As good Chileans, we really love bread. It is not uncommon to see bread in every meal of the day, as toasts on breakfast (or as a snack between lunch and dinner), or some fresh bread to accompany lunch and dinner. That is why it is a big deal to find good gluten-free bread for Chileans (we are kind of obsessed with it jajaja).

Shaped and presented in many ways, these rolls have a really nice presentation, and when they are fresh, they are the perfect complement for every meal due to its neutral flavour.

Although they might seem like a not complicated bread to make, it has its own challenges. These rolls have to be soft, fluffy, yet firm with a nice soft crust. This structure is a particularly hard combination to achieve for gluten-free bread, so special measures have to be taken.

First of all, the xanthin gum had to be eliminated. Since it is a gum, it would make the bread to develop a gumminess that doesn’t go well with the soft and fluffy structure. Second, the flour mix has to be one that yields a soft, yet firm and not extremely arrested structure. Lastly, we need to incorporate a milky and buttery flavour to the rolls without interfering in the structure (butter and milk can make bread denser).

To achieve our objective, the psyllium husk, dry skim milk powder, and our gum-free flour mix come into play. The psyllium husk provides a not gummy structure to our rolls stay firm, the dry milk powder will provide an extra fluffiness and softness, while the flour mix is low on fibre achieving overall a tender crumb.

Also, baking powder and lemon juice are used to help the bread rise without developing a strong yeast flavour (remember that we are looking for a neutral flavoured bread). The result is a nicely presented gum-free dinner roll that can be pulled out, perfect for any occasion!

As with any bread recipe, I recommend having a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to make your work easier. If you don’t have one, don’t worry, you can still make the recipe. Just be sure to mix everything pretty well!

To make this recipe, you will need to have a 9-inch round cake pan to leave the dough to rise and form the dinner rolls and a scale to make every roll the same size, so have them handy!

Here we go with the recipe!

The Softest Dinner Rolls

Recipe by Giovanni PamparanaCourse: Breakfast, Lunch, DinnerCuisine: EnglishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

35

minutes

Here we present you the softest gluten-free dinner rolls that are perfect to eat them with any meal!

Ingredients

• 430 g of our gum-free flour mix

• 50 g dry skim milk powder

• 20 g powdered psyllium husk

• 12 g salt

• 12 g baking powder

• 300 g warm water (around 105-110ºF/40-43ºC)

• 30 g honey

• 10 g instant yeast

• 90 g melted and cooled unsalted butter

• 1 large egg + 1 yolk beaten up

• 2 tsp lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar as a substitute).

• 1 egg + 1 tbsp of water for the egg wash

Directions

• Mix the water, yeast and honey and let it rest for 5 minutes to activate and make sure that the yeast is alive. If you can see foam on top, it means that everything is ok!
• On the stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, mix and homogenize all the dry ingredients (flour mix, dry skim milk powder, psyllium husk, salt, and baking powder).
• Once the yeast is foaming, add the rest of the wet ingredients (butter, egg and yolk mixture, and lemon juice) to the dry mixture and start beating the dough up, first at medium speed for two minutes and then raising the speed to high for at least 5 minutes.
• Using a silicone spatula, remove the dough from the bowl borders and put everything together.
• Spray/oil the 9-inch round cake pan and put a piece of parchment paper (or a plate) over your scale.
• Wet with water your hands and start taking dough pieces of around 110-120 g. Give them a rounded shape with your hands. If they start sticking, just wet your hands a bit more.
• Try to give it your best shot rounding them and place them on the round cake pan! Your objective is to form a flower shape with the dough balls! Leave an even space between the balls on the border and the one in the middle so they can rise evenly.
• Once you have all the balls in place, cover them with a plastic wrap. Now it’s time to proof the dough. Leave the dough on a warm and draft-free place for around 1 hour.
  (I use the oven, I preheat it to 120ºF/49ºC, leave the oven door open for a minute, and then I place the dough inside with the door closed and the oven light turned on)
• Once the time has passed, take out the dough and preheat the oven to 375ºF/190ºC.
• Once it’s preheated, brush carefully the dinner rolls with the egg and water wash and bake them on the middle rack for 35 minutes. The internal temperature of the center roll has to be at least 195ºF/91ºC.
• Take the dinner rolls and leave them to cool inside the cake pan for 10 minutes. After that, turn over the dinner rolls over a wire rack, and quickly turn them upright again. Leave them cooling in the rack for another 15 minutes.
• Now it’s time to pull one out and enjoy! These dinner rolls are best if served fresh during the same day!

The post The Softest Dinner Rolls appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.

Although the English muffins are commonly found in English speaking countries such as Canada, the UK or Australia, they are not that known elsewhere. For example, I discovered this bread just a few years before I left Chile. Even today, you can’t commonly find them in the grocery stores (maybe just in some specialized ones).

A good English muffin has to be very soft and spongy inside but also needs to have a nice crust that allows the bread to be cut in half to toast it or to make a sandwich without breaking. The spongy crumb allows the bread to adhere to every speed that you use, such as jam cream cheese or some more butter to top it with something else (you won’t regret that extra butter flavour on your bread).

The crust sprinkled in cornmeal will allow us to let it rise without sticking, but also to handle it better and give it an initial browning in a hot pan.

We will be using our gum-free flour mix because we want a soft crumb, but we will add some more fibre to the dough by adding some quinoa flour (don’t worry, it won’t taste like quinoa :)). Also, we will replace the classic xanthan gum with psyllium husk for the structure to avoid the gumminess (we want them to be very tender inside).

For this recipe, we just need two baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and a frying pan large enough to “fry” the rolls before baking.

I recommend to have a scale handy so you can make every bread roll about the same size. Also, having a stand mixer makes the beating of the dough easier. Worry not, that you can also do it by hand, just make sure that you mix and homogenize everything pretty well!

Ok, so now let’s continue with the recipe!

Buttery and Soft English Muffins

Recipe by Giovanni PamparanaCourse: BreakfastCuisine: EnglishDifficulty: Medium

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

Cooking time

35

minutes

These English Muffins are the perfect combination of a buttery flavour with a crunchy outside and soft inside. Perfect for toasting!

Ingredients

• 400 g of our gum-free flour mix

• 100 g quinoa flour

• 45 g dry skim milk powder

• 30 g powdered psyllium husk

• 9 g salt

• 430 g warm water (110-115ºF/40-43ºC)

• 10 g yeast

• 30 g honey

• 2 eggs beaten

• 40 g melted and cooled unsalted butter

• 100 g coarse cornmeal

Directions

• Mix the water, yeast and honey and let it rest for 5 minutes to activate and make sure that the yeast is alive. If you can see foam on top, it means that everything is ok!
• On the stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, mix and homogenize all the dry ingredients (flour mix, quinoa flour, dry skim milk powder, psyllium husk, and salt).
• Once the yeast is foaming, add the rest of the wet ingredients (butter and beaten eggs) to the dry mixture and start beating the dough up, first at a medium speed for two minutes and then raising the speed to a high speed for at least 5 minutes.
• Using a silicone spatula, remove the dough from the bowl borders and put everything together.Line up two baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle them with 60 g of the coarse cornmeal (30 g each baking sheet).
• Put a plate or a piece of parchment paper on your scale, and using your wet hand, take pieces of around 90-100 g of dough and shape them into balls, placing them afterwards in the cornmeal-sprinkled baking sheets. If they start sticking, just wet your hands with some more water. This recipe should yield 12 English muffins, so place 6 balls evenly distributed into each baking sheet so they have enough space to rise.
• Once ready, cover the balls with a loose plastic wrap (if you put a tight plastic wrap over the balls, it won’t allow them to rise properly). Now it’s time to proof the dough. Leave the dough on a warm and draft-free place for around 1 hour or they double in size (I use the oven, I preheat it to 120ºF/49ºC, leave the oven door open for a minute, and then I place the dough inside with the door closed and the oven light turned on).
• Take out the baking sheets from the oven and preheat it to 350ºF/180ºC.
• With a spatula, flatten the dough balls a bit to give them the classic English muffin form, and sprinkle them with the remainder cornmeal.
• Heat up a frying pan with a tbsp of oil, wiping the excess with a paper towel. Now fry each English muffin at medium heat for 1 minute each flat side. Try to press the English muffins with a spatula a bit more while frying. Be careful not to brown too much the muffins! Return the fried English muffins to the lined baking sheets once ready.
• When you finish up frying all the English muffins, remove the excess cornmeal on the baking sheets. Bake them for 30-35 minutes, flipping them over when they hit the 20 minutes mark to achieve an even browning. Check the internal temperature to be at least 195ºF/91ºC before taking them out.
• Leave them to cool for at least 20 minutes in a cooling rack and enjoy

The post Buttery and Soft English Muffins appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.

This is why I have developed this extra soft burger bun using the gluten-free flour blend that I have shown that works marvellously for bread. A nice thing about this bread is that it is egg-free!

Of course, this one will have a higher fat content than others to make it softer. Additionally, the baking has to be done rather precisely so the internal temperature of the bread doesn’t rise that much. If it does, the bread will not be as soft as it could be.

You will get around 6-8 buns (depending on how big you shape them). The nice thing is that if you have any left, you can either freeze them. Also, they make some really nice toasts

As always, I recommend using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to beat the dough, but still, it can be done by hand. Just make sure to mix everything pretty well!

The Softest Burger Buns

Recipe by Giovanni PamparanaCourse: MainCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6-8

buns

Prep time

1

hour 

Cooking time

30

minutes

These soft hamburger buns will transform your gluten-free burger experience!

Ingredients

• 450 g of my Gluten-Free Bread Flour Blend

• 12 g instant yeast (2 tsp)

• 20 g honey (2 tsp)

• 12 g salt (2 tsp kosher salt)

• 3 g cream of tartar (1/4 tsp)

• 100 g sour cream (1/3 cup)

• 150 ml warm water (2/3 cup) (105-110ºF / 40-43ºC)

• 150 g heavy cream (2/3 cup)

• 28 g unsalted butter (2 tbsp) (very soft)

• Some more butter to brush the buns

• Sesame seeds for sprinkling if you want

Directions

• Mix the warm water with the honey and yeast. Leave it still for around 5 minutes until you see it starts foaming. This means that your yeast is healthy and alive!
• Now, mix everything in a bowl! Use your stand mixer with the paddle attachment or beat it really well by hand. 5-7 minutes on a high speed in the mixer will do the trick. We want the dough to be soft and homogeneous.
• Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Now, oil well your hands and start making balls of dough! Try to make the surface of the balls as smooth as possible. Divide the dough into 6 to 8 balls and arrange them in the baking sheet, well separated one from each other since they have to rise. If you feel that the dough starts to stick, put a little more oil in your hands (it helps to have someone to help you with that so you don’t make a mess in the kitchen )
• Cover the balls of dough with plastic wrap without tightening it so it doesn’t prevent the dough from rising (don’t stretch it, just put it loosely over the balls).
• Proof the dough in a warm and draft-free place for at least 1 hour until the balls double their size. (I use my oven preheated to 120ºF (45ºC), turn off the oven, leave the oven door open for 1 minute so it cools a bit, put the dough inside, close the oven door and leave the oven light on).
• Once they finished rising, take out the dough from the oven if you had it there and preheat it to 350ºF (180ºC). Meanwhile, softly brush the buns with melted butter.
• Bake the buns for 10 minutes.
• Take out the buns from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 325ºF (160ºC). Brush the buns again with butter and sprinkle the sesame seeds if you are going to add them. Make sure they stick to the butter!
• Don’t wait for the oven to lower its temperature, just place the baking sheet again in the oven and bake them for 10 more minutes. The internal temperature of the buns has to be 190ºF (88ºC) so they are ready and soft.
• After the buns reached that temperature, it means that they are fully cooked! If they are still a bit pale, turn on the broiler and leave them inside for around 3 more minutes until they have that nice golden brown. Be careful, don’t let them burn or overcook!!!
• Once they are golden brown, take them our and put them into a wire rack to cool a bit.
• Now they are done!! Enjoy with your burger right away for the maximum softness, or reheat it a bit to bring it back again!

The post The Softest Burger Buns appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.

Pizza, oh pizza… what a great creation our Italian fellas brought to the world. Loved by almost everyone in the world, this is an all-in-one package meal. You have a nice crust covered by a nice Italian style tomato sauce, topped with mozzarella cheese and whatever thing you might think of.

Fully customizable, this will bring joy to your table and your kids. Although today we find several places that offer “gluten-free” pizza, nobody can make us sure that is doesn’t have cross-contamination (unless it is an only gluten-free place, of course). So it’s something that celiac people really miss when they are diagnosed and have to go gluten-free.

Here I bring you a recipe for a “thick” pizza crust (it is certainly not the thin one, but it is a decent size so you can hold it without any problems). This crust will be crunchy and golden on the bottom.

As the other bread recipes, I recommend using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. If you don’t have one, you can mix by hand. Just make sure you beat it up well! You will also need a baking sheet and parchment paper, and of course, whatever you would like to have over the crust!

Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

Recipe by Giovanni PamparanaCourse: MainCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

1

large pizza

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

This thick pizza crust will bring joy back to your home!

Ingredients

• 250 g of my Gluten-free Bread Flour Blend

• 10 g instant yeast

• 10 g honey

• 150 ml warm water (2/3 cup) (105-110ºF / 40-43ºC)

• 6 g salt (1 tsp kosher salt)

• 12 g olive oil (1/2 tbsp)

Directions

• In a bowl, mix the water, honey and yeast and let it rest for about 5 minutes until you see it starts foaming (that tells you that your yeast is alive and ready to go!)
• In your stand mixer bowl (or a normal bowl), mix all the ingredients together.
• Beat up the mixture for 7 minutes, first at low speed so the flour incorporates with the liquids, and then turn it to high speed! It will be a soft and sticky dough!
• Transfer everything to a previously oiled bowl to let the dough rise! Cover the bowl with a plastic film and put it in a warm and draft-free area (I use my oven, heat it up to 120ºF (45ºC), turn it off, open the door for 1 minute, put the bowl in, close the door and leave the oven light on). Leave it to proof for about 1 hour so it can double its size.
• Once the time has passed, put the dough into the fridge for 1 hour (you can leave it overnight too if you want to do it for the next day, it will be easier to handle if you do this!).
• Once the hour has passed (or you are ready to cook), preheat the oven to 400ºF (205ºC).
• Transfer the dough into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Oil your hands and start spreading carefully the dough to give it its final shape! Don’t press it too hard so you don’t lose the air bubbles! It will be a bit sticky, so use a bit more oil in your hands if you need it.
• Now it’s baking time!
• Cook the dough alone for 10 minutes.
• Take it out and spread the tomato sauce (see notes). Cook for another 10 minutes.
• Take it out again, and put all the cheese and toppings! Cook it for another 15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown at the bottom and the cheese has melted.
• Take it out for the last time, let it sit 5 minutes…. cut…. eat…. enjoy!!!!

Notes

• You can make a good tomato sauce by mixing 1 cup of crushed tomatoes, 1 tsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, some pepper, 1/2 tbsp olive oil, and 1 tbsp of dried oregano. You can tune up the flavour as you wish by changing the amounts

The post Gluten-Free Pizza Crust appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.

I consider this blend not the simplest one because it uses whey isolate powder. The whey isolate will help give structure to the bread. Be aware that the whey isolate is different from the whey protein, you won’t get results with that one!. It has proven to be quite useful for gluten-free baking since we have to resort to quite a lot of starches to make our blends.

This blend consists basically of:

• 51% rice flours
• 36% starches
• 2.2% xanthan gum
• 11% unflavored whey isolate

What I recommend, is to make big batches, homogenize it, and store it in an air tight container so it’s faster whenever you want to make any recipe.

It is always better to weight everything you use, since cups or tsp/tbsp can be quite inaccurate measurements.

According to the proportions, you can make batches of 450 g of flour for the best results. You can always calculate to make the exact amount by the way.

This table shows you how many grams of each component you need to use to make the blend. I am including the approximate calculations for 100 g and 300 g just in case.

Hope you like it!

The post Gluten-Free Bread Flour Blend appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.

That was my reaction today when I took this bread from the oven. I was really amused by this creation. When I took the bread to my wife, she told me: “This feels the same as any bread with gluten, it’s perfect!”. This is why I couldn’t hold this recipe and had to post it today.

Before becoming celiac, I baked a lot of bread (with gluten, of course). One of my complete favourites was the Italian ciabatta bread. I loved everything about it, from the start, while managing the dough, and of course, the ending when you had to try it and feel the soft and yet crunchy bread.

I don’t know why I haven’t tried making a loaf of bread like the Italian ciabatta before. Maybe I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to achieve it with gluten-free flours, that I would never reach the texture… I don’t know. A few days ago with my wife, we saw this really nice looking ciabatta bread, and she asked me why I haven’t tried making one before.

Well, here is the result. Really, just try it and feel what I felt today. I don’t have more words to describe it. You won’t regret it.

For this one, if you have a stand mixer it would be great since there is a lot of beating to do. The dough will be very soft and runny, so it needs to be mixed around 5 minutes on a stand mixer. If you want to do it by hand, it will be a lot more mixing (at least 15 minutes) to assure that everything is homogeneous, that is the most important part of a gluten-free dough!

Fluffiest Gluten-Free Italian Artisan Bread

Recipe by Giovanni PamparanaCourse: Snacks, BreakfastCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Medium

Servings

1

loaf

Prep time

2

hours 

Cooking time

35

minutes

This is the perfect bread. Soft yet crunchy, you won’t believe it’s gluten-free!

Ingredients

• 450 g of my Gluten-Free Bread Flour Blend.

• 30 g of honey (3 tsp)

• 15 g instant yeast (2.5 tsp)

• 480 ml warm milk (2 cups at 105-110°F / 40-43°C)

• 60 g of unsalted butter (4 tbsp)

• 16 g salt (2 tsp kosher salt)

• Cornstarch for dusting.

Directions

• In a bowl, mix the warm milk, yeast and honey. Leave it around 3-5 minutes until it starts foaming.
• In a stand mixer with the flat beater on, incorporate all the ingredients. Start mixing slowly, and increase the speed progressively as you see that the dough starts homogenizing (or everything will fly away!). Beat it up for at least 5 minutes at high speed.
• You will end up with a sticky, runny and soft dough. You don’t need to take it out from the stand mixer bowl, just cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise for 2 hours in a warm and draft-free place (I use my oven, heating it up to 120°F (45°C), turning it off, opening the door for 1 minute, and then leave the dough inside with the door closed and the oven light on). After the two hours, you will see that the dough has risen double its size at least.
• Take out the dough from the oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C) and prepare an oven sheet lining it with parchment paper.
• Dust the top of the dough with cornstarch and transfer it to the parchment paper (just let it fall from the bowl to the paper and scrape what is left on it).
• Dust the other side of the dough, and put some cornstarch in your hands. You will start giving the dough its shape now.
• Gently with the sides of your hands, insert the sides of the dough into the bottom. DON’T PRESS THE DOUGH FROM THE TOP! This way, you have to start giving it an oval shape (imagine a really wide baguette). Although the dough is soft, it will not stick to your hand because of the cornstarch, so add more if you feel it starts sticking.
• Now that you shaped your bread, cover it with some plastic wrap and let it rise again for 30 minutes just to give it a little pump of fluffiness.
• Now it’s baking time! Put the dough inside the oven and quickly throw 3 cubes of ice (around 1×1 inch each) inside and close the oven door, so they create some steam for our bread. This will allow us to form a nice crust! You have to bake this one for 35 minutes (remember to watch your time since all ovens are different!). The bread has to reach an internal temperature in the center of 200°F (93°C).
• Once ready, take the bread out, transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting it.
  Enjoy! (take my advice and put some butter on a slice before it cools down!!)

The post The Fluffiest Gluten-Free Italian Rustic Bread appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.

Step-by-step pictures and instructions under construction! Coming soon!!

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Gluten-Free Pita Bread

Recipe by Giovanni PamparanaCourse: BreadsCuisine: MediterraneanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

30

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Calories

140

kcal

This gluten-free pita bread is so easy and fast to make, that it is unbelievable how delicious it is!

Ingredients

• Dry Ingredients:

• 150 g brown rice flour

• 200 g rice flour

• 100 g potato starch

• 60 g tapioca starch

• 9 g xanthan gum (3 tsp)

• 24 g psyllium husk (2 tbsp)

• 12 g of salt (1 1/2 tsp)

• 15 g instant yeast

• Wet Ingredients:

• 500 g warm water (105 and 110°F)

• 20 g honey (2tsp)

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions

• In a bowl, place the warm water, honey and yeast. Mix everything together and let it rest for 5 minutes until it foams. This will tell you that the yeast is in good condition and its ready to ferment your bread.
• In a separate bowl, mix all the rest of dry ingredients and homogenize (this step is really important). Incorporate the yeast mixture and oil and mix everything up.
  
• A dough will start forming as you mix all the ingredients. Continue mixing until you have a somewhat solid dough that you are able to handle with your hands (it will still be a bit sticky). Now it’s time to knead it!
• Transfer the dough to a silicone mat (an oiled surface can do the trick too) and knead until everything is homogeneous (should take around 10 minutes). This step is very important to mix all the ingredients together and let the psyllium husk and xanthan gum spread through the dough and act on it. Remember it is replacing the gluten!
• Make a ball with the dough and place it in an oiled bowl that is big enough to let the dough rise until doubled. Cover with a plastic film and let it proof in a warm place for at least for 1-1.5 hours (I preheat the oven to 120°F, open it for a minute, and leave the bowl there with the light on).
• After the dough has doubled its size, transfer it to a silicone mat and cut it in 8 equal pieces. If the dough is still sticky, you can use a bit of cornstarch to make it easier.
• Preheat the oven to 395°F.
• Grab each piece and gently start pressing it with your hands from the center to the sides forming a rounded shape (I give them an oval shape for convenience!). Avoid using a rolling pin so the dough doesn’t deflate. Each piece of dough has to have a thickness of about 3 mm. You managed to shape your pita bread!
  
• Place each pita bread in a baking tray lined up with parchment paper (you can also oil it) so they don’t touch each other.
• Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes. They have to get just browned. Remember each oven is different so you have to watch your bread the first time to find the right time.
• Remove the baking trays from the oven, turn around the pita bread and put them back it for another 7-10 minutes (the same time you baked them at the beginning!).
  You will see that they will inflate as little balloons. That’s a good sign! (If they don’t inflate, don’t worry, they will be awesome anyway!)
• Take them out from the oven and transfer them to a wired rack to cool. Try not to eat them right away! (just wait around 5 minutes the temptation to eat them… it’s hard!)
  They need to rest a bit so the dough settles and it makes it easier to cut.
• Now, fill’em up with whatever you want! Let your imagination take over them!
  (Hint: When they are warm they are awesome with just some butter on them!)
  
• If there are any left, keep them wrapped in some cloth so they don’t dry up and just put them in the toaster to have some really nice toasts!
  I have had them 3-5 days without any issue. If they get a bit stiff, just wet a little the crust before toasting them. They will be as new!

The post Gluten-Free Pita Bread appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.