I was a pretty avid bread baker. I ground my own wheat and started my own sourdough with grapes. And I always shunned the whole bread machine notion, I didn’t really want shortcuts. And for a birthday present, my husband even bought me a special hearthstone, allowing my artisan loaves to get a nice brown and crispy crust. I made bread with the purpose of making excellent bread.

So, here we are. Gluten free. Bread is less than exciting. Bread is an annoyance and a frustration.

Unfortunately, an American childhood staple is sandwiches.

You might have noticed I have no sandwich bread recipes listed. It’s not because I haven’t tried any. I have baked plenty. It’s just that none of them were really good. Sure most of them were edible….the first day. But the overwhelming majority had the fate of crumbs.

I have tried expensive mixes and all sorts of recipes and I finally found one I think is worthy or making again and again.

It smelled, tasted, and looked like regular homemade bread. It was the best gluten free bread I have made to date.

And unlike most of the gluten free loaves I have made, this sliced nicely and tasted great the next day. We did make paninis, but only because we missed them, not because the bread needed toasted.

Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, it takes a lot of things to replace regular wheat flour. This bread is really quite easy even for beginning bread bakers, and it is a lot less expensive than those gluten free mixes available at the stores. If you can operate a stand mixer you should be able to make this.

In fact, gluten free bread making does have some advantages over traditional methods.

• Only one rise is required, so the whole process is much quicker.
• You don’t have to knead the dough; you really just mix for about 5 minutes.
• No dough hook required.

I read about using sweet dairy whey to improve gluten free yeast breads and wow, what a difference it makes. Whey is a by product of cheese making and it is high in protein and sugar and adding it to yeast breads really improves the texture.

If you have a gluten free bread recipe you want to add dairy whey to, you will want to reduce the sugar some as it definitely add sweetness to your baked goods.

I can get it in my baking aisle of the grocery store next to the powdered milks. You may have to go to a nutrition department, a health food store, or order it; I have only used Bob Red Mill’s brand. It is around $4 for a 1.5 pound bag and worth every dime.

This bread slices nicely and tastes as good as it looks!

I realize it's not symmetrical, but the texture and crumb look great!

Finally, we can make sandwiches with leftover roast beef again!

Gluten Free Sandwich Bread

I am not a huge fan of “white bread,” I would much rather have something whole grain so I used mostly superfine brown rice flour, however you could just use all regular white rice flour if desired.

I think an instant read thermometer is really essential for good bread baking. And I have found that the traditional temperature of 205 is not really adequate for gluten free breads, they need to reach around 210 to ensure there are no gooey, undercooked spots.

dry ingredients:

• 2 cups superfine brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup white rice flour
• 1/3 cup potato starch
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk
• 1/3 cup sweet dairy whey
• 2 TB dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 1/2  tsp xanthan gum

wet ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups warm water
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) active dry yeast

1. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, combine all wet ingredients and mix about 15 seconds or until yeast is dissolved. Add dry ingredients and increase mixer speed to medium-high and mix for about 5 minutes.
4. Place dough in prepared pan and allow to rise in a draft free location for one hour.
5. About 15 minutes before bread is done rising, preheat oven to 350.
6. Bake bread for about one hour or until the internal temperature reads 208-211 with an instant read thermometer. The bread can be covered with foil while baking if it begins to over brown.
7. Remove bread from oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight bag or container or freeze.

Flora Breads gluten free sandwich bread