Gluten Free Bread

Hubby and I have been playing around with different bread recipes over the past couple of years but haven't come across any that we truly love except those that come from mixes. As fabulous as we think the gf flour blend we've come up with is, it just doesn't sub straight across well in bread recipes. Finally one day I suggested that we measure out how much "flour" is in our favorite bread mix and use our flour blend and their "recipe". It turned out pretty decent. Definitely cheaper than paying $6+ for a loaf of gf bread. After the bread cools completely, I recommend slicing it and placing the slices in a sandwich bag (1-2 slices) and then placing the sandwich bags in a gallon bag and then freezing them. That way you only have to defrost what you need and none is wasted.

Jenn's Gluten Free Bread

2 3/4 cups gluten free flour blend
1 packet of yeast or 2 1/4 tsp granulated yeast
1 TB xantham gum
1 tsp salt
1 TB sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup oil
1 TB vinegar
1 2/3 cups warm water

Mix water, yeast, and sugar together and let yeast proof. Add eggs, oil, and vinegar and mix. Add flour blend, xantham gum, and salt. Mix on high for 4 minutes.

For Bread: Place dough in a large greased loaf pan, cover and let rise until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.

For Rolls: Transfer dough to a cake pan using an ice cream scoop. Each scoop is a roll. Cover and let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Angel Biscuits

This recipe is from a church cookbook that my stake published in 1997. We affectionately refer to it as "the red cookbook" since it has a red cover on it. :) It is stained, tattered, dog eared and in general well used and much loved. Over the years I have yet to find a bad recipe in it. While some of them may not end up being to our tastes, the recipes themselves are sound. This recipe is so easy that with very little supervision from me, our 13 year old daughter made them to go with dinner last week and they were delicious!

5 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup shortening
2 cups buttermilk

Sift dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Dissolve yeast in warm water and add with buttermilk to dry ingredients. Mix well. Roll out between 1/4" and 1/2" thick. Cut out and bake on a greased (or parchment lined) baking sheet at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. The cut out biscuits can be refrigerated or frozen. If frozen, let thaw and rise before baking.

Oatmeal Bread

3/4 cup rolled oats
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup hot water (125-130 degrees)
1/2 stick butter

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside. Combine water and butter in microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for approximately 2 1/2 minutes or until it reaches the desired temperature. Mix wet and dry ingredients together and knead. Let rest for 15 minutes. Dough will be really sticky. Press evenly into a well greased loaf pan and let rise until doubled in size. Bake at 325 degrees for 20-30 minutes. This bread browns well and sounds hollow when tapped.

Carmen's Whole Wheat Bread

When we first moved into the house we are in now a couple of years ago we were invited to dinner by one of our neighbors that we go to church with. They are an older couple that has already raised their children, but Carmen still cooks from scratch quite a bit. She served the most wonderful wheat bread I have ever tasted and was kind enough to share the recipe with me. She said it was a bit of a struggle to write the recipe down because like my grandmother, she often doesn't measure when making the recipes that she has made repeatedly. So you may need to play with the amounts just a little to get it just right.

7 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups white flour
2 Tablespoons yeast
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/3 Tablespoons salt

Gradually add 1 1/3 quarts hot tap water, 1/2 cup molasses, and 1/3 cup oil.

Knead and if necessary add a little more flour gradually. Let rise until doubled then place in pans and let raise to top of pans. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees (time may vary depending on loaf size).

Pao de Queijo

Brazilian cheese bread. It is so very yummy. I got this recipe from Patrick & Heather. So Heather, if I have any of the recipe wrong, please be sure and correct me! I have it written down on a scrap of paper and I haven't made it in forever because I haven't been able to find povilho azedo. LOL

3/4 cup oil
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
5-6 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Blend for one minute. Add 2 cups povilho azedo (sour starch) a little at a time. Once blended, pour into a mini-muffin tin. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Do not overcook.

I haven't made this in forever, but it is one of the yummiest foods!

Quick Sourdough Bread

2 cups sourdough starter
1 teaspoon dry yeast
3 Tablespoons warm water
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons powdered milk
2 Tablespoons melted shortening or cooking oil
3-4 cups all-purpose flour

Measure out sourdough starter. In small separate bowl dissolve yeast in warm water. Add to sourdough starter along with the sugar, salt, powdered milk, and oil. Mix well. Slowly add the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl (it may not take all of the flour so it's very important to add it gradually). Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if necessary. Shape the dough and place in a well greased loaf pan. Cover with a damp cloth and set in a warm place to rise until it is doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until done. Makes one loaf.

Sourdough Refrigerator Biscuits

I learned how to use sourdough starter years ago when my two oldest were just toddlers. I had some sourdough starter given to me at that time and had no clue how to use it for anything other than the Amish Friendship Bread recipe that was going around and was all the rage at the time. So I called my grandma and she quickly gave me all sorts of tips for using it and some recipes as well. I confess I don't know how to make starter myself, I've always gotten it from someone else. If you do a google search on how to make it, there are lots of pages that will pop up.

The most important tips for working with sourdough starter are to 1.) not use any metal on it. Only use non-reactive utensils such as plastic or glass. 2.) If your kitchen is 80 degrees or above, keep it in the fridge.

1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
6 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening or margarine (I use butter flavor Crisco)
2 cups sourdough starter
2 cups buttermilk

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Set aside for 5 minutes. In large mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in shortening with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in dry ingredients. Combine sourdough starter, buttermilk and yeast and add all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir only until well moistened. Place in large greased covered plastic container. Refrigerate.* Use when needed. Dough should remain good for 3-4 days. Carefully roll out on a well floured surface to 1/2" thickness. Cut into biscuit shape. Place on lightly greased baking pan with sides touching. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until done. Makes 4 dozen biscuits.

*dough should be made at least 8 hours before needed so that it has time to rise.*

Jera's Bread Recipe

I got this recipe ages ago from my friend, Jera Parker. Not only is it an easy recipe but it's super delicious. :)

5 1/2 cups water
3 Tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup oil
6 cups wheat flour
8 cups white flour

Mix all ingredients together. Knead for 10 minutes. Shape into four loaves. Place in greased loaf pans and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until the loaves look pregnant. Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees (or until done).

Freezer Crescent Rolls

I've been woefully neglecting posting recipes over the past few days but never fear, I am back! Did anyone miss me? LOL I've been working on organizing my recipes in a new binder with lovely index tabbed dividers. It looks awesome! No more green monster! hehehehehe

I found this recipe in the Oct/Nov 2007 issue of Taste of Home. It is by far the easiest and tastiest recipe I have come across for homemade rolls. We no longer buy any frozen roll dough since finding this recipe. We typically cook half and freeze half when we make it. If we have company over to dinner we bake the whole batch.

3 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup mashed potato flakes
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 to 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the butter, milk powder, sugar, potato flakes, eggs, salt, and 3 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough.

Turn onto a heavily floured surface; knead 8-10 times. Divide dough in half. Roll each portion into a 12 inch circle; cut each circle into 16 wedges. Roll up wedges from the wide ends and place point side down 2 inches apart on waxed paper lined baking sheets. Curve ends to form crescents. (I coat my counter and rolling pin in cooking spray for rolling out my dough rather than using flour. It keeps me from getting too much flour added into my dough and I get a much more tender roll. This also works for making cinnamon rolls and pizza crusts)

Cover and freeze. When firm transfer to a large resealable freezer bag. Freeze for up to 4 weeks.

To use frozen rolls: Arrange frozen rolls 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and thaw in the refrigerator overnight. (we just pull them out mid to late morning on the day we want to have them with dinner and let them thaw and rise at room temperature)

Let rise in warm place for 1 hour or until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.

French Bread

So I'm not gonna share a cookie recipe today. This is one of our all time favorite bread recipes. For bread lovers like us, I'm sure that this is just as detrimental as a cookie recipe though. :) The recipe is a little tedious, I'll admit it. A kitchen time is absolutely key to keeping track of it. While the recipe calls for white flour, our favorite way to make it is with half whole wheat flour and half white flour. If you are making it half and half, add the wheat flour first and let sit for about 20 minutes to give the gluten a chance to work properly. Then add the white flour and begin timing the 10 minute punch down increments. I also wait until I add the white flour to add the salt just to give my yeast a better chance. :)

1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated yeast (or two packets of yeast)
1 Tablespoon salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
6 cups flour
1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil)
2 1/2 cups hot water

Mix water, oil, yeast, and sugar. Add half the flour and mix well. Add the remaining flour and the salt, mixing well. Let rise for one hour - punching down every ten minutes. Shape into two long loaves and place on cookie sheet . Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

We like to shape ours and put into greased loaf pans and let rise before baking for a fluffier bread. It really is a matter of preference. :) Oh and this bread makes THE best grilled cheese sandwiches!