Mmm . . . bread.  Real, tasty bread.

I cut my teeth on this bread.  (Not literally; for one, teeth don’t bleed, and for another, I shudder to picture the bread hard enough or sharp enough to cut teeth. Come to think of it, actually, I might have met that bread once.)  The recipe I started from was one of Jocelyn’s favorites, though by the time I was done modifying it, it was barely recognizable as the same bread!

Nothing fancy about this bread; it’s not trying to be extra-light, or extra-sweet, or extra-yeasty.  It’s just basic and delicious.  (It reminds some people of bread-machine bread.)  I’ll eat it straight up with a little butter, or (my favorite) in a peanut-butter-and-honey sandwich.  I don’t cook for a lot of people, so more often than not I go through half a loaf or so in the first couple days, use up a little more by making toast, then turn the rest into bread crumbs and chuck it in the chest freezer.  Alternatively, you can get good use out of this bread for nearly a week if you take the time to chuck slices in the broiler and toast them really thoroughly!  EDIT:  If you want a taller loaf for sandwiches, it work fine to put 1 1/2 times this much dough in one loaf and bake it normally.

Here, you’ll find a short, printer-friendly version of the recipe.  Below that is the same recipe again, with a few pictures for your perusal.

With no further ado, here’s the recipe:

Basic GF Bread

Yield:  1 loaf

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. In large mixing bowl, combine yeast, warm water, and 1/2 T of the sugar. Add 1 cup dough mix and 1/2 tsp xanthan gum and mix well to make a soft, spongy dough.
  2. Cover and let rise 30-60 minutes.
  3. Add milk, melted butter, salt, and remaining 1/2 T sugar, and mix briefly.
  4. Add the remaining 1 cup + 2 T dough mix and the remaining 1/4 tsp xanthan gum, as well as the powdered dry milk. Mix well.
  5. Lightly grease a loaf pan and use a spatula to move the dough into the pan, then shape it into a loaf.
  6. Cover and let rise 45-90 minutes.
  7. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Once it’s heated, immediately turn it down to 375, then put the loaf in the oven for 35 minutes.
  8. Remove from pan and let cool 10 minutes on cooling rack before slicing.  Store in gallon-size Ziploc or bread keeper.

And with even less futher ado, the recipe again, with pictures:

Basic GF Bread

Yield:  1 loaf

Ingredients:

Directions:

1.  In large mixing bowl, combine yeast, warm water, and 1/2 T of the sugar. Add 1 cup dough mix and 1/2 tsp xanthan gum and mix well to make a soft, spongy dough.
2.  Cover and let rise 3o-60 minutes.
3.  Add milk, melted butter, salt, and remaining 1/2 T sugar, and mix briefly.
4.  Add the remaining 1 cup + 2 T dough mix and the remaining 1/4 tsp xanthan gum, as well as the powdered dry milk.  Mix well.
5.  Lightly grease a loaf pan and use a spatula to move the dough into the pan, then shape it into a loaf.
6.  Cover and let rise 45-90 minutes.
7.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Once it’s heated, immediately turn it down to 375, then put the loaf in the oven for 35 minutes.
8.  Remove from pan and let cool 10 minutes on cooling rack before slicing.  Store in gallon-size Ziploc or bread keeper.

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