Fluffy Rustic Bread (gluten free, vegan, oil free)

Fluffy Rustic Bread

( vegan, gluten free, oil free)

Bread. For most people, it's a staple. It's cheap, delicious and used in different ways. Where I come from, it's one of the key ingredients of the national cuisine. But what if you can't eat it?

Buying gluten free bread can be three things:
1) expensive
2) disgusting (and if you've tried vakuum packaged store bought gluten free bread before, you probably know what I mean)
3) still giving you stomache and gut problems, etc. because of different other ingredients but gluten.

I've tried many different recipes to create a bread that tastes similar to our delicious, "normal" bread, but I failed miserably. Rock hard dough balls, sticky gummy dough balls, moldy dough balls, I've had everything but a normal bread. So I did a little more research...

And finally, after all these sad (yes, I definitely started crying a lot of times. I was just missing bread...), miserable moments, I've created a recipe (first per accident to be honest), that is actually really a bread recipe that works!

The result: A fluffy, delicious bread with a crisp crust, just like normal, glutenous bread. without adding too many additional things!

I've tried the recipe several times now, just to make sure it really works, and here we are, with a perfect and easy bread recipe. And the best part? You don't even have to make a lot of effort. The bread will do it's own thing to become a bread.

So here we go!

Fluffy Rustic Bread

Serves: 1 - 2 (depending on if you wanna eat the whole loaf in one go - or not)
Cooking time: 45 to 55 minutes, depending on your oven
Total time: about 2 - 4 hours

Ingredients

• 75g white rice flour
• 3g Xanthan gum (OR skip if you're using a universal baking mixture which already has a binder inside. I tried SCHÄR Mix B (Brot Mix) and it worked perfectly fine!)
• 20g Chickpea flour
• 15g Chestnut flour 
• 1/4 block fresh yeast (I've tried using dried yeast several times and it didn't work!)
• 4g organic cane sugar (or any other sugar, don't skip this part, the yeast will eat it anyways)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 - 2 tbsp bread herbs (fennel, caraway, cumin, coriander) (depending on your preferences)
• 100g warm water (it's important to be warm, not boiling)

Instructions

• crumble the yeast into a bowl with 50g of the water and pour the sugar on top
• mix until the yeast is dissolved
• pour about 20g of the rice flour on top and let sit until bubbly. (That's to make sure the yeast is alive and working)
• Whisk together the rest of the flour along with your herbs and salt
• When bubbly, add the yeast mixture to your dry ingredients and mix in softly
• Add the remaining water and mix, until a wet and still sticky dough is formed (not runny tho)
• Place a kitchen towel on top of your bowl and let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour to 75 minutes, until the dough has at least doubled in size
• In the meantime, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 220°C
• When your dough has risen, don't push it down! Carefully push it onto the baking sheet and form as good as possible, to create a shape you like
• Put in the oven for about 45 to 55 minutes, until the top is browned
• When putting it out of the oven, knocking on the bottom should sound hollow. If it's not, put it back
• let cool completely before cutting

IMPORTANT: 

Don't use any metal utensils! I dunno what it is, but gluten free bread doesn't like metal.

The two different breads you can see here, are the same recipe. The one with the marmelade on is made with rice flour, the other one is made with Schär Brot Mix B. Both work amazingly and both are delicious. I'm sure, your bread will look and taste amazing too!

Let me know how yours has turned out, if you try the recipe.