Bread! It is so imprinted on our psyches. I can still smell my mother’s white bread baking if I close my eyes! And if I sit a little longer with my eyes closed, I can hear my children’s voices while they talked and kneaded bread with me in the kitchen. And just a little bit more, and I can see all of us sitting around the table enjoying whole grain bread, hot from the oven! I can taste it. I can taste the love around the table. And I better stop, because now I miss my children and I just might start crying! No, wait, I am crying. Darn bread memories!
For 16 years, I baked bread every week for my family — with my family. I bought the wheat and rye berries, sesame, sunflower and other seeds in bulk, and milled my own grain fresh on baking day. My four children had huge appetites. They took after their dad, so I baked 16 loaves a week. I gave away 4 to 8 loaves to friends and strangers. It was my way of showing people around me how much I appreciated them.
Gluten Sensitive Friends or Those with Celiac
In more recent years, so many people are unable to eat anything that contains gluten. Maybe it has always been that way, but maybe people just were not diagnosed. So I have wanted to learn to bake gluten-free bread for a long time now. I just haven’t had the time to figure it all out. I could make whole grain bread blindfolded if I wanted.
Gluten-Free Bread that Tastes Good?
I bought gluten-free bread to taste–and yikes! I felt that this was not a gift I would want to give anyone — even though by the prices, you’d think I was buying gourmet food!
I also wasn’t very impressed with the list of ingredients. I believe that what I put on the table needs to taste good and must be nutritious and healthy. I don’t want to share anything that will contribute to a break down of health.
What if Your Friend is also Allergic to Soy, Dairy, Egg?
So, I have been searching for a long time. I am not into the keto diet, but an online ad for keto bread recipes caught my eye. The title is “Keto Breads: Your Guide to Baking Grain-Free, Low-Carb Bread.” I bought the book.
Although the bread recipes have some awesome ingredients, for people who are vegan or allergic to multiple foods like soy, eggs, dairy, these recipes had to be modified. Also, Dr. Norris (chiropractor and nutritionist) recommended I not use psyllium seed husks due to the fact that it causes bloating and difficulty digesting for most people. The book’s author (Kelley Herring) claims psyllium seed is the secret ingredient in the book – the ingredient that does what gluten does for bread.
I recently tried a hamburger bun recipe from the book. I modified it significantly, using some wisdom from a vegan baking cookbook. Now the bread wasn’t that pretty, but it has quality ingredients and good taste. One comment I received was “Hmmm, Tastes much better than it looks!” The texture seemed dense at first, but it really was a very nice texture. I was able to slice it without it falling apart. It didn’t rise as high as I would have liked it to. But I think that can be solved by piling up more batter into one bun. It was light enough. The batter has a very interesting texture!
I will try this again with golden flax seed that is milled and my hope is the bread will look better. My Vitamix wouldn’t work and my Ninja blender cannot mill the flax seed. I tried. I used flax seed in place of the egg and simply mixed it with water.
So here is the modified recipe. Let me know if you try it. And I’d love to see some pictures!
Note: Eggs are used for binding and for leavening. If you use egg replacing ingredients, you need to know what they are used for in the recipe. Reason: Not all egg replacers are binders, and not all help your baked goods to rise.
Gluten Free Burger Buns
Leavening ingredients:
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tsp yeast
- 2 tsp maple syrup
Wet Ingredients:
- This recipe called for 3 large eggs. I replaced it with:
- 1/4 cup of applesauce for one egg
- 2/4 cups of flaxseed/water mixture for 2 eggs. [each flax “egg” is 1 Tbs flax & 3 Tbs water]
- [Note regarding flax “eggs” — I was unable to mill the flax seed, but it still works that way– add water and let it sit a few minutes.]
- 1/4 cup of coconut oil/melted
- 1/4 recipe called for dairy yogurt – I mixed 1/2 tsp of apple cider vinegar in 1/4 cup of almond milk ( I let it sit a few minutes)
- 1 Tbs organic apple cider vinegar
Dry ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- Instead of 2 Tbsp of psyllium husk powder, I used xantham gum
- 2 tsp. non-aluminum baking powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- (I did not have sesame seeds, but adding sesame seeds as a topping would be a nice touch for this recipe.)
Instructions:
- Grease cookie sheet or muffin pan
- Add yeast and 2 tsp sweetener to a large bowl. Add warm water (105 to 110 degrees F). Too hot and you will kill the yeast. Pour water over yeast and cover with a towel for 7 or more minutes.
- Mix almond flour, xantham gum baking powder, sea salt, and cream of tartar in bowl.
- In separate bowl whisk wet ingredients – flax eggs an applesauce, vinegar, soured almond or coconut milk, and melted coconut oil
- Add wet ingredients and yeast mixture. You can beat this mixture by hand or with a mixer. I did it by hand.
- Add dry ingredients and beat this mixture. Make sure it is well mixed.
- separate the batter into buns, either on a cookie sheet or muffin type pan. If using sesame seeds, sprinkle on top.
- Cover and place in a warm spot and let rise about 45 to 60 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Bake 25 to 45 minutes. I don’t have the exact time yet. Let me know what you discover when you try the recipe. I kept removing it and thinking it wasn’t baked. It is not like regular bread. Because of the coconut oil, it seems uncooked when it is hot. At room temperature, it changes.
It sounds more complex with 10 steps than it really is. Here it is simplified:
- mix leavening ingredients
- mix wet ingredients
- mix leavening with wet ingredients
- mix dry ingredients and add to other ingredients
- beat
- put in pan and bake
Enjoy!
The Healing Chef