dutch oven. Tuck the edges of the paper into the pot, cover, and slip it back into the hot oven. Bake for at least 30 minutes, or until the bottom of the bread is brown and has a good thump to it. The internal temperature should be at least 180 degrees F, and the thermometer should come out of the bread dry. Allow the bread to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing it up.

* I also didn't use eggs. I used a big spoonful of silken firm tofu for each egg whirled in my little blender cup with the other liquids.