Happy May Day! It’s wonderful in Seattle today–sunny, warm (70s), a slight breeze. It’s actually much too nice to be in the kitchen, but I just wanted to give you the recipe for French bread I’ve been working on. I’ve been baking loaves upon loaves of this, tweeking the recipe, trying to make it the best tasting/best texture I can.
I started with other recipes that I found online for gluten-free French bread. I looked through Bette Hagman’s bread book, The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread. I looked at various recipes posted online. I also read up on classic French bread in the Baking With Julia book by Dorie Greenspan and Julia Child. And, I referred to Shirley O. Corriher’s book Cookwise for insights into the science of French bread.
I discovered that one of the keys to a crispy crust is a humid oven. I used a pan of water placed on the oven floor and spritzed the oven with water to create humidity during baking.
So, here it is! Let me know what you think.
Yield: 2 baguettes
Special tools needed:
-heavy duty stand mixer (or a hand mixer will work in a pinch);
–French Bread Pan (this really is helpful–keeps the loaves in the proper shape)
-extra pan for water in the oven (I use an 8″x8″ metal brownie pan–do not use glass)
Ingredients
1 cup/138 g sorghum flour
1 cup/136 g brown rice flour
1 cup/120 g tapioca flour
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 TBL sugar
2 TBL active dry yeast (I use Red Star)
1 cup/235 ml warm water (warm but not hot to touch–about 110 degrees F/43 degrees C)
1 TBL olive oil
1 tsp. vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
3 egg whites from extra large eggs (or 1 whole egg and 2 eggwhites for a more rich baguette)
– in the bowl of a heavy duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place flours, xanthan gum, and salt. Mix to combine.
– in a small bowl, add the water and then dissolve sugar and then add and dissolve yeast–wait a few minutes for the yeast to foam (this means that it’s working and starts the rising process)
-add olive oil, cider vinegar, and egg whites to the dry ingredients. Add yeast mixture to dry ingredients
-mix slowly to combine
-turn mixer to high and mix for 3 minutes or so
-brush pan with olive oil (yes, the oil will kind of fall through the holes: I set the pan on a baking sheet)
-spoon dough onto the French bread pan in two equal amounts
-shape dough into baguette oblongs
-slash top of each loaf with 3 slashes with a sharp knife or razor blade
-turn on oven to 400 degrees F/204 degrees C. Place metal pan on the floor or bottom rack of your oven (do not do this with a glass pan)
-place pan with dough on top of stove (I do this so they’re in a warm environment)
-let rise for about 30 mins or so (until they are double-ish in bulk)
-once dough has risen for 30 mins, fill a 2 cup measure with ice and then fill in the spaces with water. Open the oven door and VERY CAREFULLY, pour the ice water into the hot metal pan–be super careful as it will steam immediately! Close the oven door to allow steam to collect in the oven
-lightly brush tops of loaves with olive oil (to make them get brown and crispy)
-place bread pan (without the baking sheet) on the middle rack in the oven
-bake for 30 minutes–until brown
-remove from oven and cool for a few minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely
This bread is best eaten hot or warm–as soon as possible after baking. It’s got a nice crispy crust and my family found it to be delicious! I like it best when I tear off pieces with my hand rather than cutting it with a knife.
Like most gluten-free yeasted items, the baguettes are best the day they are made. Store whole loaf on counter in the open and uncovered (covering softens crust). If you have a bread box, that would be fine. Cover any partially eaten loaves by placing a piece of aluminum foil at open end (not over the whole loaf). Refresh by placing in a 350 degree F oven for a few minutes, or by slicing and toasting.
May be frozen. Defrost by placing in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Note: If you use a different gluten-free flour mix, alter the amount of or eliminate the xanthan gum, use dairy-free or egg-free substitutes, or change any other ingredients in this recipe, your results may not match my results.
This post contains affiliate links–which means that I get a tiny percentage of each purchase you make through the link (at no extra cost to you!). Thank you!
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 Jeanne Sauvage
Thank you, Jeanne!
This is by far the very best gluten free bread recipe I’ve found. No more store bought gluten free bread for me. Thank you so much! I’m the baker in the family so I’ll be looking into your recipe book before that time of year rolls around again.
Lorrie
Lorrie: Hooray! This is my favorite, too. I often bring them freshly baked to parties–everyone asks me what bakery I got them from :). Happy baking!
Looks so yummy~~~~ Gonna buy baguette for dinner tonight 😀 I don’t have enough tools T.T Thank you for sharing the recipe~~
Lily: Happy baking!
Do you use a hook for the mixer?
Alicia: Sometimes, but not for the baguettes.
Our bread came out pretty good from the outside. Crust was great. However, the inside wasn’t fluffy. It was very dense. We ate it with butter and it was all good. Would like some ideas on what to do so that the inside is not so dense…
Thanks
Did you follow the directions and ingredients exactly? And by exactly, I include no substitutions whatsoever?
Can these be baked without the special pan? I realize they may not keep their shape but want to try this before I invest in another kitchen item to see if it is something I would like to do (baking bread that is). i am trying to avoid nightshades and it seems every store brand gluten free product uses potato so excited to see this one!!! Perhaps I could split each loaf and put it in a loaf pan?
Amanda: I would recommend trying my Soft Sandwich Bread Recipe or the Multigrain recipe. They are both designed to work in a loaf pan. 🙂
Hi Amanda,
I made heavy duty foil “boats” to bake my bread in – 4 layers of foil, crimped at the end. They were approx. 16″ long, 5 inches wide. I spread the batter to approx. 12 inches to let it have room to spread without getting caught up in the crimped foil at the ends of the moulds. Baked directly on the oven racks. It turned out great! I also substituted 1 cup oat flour for the sorghum (I didn’t have it on hand) and used the 3 egg white version of the recipe. Amazing bread – well worth a little futzing around to make the pans.
Lisa: Excellent hack. I love it!
I just made the baguettes. They taste OK, but don’t look anything like the picture. I followed the recipe exactly, and the dough was very craggy and difficult to shape in the pan. When they were done, they were still craggy, and had flattened out some. Any ideas? (I bought the pan just for this!)
Thanks
Connie: I have found that the baguettes take some practice to shape well. I’ve been doing them for so long that mine usually turn out looking good but when I teach baguettes, my students’ baguettes are misshapen and cracked. I recommend to keep practicing and they will look better and better each time!
I tried the recipe and it was delicious…but it didn’t look great. The bread rose beautifully before it was in the oven, but after 30 minutes of baking it had fallen again and was level across the top. The exterior was super crusty and thick and I’m wondering if that is a product of too long a rest (I had forgotten to boil the water for the oven so it sat another 10 minutes) or if it perhaps baked too long. This was the first gluten free recipe I’ve tried and I’m so excited to try more!
Sara: Yeah, it does flatten a bit on the top when I make it. But, yes–I think if you let it rise for a shorter time, you will get less of the rise and fall. 🙂
Thanks!
Sara: You’re welcome! Let me know how it goes!
Hello, Jeanne!
I posted a comment here before, but I don’t think it went through. Anyway, your baguettes look delicious! Because I am rice intolerant, is there any way to substitute the brown rice flour for buckwheat flour, and the tapioca flour for potato starch or potato flour? (I never use really tapioca, but I always have the potato products on hand). Also, could you use this recipe to make rolls or buns, too? Thanks in advance! 🙂
Samantha: I would recommend using potato starch for the tapioca and maybe sorghum for the brown rice flour. 🙂
Hi,
I’m an unfortunate teenager who’s allergic to rice–one among many other inconvenient food allergies. But your baguettes look amazing! Because I can’t tolerate rice, can I substitute the rice flour in your recipe for buckwheat flour? Could I also substitute the tapioca flour for potato flour or potato starch? I never use tapioca, but I always have potato flour and starch on hand. Thanks so much! 🙂
Sabrina: Check out my Flour Substitutions post for how to substitute for flours.
Hi,
Making the recipe for the first time right now, and I’m SO excited for the final product! I didn’t have brown rice flour, so I used white. The result was a runny batter (a little runnier than pancake batter). Any idea why? I ended up adding more sorghum flour. Not sure what consistency the dough is supposed to look like once all blended together. Regardless, I’m just excited to have bread! Wahoo! =)
Josie: The batter shouldn’t be that runny. It should be more like cake batter. I’m not sure what happened other than using the white rice flour might have meant that you needed to use less liquid.
This rec. sounds wonderful! I’m cooking for a large group and was wondering if this can be doubled? I notice many recipes can’t be doubled so I’d rather ask than waste the flours! Thanks so much! Rubydoo
Ruby: The best thing to do is to make this recipe in several batches vs. doubling. Happy baking!
Hi, thank you for the fast asnwer. For the subsituding brown rice flour is better a white rice flour or a millet? Please answer why is millet flour better than the white rice fl. or conversely.
Thanks.
Jonesy: I would try both and see what you like best.
Hi, I can’t find a store who sell a brown rice flour. What can I use substitude ?
Thanks,
You recipe is simply awesome !
Jonesy: I would recommend experimenting with another whole grain gluten-free flour, like buckwheat or amaranth to substitute for the brown rice flour. I found a website that might be helpful for you in terms of finding flour in the Czech Republic (where I’m assuming you are based on your email address 🙂 ). http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/czech-food-drink/deciphering-czech-flour/ Maybe you already know it? Thank you for the kind words and happy baking!
Hello!
I was super excited to find your site and cannot wait to try quite a bit of your recipes. I was wondering if, among the other bread recipes, if you’ve tried making bagels?
Stephanie: Welcome! I have developed a bagel recipe–it will be in my new book!!
That’s great! I’ll have to add that one to my collection then!
Just a note of caution – NEVER use a glass pan for the hot water in the oven – I had one explode on me! Use a cast iron skillet or metal baking pan or oven proof pot with water for the steaming. Thanks for the GF ideas!! Happy Baking!
Paula: you bring up an excellent point. Never combine a cold glass pan with a hot oven or with hot water. The shock can shatter the glass. If I use a glass pan, I make sure that the pan is warm before the hot water goes into it. That said, nowadays I use a metal pan.
Instead of brown rice flour, could I substitute millet? Thanks!
Melanie: Sure. I’ve not used millet, so I’m not sure how the taste will be–but it’s worth a try!
Would I be able to prepare this in a bread machine? If so should I go ahead and split the recipe in half?
Melissa: Well, let’s see. I think the answer is no. This recipe is meant to be baked in a baguette shape, so doing it in a bread machine kind of defeats the purpose. I would use my Soft Sandwich Bread recipe if you want to use a bread machine. Happy baking!
I’ve found with many gluten-free breads they are a little to wet to knead by hand, which i prefer to do over a mixer when I have the time. Do you find that this is the case with this bread?
Alexis: Yes. My bread doughs are so wet that they are like thick cake batter. Kneading my hand is not an option for most of them. That said, there is no reason to knead gluten-free dough–there is no gluten to develop (which is the purpose of kneading). Happy baking!
Have you substituted all the different flours for cup 4 cup flour? Just wondering if I could use this flour instead of the three flours and xantham gum.
Holly: Cup 4 Cup includes xanthan gum (I think) so I’m not sure what you’d adjust the xanthan gum to be. Also, Cup 4 Cup is more like my Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour Mix, which is like all purpose flour. The brown rice and sorghum flour in this recipe create a more chewy and artisan-style loaf. I would experiment and see how it goes.
Will this work as a pizza dough too?
Kari: you could definitely try it and see! I also have a pizza crust recipe if you want to try that! Check out the Gluten-Free Recipes section. 🙂
Hi,
Your recipes look super delicious. I’m living in Costa Rica, and I can’t find a store that would sell sorghum flour. What can I use as a substitute for sorghum?
Thanks a lot!
Best,
Alvaro
Alvaro: Welcome! I would recommend just using extra brown rice flour. That works well. Happy baking!
I’ve just started the journey into Paleo. Made this bread tonight and was surprised how good it is! Going to experiment adding herbs, seed coating on outside, square “ciabatta” rolls for sandwiches. I think this is going to work! Thank you for your recipe and inspiration.
KnoxRox: Yay! I’m so glad!
Hi Jeanne, thank you for your fabulous baking site. Would you please let me know how long each loaf should be? Do you have any tricks for smoothing out the dough once it is on the pan? My double french bread pan does not have holes in it. Would you know if there is much difference in the final product? I am wondering if it is important for me to purchase the one with holes. Thank you.
Shirley: I make my baguettes about 14 inches/35 cm long. And I just use a rubber spatula to smooth the dough. Don’t worry if it looks uneven–the baguettes will even out once they rise. Also, I think you should be fine without the holes in your pan. I’m not convinced the holes do that much, anyway! Happy baking!
Are you supposed to dissolve the sugar and yeast in the 1 cup of warm water?
Mandi: Yes! Sorry about that. I just added the missing instruction! Thanks for catching it!
This recipe is outstanding. I am recently gluten free and have tried several bread recipes. This one is absolutely the best. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Carol: Oh, I’m so glad! You’re welcome!
I just tried this recipe. I used a cookie tray with baking paper. OMG this tastes so awesome.
I have tried a few of your other bread recipes and they are no where near as good as this.
I still use them but this one is just divine.
Thanks for all you share with us.
Tanya: Yay! I’m so glad!
Jeanne a quick way to make g/f english muffins is to use any g/f sandwich bread recipe let it rise in covered bowl for 30-45 minutes (yes you read that right). While dough is rising line a biking sheet with parchment paper and grease 8 muffin rings ( you can buy the rings on amazon very inexpensive or use tuna cans that were cleaned very well). Then divide between 8 muffin rings using ice cream scoop. Smooth dough in each ring so they are uniform. Cover let rise again till it reaches top of ring. Preheat oven to 350 while waiting. This rise should take only 15-20 minutes. Bake for 25 minutes. Once finished baking remove from rings and let cool on rack 15 minutes before slicing them. They freeze well. Also don’t be afraid to experiment with different flavors, I have made Sweet Hawaiian English muffins, Cinnamon roll english muffins, Anadama English muffins, so don’t be afraid to experiment. here’s a link to the sweet hawaiian english muffins. http://www.facebook.com/notes/doris-kinney/gluten-free-hawaiian-sweet-english-muffins/10200826756617310 Enjoy!!
Doris: Thanks for the ideas!
This sounds amazing, Doris! Thanks!
Have you considered creating a recipe for English muffins? I would be forever greatful 🙂
Tiffanny: Yes! That’s is one of the recipes I have on my list to do! Thanks for the reminder!
Just made this recipe using Domato all purpose flour. I omitted the xantham gum and used tin foil for the baking tray. I used Kroger grocery brand traditional dry yeast. While I frequently bake quick breads I do not consider myself a baker. In fact I think this is the first time I have ever used the bread hooks that came with my hand mixer and I’ve owned it more than 10 years. I found the recipe and instructions very simple and easy to follow even with the assistance of my 3 year old. The bread is BEAUTIFUL! Brown on the outside and lovely white on the inside. My 1st loaf is now consumed and it was very yummy being moist and soft on the inside and nicely crusty on the outside. I agree with a previous comment that it is not as fluffy and light as wheat French bread, but hey, it’s gluten free and I didn’t expect it to be an exact match. My little one liked it and I’m not sure we will make it through the end of the day with the 2nd loaf. In fact, I hear it singing that sweet siren song now. Pretty sure this will have to be a special treat cause the smell of fresh bread is just more than I can resist.
Lynne: Aw, I’m so glad! Yay! And I haven’t heard of Domato flour. Will go check it out!
Thanks so much for using weights in your recipes! I appreciate it. This bread is wonderful. I’ve just put another pair of loaves in the oven 🙂
Laura: You’re welcome! Happy baking!
French Baguettes, Gluten-Free http://t.co/2Z2E0iw3Hp
Let me rephrase: in regular bakery, with gluten, it’s very common to use a “sponge” made with 40% o 30% of flour, yeast and water of the recepe, and let it got fermented for 2-3 hours. Then the rest of ingredients get together and get mixed with the fermented “sponge”…. this produces a better bread, a better growth, a better flavour……. i wonder if it could work out in a gluten-free recepe…. THANK YOU !!!
Carlos: Yes, this is possible and I’ve done it many times. Check out my sourdough starter and sourdough boule posts!
Hi! i want to congratulate you for this beautiful recepe! I’ve been trying to know without any resoult, if i can do a previous sponge with flour, h2o, and yeast in a dough WITHOUT gluten . . . does it work out?? well it works in gluten breads … i imagine that it’s not the same, but i wonder if it helps to get a better resoult. Thank you! your advice will be very useful to me. Thanks a lot!
carlos!
Carlos: Welcome! I am not sure what you’re asking. Are you asking if you can make this bread without eggs? Let me know so I can make sure to answer you correctly! 🙂
I bake a lot and love experimenting. We had friends coming over, one of whom doesn’t eat gluten, and I didn’t want him to feel left out. I tried this recipe and am quite impressed. I didn’t have brown rice flour so I mixed white rice flour with buckwheat. I also don’t use eggs and used a gluten free egg-replacer. The flavor was great. The crust crusty. When I saw the texture of the dough I was skeptical but this bread was good even for non-gluten-free eaters. Thanks very much!
Nicole: Awesome! I’m so glad!
Hi Nicole
Can you please tell me which gf egg replacer you used. I use the ener-g egg replacer or flaxseed. Which would work better? Or do you have another one in mind?
Thanks
I used Energ, if I’m not mistaken. I have another and it wasn’t GF. I didn’t have any flax seeds – I love them and often use them up too quickly. 🙂 good luck.
The recipe sounds great. How big cup you use? I guess the standard cup is 250 ml, right? Do you use this one?
Kate: Hi! I just edited the recipe to include the metric measurements–I hope that helps!
Ohh, thank you very much. I was afraid I could use bigger/smaller than you and then the dough would be strange. I am not very experienced and I wouldn’t know what to do then. Thanks again.
Kate: Happy baking!
Wow. I see you also included degrees C. That’s very kind of you!! 🙂
Kate: My pleasure. I’ve been meaning to do that for awhile!
I just saw your sd boule – nevermind!
Tonya: OK! Also, you can experiment with baking this in a baguette pan. I’ve done it–but I don’t have instructions at the moment. If you’re comfortable experimenting, you can try it.
Has anyone tried using buckwheat flour in place of the sorghum in this french bread recipe (or any GF bread receipe)?
Linderells: Yes–it will be fine. The baguettes will have a darker color and will taste a bit like buckwheat–but that’s OK if you like it. Happy baking!
Best gluten free bread that I have had. My family agrees. I followed the recipe exactly and this was my first attempt at gf French bread. I did use the French bread pan. Very easy!! I will definitely be making this again. Thanks!
Amy: Yay!! I’m so glad!
Hi, is there any substitute I can use for the vinegar? Or will it work without it? I am intolerant to vinegar, lemon, wine. Thanks
GI: just leave it out. 🙂
Do you have weights for the flour amts in this recipe?
Rebecca: At the moment, I don’t. I haven’t had a chance to do that. I think the King Arthur Flour website has a weigh chart of flours if you want to do your own conversion. 🙂
Additional to be GF/celiac, I do not tolerate (GI) any of the gums (xanthan, guar etc.) so I use ground golden flaxseed in combination with eggwhites and milk or water to substitute in other breads I bake and that works well. Dou you think that would work with the French Baquette too? Your recipe sounds awesome.
Jag: I think it would be worth a try! Go for it. Let me know your results!
I followed the recipe as written. It came out like real bread, although did find the crust thick and hard, nonetheless with soup or dipped into Sunday gravy it wins a medal. Leftovers were made into bread crumbs for our meatballs, which turned out great.
Thanks for the recipe.
Andrea: Oh, I’m so glad! Yes, this recipe always gets rave reviews. It’s my number one thing to bring to a party–people love to eat it with cheese and dips. And most people don’t know it’s gluten-free–which is always awesome!
Found your site after tasting a vietnamese style French loaf (in Paris, France, funny he) and looking for the recipe.
I’ve just tried your baguette recipe and took the suggestion from someone to use folded high grade/quality aluminium foil instead of the special molds and it worked great in terms of shape. 30 mins rising wasn’t enough I found, the dough was great but denser than I expected. Probably the yeast etc.. will try longer.
I also have found a helpful trick for preparing the yeast (which I use for my brioche): put the oven at 50°C (120°F) and put in the yeast/sugar/water preparation for 10 mins to start, then turn off the oven. Once the dough is ready to raise, put it back in the oven (off) and it helps the process. I’ll try next time with your recipe. What I really liked is that it’s quick and easy on top of very tasty!.
I used the hook of the Kitchen Aid and 2/3 white rice and 1/3 tapioca, and guar instead of xanthan (in Europe we mainly use guar but works the same).
Alexia: Thanks for letting me know what you did! I’m so happy when people make the recipes their own!
I’ve been making these baguettes a couple times a week for the past 5 months or so. The first time I made the recipe and tasted the bread, it made me forget my longing for the wheat versions.
I like to bring my newly bought flours home and measure them out (along with the xanthan and salt) into batches needed for 1 recipe – this way when I’m ready to bake, I just take out my pre-measured batch of dry ingredients and go from there. Saves a little bit of time when I’m ready to bake.
Cathleen: That is such a good idea! I keep thinking I’m going to do that and I never get around to it. It’s basically like making your own mix–which is awesome!
Instead of using teff, I’ve been making flour with amaranth in the Blendec and we enjoy the flavour and moisture we get from this flour. I would like to know if I can make the dough ahead of time and keep it in the fridge overnight to bake the next day. I know I would have to let it rise again and get to room temperature. Have you ever done this? Would it rise again or just go flat? Also, can the dough be made and then frozen?
I can’t thank you enough Jeanne for such a fantastic recipe. Last summer I bought a gluten-free baguette that was small and seemed to contain mostly cornstarch! What a way to put on weight! No fiber in that loaf.
When I have more time, I would love to make your choux pastry.
I bought a second pan so that I can make four at a time and then freeze it as well. Some weeks I am too busy to make it and I do not like to run out.
Dianne: I love it when people make their own adaptations to my recipes. You can make the dough ahead of time and keep it in the fridge up to 24 hours before shaping and baking. If the dough is cold, let it bake a bit longer. Also, you can make the baguettes and freeze them baked. I’m not clear that freezing the actual dough is a good idea, although I know that some people have good success freezing sourdough dough, so who knows? You could try it and see what happens. If you do, let me know how it goes!
Could I just use gluten free all purpose flour instead of all the other flours listed…and of course the yeast and gum?
Thanks
Darlene: Yes, but the gums will be a bit off. Decrease the gums by 3/4 tsp (because I have gums in my gf all purpose mix)
I made this and substituted teff flour for the sorghum. Between two of us we ate one and a half baguette. Some as a main dish with with fish, olive oil with herbs for dipping. We couldn’t stop there, ghee, raspberry and blueberry jam. Delicious.
Not wanting to have anything drip in the oven I placed two small wire racks onto the baking sheet, one was laid flat and the other diagonal on top of it. I then put the baguette pan on top and it had great air circulation. I’m glad I did this as there was some oil on the baking sheet that would have made a mess in the oven.
The crust was crusty all the way around. Thanks for this recipe. I will try it with guar gum next time.
Dianne: Yay! I’m so glad! Thanks for letting me know!
Is there a possible egg substitute – am allergic to gluten, egg and dairy.
I am allergic to eggs. Will this recipe work with an egg substitute? Also allergic to dairy.
Nancy: I would experiment. It’s not going to be exactly like the version containing eggs if you use an egg substitute. My favorite egg substitute is 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons of hot water. Mix together and let sit to gel for about 15 minutes. Then use in the recipe.
I tried this recipe last night! I followed the recipe exactly as it is written with the exception of the sorghum flour, which I could only find “sweet” sorghum, is there a difference?
Also, my loafs are extremely dense, I realize that it’s extremely challenging to achieve that light fluffy texture of baguette, but I would consider this to be more of a bread loaf than a “baguette”, unless I did something wrong..
Either way, its a great recipe and we were happy to try it 🙂
Isabelle: Yes, sweet sorghum is correct. Let’s see. Yes, the baguettes are more along the lines of the more dense, toothsome kind you would get in a an artisan-type bakery. They are not the lighter-than-air kind that you find in the grocery store. 🙂 You might want to let your loaves rise a little longer–that will allow the yeast to work longer and create more air bubbles. Good luck!
Hello! I just stumbled onto your website. I’m still checking it out but while I’m in the recipe section thought I’d ask a question. I have the same bread loaf pan but you don’t say if you spray and flower it before spooning out the dough. I know it’s teflon but sometimes you still need to do that with GF mixes as they can be extra sticky.
Thanks!
Cheryl: Greetings! Yes, I brush it with oil. I don’t flour it though–it has been OK with out it.
Hi and thank you so very much for providing all of these recipes!
I’m wondering if I could make this as a boule rather than french breads, or would they collapse. I know that you have a sour dough boule, but I’m not so fond of sour dough. I recently tried the Heathy Artisan Bread recipe for a boule – nice texture, but utterly tasteless (except a bit salty). It’s the flavor of wheat that I miss the most!
I made the baguettes and they turned out beautifully! You gave good instructions! A few questions, if I want to try a less “sorghum” flavor, could I substitute millet flour for it, same quantity? I hear it is more subtle in flavor. Also, could I substitute all the flours with a rice flour/potato starch/tapioca starch blend all together? And in what measurements? Or simply use an all purpose Gf. flour blend instead?
I am so excited to find bread, I am a newbie at this, my son who’s 5 has an aggressive case of celiac and was just diagnosed. Your site and recipes are such an encouragement! Thanks so much!!
Stephanie: Hm. Let me think. The current blend is equal parts of 2 whole grain flours plus 1 part starch. I would substitute based on that. So I would do something like 1 C brown rice flour, 1 C other whole grain flour (millet, amaranth, oat?), 1 C tapioca. GF oat flour or millet might be the good ones to try first. If you use too many starchy flours in this one, it doesn’t work so well.
Also, glad I can help! It’s so hard for the kids, isn’t it? Agh. Good luck!
Be careful about the amaranth. I use it for baking when I need my flour to act like wheat to mimic an originally wheat recipe–combined with xanthan gum I get great results this way! (BTW, I have the same flour system–1 part rice, 1 part other, 1 part starch). Since this is a truly gluten free recipe, not a transcription, I think the amaranth will be too sticky and will change the recipe significantly. Hope that helps.
Hi Heather: Thanks! I have used it in this recipe (and in my Multigrain Bread recipe). Both have been fine. I find that friends say that the taste is close to whole wheat. There is a “bite” there, which gives it that quality I think. I find that it isn’t my favorite taste, but I play with it sometimes. 🙂
I don’t have a french bread pan. do you think i could make foil molds? or will not having the holes on the bottom change the results? I wonder if i could make these into french bread rolls and use the muffin tins? thoughts?
Thanks for your great recipes. I have been eating WAY too much bread lately. but after 7 years of hardly having any, I suppose its excusable. 😉
Rebekah: I’m so glad you asked this question. I’ve had in the back of my mind the need to figure out how to make this without the need for yet another piece of equipment. I would say go ahead and make foil molds! I think that should be fine. Be sure to oil them and maybe flour them with tapioca flour, too, so the loaves don’t stick. And I think trying them in a muffin tin is an awesome idea!! Let me know how it goes!
I was thinking about the box of GF french bread mix that I bought, then I found this recipe. Is sorghum flour necessary, or will three cups of your famous baking mix (which I will swear by) be acceptable? I still haven’t gotten around to the baking yet, but I will try this weekend.
A: If you don’t want to/can’t use sorghum, use 1 C brown rice flour, 1 Cwhite rice flour, and 1C tapioca flour. Don’t use my mix because there will be to much xanthan gum if you follow the recipe. And I’m glad you like the mix–yay!
Thanks for the tip. By the way, you’re in Seattle? I’m in Bellingham, (and sometimes Bellevue)!
A: You’re welcome. And awesome! I think our area rocks!