It took me a while to master gluten-free yeast bread, and after many bricks and weird textured baguettes, I have a handful of good recipes. Easy Gluten-Free Dutch Oven Bread is one of them. It's modeled after Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread in that it's a round chewy loaf (boule) you bake in a Dutch oven and dip in olive oil. The bonuses are it's gluten-free and needs only about 40 minutes to rise!
Because it's gluten-free, the texture is different and you do have to keep your expectations in check. But if you generally like breads without wheat flour, I think you'll love this one for its chewiness.
Pillsbury Gluten-Free Flour Blend
The catch here is that you have to use Pillsbury's gluten-free flour blend. Pillsbury gluten-free blend comes in a greenish bag. I think the pea fiber or the protein from the pea fiber is what makes it work for this bread. My next experiment is to try another blend and throw in a little protein powder or just make my own blend, but right now all I can tell you is the Pillsbury blend is what I use. King Arthur has a new blend called King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour which might work, but if you are going to spend the money on the KAF you might as well make the recipe on the back of their bag which doesn't require psyllium. Update: Katrina tried this recipe with a different blend and it did NOT work, so again -- please only try it with Pillsbury's gluten-free blend.
Cup4Cup Version
Update: It works with Cup4Cup, but I'm still in the testing phase trying to get it just right. So far this works. Start with 160 grams Cup4Cup and follow the directions up to the point of adding that last ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoons of water. Instead of adding the ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon all at once, add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing and pressing with the scraper, until the round holds together and looks something like the photo below. With Cup4Cup, I only needed a total of ¾ cup water total -- ½ cup added to the psyllium plus an additional ¼ cup.
Psyllium
If you are new to gluten-free baking and not yet familiar with psyllium, it's a key ingredient in some gluten-free yeast breads and helps make them chewy. I use whole psyllium husks -- specifically Now brand, Sprouts or Whole Foods, because they don't turn the bread purple and are not prone to clumping like the powder does. If you want purple bread, try Yerba Prima. I have a canister gathering dust because of this. Update: If you only have powder rather than the whole husks, you can use it. Just whisk vigorously and do the best you can to remove lumps. Alternatively, add the powder directly to the flour mixture and skip making the gel. The psyllium powder will still try to form lumps, but you can try to work them out by pressing pressing the dough.
Picture of the Dough in a Bowl
I don't have much to say about this but am really looking forward to hearing from someone else out there who tries the bread. The ingredients are atypical for a lot of people, but I know my gluten-free baking buddies use psyllium and various blends all the time, so if anyone out there wants to give this one a shot please tell me what you think. I wasn't sure I'd even post it, but I keep making it because the family likes it as much as the Jim Lahey bread. It's just different. And relatively quick! No all day rise. But it seems it really does need the particular Pillsbury blend to work.
Recipe
Gluten-Free Dutch Oven Bread
Ingredients
- 160 grams Pillsbury Gluten-Free Blend (a little over a cup) (160 grams, weigh for best results)
- 1 tablespoon sugar (12 grams)
- ⅜ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoons quick rising yeast
- 1 teaspoon vinegar (I sometimes use 1 ½ teaspoons)
- 2 tablespoons psyllium husks (not powder, but whole husks) (12 grams)
- 1 large egg white (35 grams)
- ¾ cup water plus 1 tablespoon (water will be divided in two parts) (182 grams)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the Pillsbury gluten-free flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.
- Heat water in the microwave to about 130 degrees F. Pour only ½ cup of the water (114 grams) into a separate bowl and add the psyllium powder. Stir and allow it to form a gel. For this, I recommend using a 1 ½ liter bowl or one that you can rinse out and use for the dough (pictured on blog).
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the psyllium gel, vinegar and egg white. Begin stirring. At this point it will be very dry, so continue adding the remaining warm water (¼ cup plus 1 tablespoons), stirring with a heavy duty rubber scraper, until you have a squishy odd textured dough that holds together in a ball. Mash it over on itself a few times with the heavy duty scraper. You're basically kneading it a little, but in the bowl. It should clump up in a ball and not stick to the sides or feel dry (pictured on blog).
- Press a square of damp parchment paper into the bottom of a bowl. I use a 1 ½ liter glass bowl (which I also use to hold the psyllium gel) but you could probably find something a similar size or use a small pan. You just need something for the dough ball to fit in while it rises. Pour about a half teaspoon of olive oil in and set the loaf on it then turn to slick the sides. Cover and let rise for about 40 minutes. It will not double but it will rise.
- While the dough is rising, place a Dutch oven and its lid in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- After the 40 minute rising period, remove the hot pot from the oven and carefully, using hot pads, remove the lid. Lift the parchment with the round of dough on it and set it in the pot (parchment an all), then carefully cover the pot and put it back in the oven.
- Close oven door and set timer for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes at 450, remove lid from the pot and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until bread is golden brown. Check its internal temperature to make sure it is between 205 and 210, at which point it will be done.
- Let it cool somewhat before slicing, but it's okay if it's still a little warm.
Anna says
I can't wait to hear what you think! Psyllium powder might work, I just haven't tried it yet. If you want to try it with the powder it would still be 10-12 grams, but probably half the volume amount.
Katrina says
I'll have to get some of the whole psyllium husks. I only have the powder. But I've got this on the to-make list for this week!