It’s so hard to find good gluten free bread that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg! I have taken to making my own (2 loaves a week, which ONE batch of this recipe makes), which gets me through weekend brunches and typically one strata or casserole recipe.

I tried probably fifty recipes over the past two years, hoping one of them would work out. Cookbooks, Pinterest, blogs….I looked everywhere and kept an open mind. Some were successful in looking like bread, or having the right texture, but they didn’t have that smell, and more importantly they lacked that amazing bread-y flavor. They came out all right, and no one complained, but I just wasn’t happy with the taste. So I kept trying, and this is what I came up with!

Don’t expect sandwich bread – these are much shorter loaves. You could use this recipe to make one giant one, which will become the right height for sandwich bread, but I prefer the two shorter versions since it amounts to more crust and what I consider a better crumb.

This doesn’t require a bread machine, and I honestly don’t even know if it would work in one, since I don’t have one 🙂 Feel free to chime in if you try it in one, but the recipe is simple, quick and doesn’t need much babysitting. If you have roughly 2 hours (most of which is inactive time), you can make this!

Your house will smell like a bakery, and you’ll get that fresh bread taste. What more could you ask for?

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
• 2 Tbsp. Active Dry Yeast
• 2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
• 3 Tbsp Potato Starch
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 2 tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil (this does contribute to the flavor, so use a nice one!)
• 3 Egg Whites
• 1 1/2 Cups Warm Water (don’t make it too hot, or you’ll kill your yeast)

*Makes two loaves (about 2.5″ tall when baked) in standard 9″ loaf pans.

Technique:

1. Dissolve the sugar into the warm water and add your yeast. Do this in a vessel large enough to account for the fact that once the yeast becomes active and foamy, your water is going to expand. Let it double in size. If the yeast isn’t rising and getting foamy, try moving it to a warmer place like a sunny spot or in front of the fire if you have one.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat the egg whites until foamy and somewhat opaque, and add them into the dry ingredients. Mix together. Add your liquids and beat until incorporated.
3. Divide the dough in half, and spoon half into each of 2 prepared (greased – I use coconut oil) loaf pans. Drape a towel or put plastic wrap over them and let them rise somewhere warm. Usually, I let mine rise about 30 minutes to an hour depending on the temperature of the house. Basically you’re looking for them to double in size.
4. Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes. Depending on your oven, you may need to rotate the pans around the 20 minute mark.
5. Let cool on a wire rack COMPLETELY before cutting into them. They will keep cooking even when removed from the oven, and letting out the steam will lead to less impressive loaves. I recommend waiting at least two hours before you even consider breaking one open.

Tips:

This bread makes awesome french toast, crostini, broiled toast, croutons, and bread pudding.

It stays fresh for about 2-3 days, but if you have any left after that just pop it into the fridge. You can still use it for anything that would require the bread to be “toasted” at that point.

You can swap out SOME of the flour for other varieties, but not all. You can safely change out about 1 cup, but 2 really need to be some sort of all purpose or blend for best results.