Buckwheat Quinoa Sandwich Bread

I am having fun playing with my original bread recipe.

The thing is, I make bread for us at least once a week so I tend to get bored making the same recipe every time.  Variety is the spice of life, non?

So I’ve started playing around with our bread.  I’ve been using more quinoa flour and less bean flour.  I much prefer the quinoa flavour to the garfava flavour.

My latest combination is a dense bread, a little more weighty than the other bread recipes.  It doesn’t rise quite as much, but it has depth and a glorious flavour.  If you have yet to bake your own gluten-free bread, I think it’s time!

Remember, most gluten-free, egg-free, and dairy-free bread recipes are more like batters.  You won’t knead these with your hands so you must have a mixer of some sort (a very good reason to buy a KitchenAid mixer don’t ya think?).

I shouldn’t have to beg you to try baking your own gluten-free bread.  But please, please, please bake your own gluten-free bread.  It’s so worth it and it’s not that hard!  The hardest part is the donation of your time. You have to stay home for three hours so you can let the bread rise and then bake the bread.  The making part is easy.  Trust me!

Buckwheat Quinoa Sandwich Bread (Gluten-Free, Egg-Free & Dairy-Free)

This time I wanted to try buckwheat flour (have you tried the buckwheat muffins?)  The result was delightful and very wheat-y, if you will.  This makes a great sandwich bread and doesn’t taste at all like the frozen gluten-free cardboard bread you’re used to eating.

1 1/4 cups warm water (100-115 degrees f)

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

5 tbsp ground flax mixed with water to equal 3/4 cup water

3 tbsp sunflower oil (any vegetable oil should do, I’m going to try coconut oil soon)

3 tbsp real maple syrup/agave/honey (I usually use maple syrup)

1 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1 cup tapioca starch

1/4 cup almond meal

1 tbsp xanthan gum/guar gum

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

Heat the water and pour it into your mixing bowl.  Add the yeast and allow it to proof for 5 minutes.  You will see it puff up.  It’s reassuring to see that poof.  If you don’t see it, start over!

Add the ground flax to a liquid measuring cup.  Add water to equal 3/4 cup of a flax-water mixture.  Stir and let sit while the yeast is proofing.

When the yeast and water mixture has proofed, add the oil, real maple syrup (or honey/agave) and the flax mixture.

In a medium-sized bowl, thoroughly combine the dry ingredients (I usually do this while my yeast is proofing).  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine.  Mix on medium speed for 5 minutes (if you’re lucky you have a KitchenAid mixer to do this for you!).  I usually stop my mixer once to wipe down the sides.  If you don’t have a KitchenAid or another type of mixer, I would stir (by hand) for at least 10 minutes.

At 5 minutes in your mixer, you will have a fairly wet batter – not your typical bread dough.  Remember! It’s gluten-free bread we’re working with here.

Scrape the batter into two bread pans (8 x 4 inch).  Let the loaves sit covered for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake 1 loaf for 45 – 50 minutes (check at the 45 minute mark since oven temperatures can vary so much).  The second loaf should go into the fridge covered until it’s ready for the oven. Refrigerating will slow down the yeast.

Use a knife or a cake tester to check loaves for doneness.  You want to go right to the bottom of the loaf to check for wet ingredients.

UPDATE: Want to use a bread machine for this recipe?  Read Ellen’s comments below (in the comment section) and you can!

Have you tried baking gluten-free bread yet?  What’s holding you back?

You can also find this recipe and many more ‘slightly indulgent’ recipes at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free