French Bread. Not only French Bread, but Gluten-Free French bread. For me, this has been like the search for the Holy Grail. After searching for a recipe for it, trying a few, and failing miserably, I didn’t think I’d ever have French bread again. Much less, garlic toast.
Then along came that wonderful Gluten-Free Gourmet, a Celiac’s hero, Bette Hagman. This woman has many wonderful recipes using different flour mixes, and they produce wonderful results!
This bread was a little heavier than store bought French Bread, but we didn’t mind. I may not have let it rise long enough, I’m not sure. The flavour was really good, and it even toasted up beautifully under the broiler to make garlic toast. Delicious!
Yields one large loaf (halve everything for a small loaf)
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 cups French Bread/Pizza Mix (see Note)
- 6 Tbsp dry milk powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 Tbsp yeast
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 tsp dough enhancer or vinegar
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 1/3 cup warm water
Directions:
- Prepare a French bread pan or cookie sheet by greasing and dusting with cornmeal (if desired).
- In a bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, combine the dry ingredients (including the yeast). In a small bowl, beat the egg whites, dough enhancer, and oil slightly with a fork. Add most of the warm water. Add these to the dry ingredients and beat on high for 3 minutes. Check after the first few seconds of mixing to see if more water is needed. The dough should be thick but not dry or forming a ball.
- Spoon into the French bread pan or onto the cookie sheet in the shape of a French loaf. If necessary, smooth the top with greased fingers. Cover and let rise about 35 minutes for rapid-rise yeast, and 60-75 minutes for regular yeast.
- Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven (Bette’s recipe calls for 425 degrees, I found that too warm) for 25-30 minutes, or until nicely browned and the loaf sounds hollow when thumped.
Variation: For a Rosemary French bread, to the dry ingredients add 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary per cup of flour.
Note:The French Bread/Pizza Mix is as follows (for 6 cups)
3 1/2 cups white rice flour
2 1/2 cups tapioca starch
2 Tbsp Xanthan gum
2 (7-gram) packets unflavoured gelatin
2 Tbsp egg replacer
1/4 cup sugar
Source: The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread by Bette Hagman
I made that bread recipe once and ended up eating a whole loaf while it was still warm! I wouldn’t recommend doing that, but it sure tasted good after being without tasty bread for months. That garlic toast looks delicious.
Katy, I can see that being done VERY easily! I made a small loaf (didn't want to "waste" the ingredients if it was another flop), so at least there wasn't that much to devour.
It sure is tasty though!
Did you find a way to get the top smoother? Seems no matter what, it looks like the mountains & craters of some planet. lol
Wow that looks great..job well done..Mom
But Jeanine I like the look of those ‘craters and mountains’..the bread looks wonderful!
I agree about the peaks! Embrace them since it’s hard to control that crazy dough. I actually haven’t made bread for years because my grandma (now age 85) took the challenge of gf baking and bakes me wondrous things. She usually uses english muffin pans to ensure some edibility and even baking (no slumping or doughy spots). She’s the best.
Thanks for checking out my stuff!
Just embrace the craters, huh?? lol Oh well…I guess I will…this time.
Katy, that is great that your grandma has taken on the challenge of GF baking. Mine thinks it’s nuts, and wonders HOW I live without bread. lol But, I’m not lacking anything, she just doesn’t get that part. Does your Grandma also have Celiacs?
I actually bake bread for an older lady in town. She is capable of baking, but says mine tastes much better than hers. Makes me feel good, and she gets bread. We both win.
This looks great, I’ve been trying
to use my french bread loaf pan. What type of pan did you use??
Oh my goodness…that looks amazing!!
Oh no…Karen, I was hoping no one would ask! lol I looked at the French loaf pan, but didn't know if I wanted another specialty pan. So…getting creative, I used a piece of round metal duct (like for your furnace). My husband cut it in half length wise, and I line it with parchment paper. Seemed to work well!
(and cost a few pennies, compared to $20+).
CDM – Thanks for embracing the mountains & crevices with me.
Does anyone know if there is a substitute for the gelatin or if it is even necessary to the recipe?
Anon, agar agar can be used to replace gelatin. At least, that’s what a quick Google search tells me. I’m not familiar with it though.
I think, considering it is only 2 packets for 6 cups of flour, and the recipe only calls for 3 1/2 cups for the loaf, that it would not harm to leave it out. May be a little less chewy then, but should still be very good!
Jeanine,
I wonder if you realize how important your blog is. Throughout the years I’ve had many many questions asked about gluten free baking. I’m going to send them your way from now on.
Kudos you get amazing karma points!
Laura
Laura, thank you so much for your kind words. They really have made my day (or weekend, rather; maybe even week).
Thanks!
My gf french bread was super heavy too! Making gf bread is by far the toughest thing to do — yours came out so lovely, I really like the top.
We've just found your site and liked this recipe. For those of us who deal with the double diagnosis of celiac & type 1 diabetes it would be easier to have all the ingredients listed in a single recipe. The addition of the Mix (which you don't use all of) sure made the calculation of carbohydrates tricky. Yummy bread but lots of math needed to eat it! Thank you!
This looks GREAT, but I dont have any egg replacer have never used it. Can I use some thing else in its place?
Thank you,
Forress
I'm newly diagnosed with CD and am missing bread something fierce… but the breads I've tried is sweet and I'm not much for sweet bread. This french bread looks wonderful but I see sugar is in the recipe as well. Is it sweet or does it taste like "normal" french bread? Any and all suggestions and comments are appreciated.
i would think you could leave the egg replacer out if you don't have any on hand. I only bought it because it was marked down, and I really wanted to make the Oreo cookies, which called for it.
This bread isn't really sweet. The small amount of sugar used in breads is used to activate your yeast. The yeast feeds off of the sugar. Hope this helps!
That French Bread looks so good,gonna try this tomorrow !