gluten-free_dairy-free_sunflower_seed_bread
I’ve revised my book The Best Gluten-Free, Wheat-Free & Dairy-Free Recipes. I originally wrote the book to cater for people who couldn’t eat gluten plus those who couldn’t eat wheat but could eat gluten – as well as those who couldn’t eat dairy. I know there are lots of people who need to avoid wheat but can eat barley, rye, oats and other gluten products. So I made some recipes that would work for those people and put a gluten-symbol on the appropriate pages – and, in most cases, put a gluten-free variation. But since the book has been published, I’ve received a couple of complaints that there was some gluten in the book – one in an email to me and one on the Amazon site. On top of this, the coeliac organizations wouldn’t endorse the book because there was some gluten in there.
So, now that you can get gluten-free oats, I’ve taken the opportunity to revise the book. I’ve taken out a couple of recipes that used barley or rye and I’ve changed the oats to gluten-free oats throughout. (I’ve also added xanthan gum to the recipes, now that it’s so readily available.) And I’ve put in a new recipe – a Sunflower Seed Bread, instead. Now there’s absolutely NO GLUTEN in the book!
And here’s the Sunflower Seed Bread recipe for you to try.
* gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, citrus-free
- 150g/5oz/1 cup rice flour
- 120g/4¼oz/⅔ cup potato flour
- 50g/2oz/scant ½ cup gram flour
- 50g/2oz/scant ½ cup ground almonds
- 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp fruit sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp easy-blend dried yeast
- 50g/2oz chilled dairy-free margarine, cut into small pieces
- 60g/2¼oz/½ cup sunflower seeds
- Sift the flours into a large mixing bowl and stir in the ground almonds, baking powder, xanthan gum, sugar, salt and yeast. Using cold fingertips, rub the dairy-free margarine into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the sunflower seeds, make a well in the centre and pour in 400ml/14fl oz/scant 1⅔ cup warm water. Gradually draw the flour into the liquid using a wooden spoon, mixing well to form a smooth batter. Cover with cling film and leave to rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 and lightly grease a 450g/1lb loaf tin with dairy-free margarine. Spoon the dough into the tin and smooth the surface with the back of a metal spoon.
- Bake for 45–50 minutes until it is golden brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely before serving.
Waw!! I love this bread a lot! I have made it & it was ooh so tasty too!
I love it because there are no eggs in it!! It was awesome!! 🙂
I made your delicious bread (with some changes to the recipe) and put in on my blog, thank you so much, the taste is great!!
http://boeddhamumglutenfree.blogspot.com/2011/04/madame-jeanette-sambal-gf-df-sf.html
Many thanks! Delighted you thought it was delicious – and great idea to add more sunflower seeds and to use honey instead of sugar.
I was diagnosed with Coeliac’s disease at the beginning of 2011. Before that I would eat anything and everything and still can’t seem to stop. I’ve had very bad stomach pains and lots of other pain in my abdominal area for a long time. I try so hard to eat foods without gluten because of the fear the doctor has put into me, but get so darn mad. I try to bake bread but seem to mess it up. If I get it right then it goes bad fast. It’s like I can’t seem to maintaina healthy diet and enjoy food. I have no patience for preparing “everything” that I eat and no will power. I’m 287 pounds and 5’8″ tall and way overweight according to the BMI index. Living in a remote region in Alaska makes it a bit incovenient to buy gluten-free products without paying a seal and a whale for shipping. So… I . I dont know how much longer I can keep this up. I constantly tell myself that I’ve been eating this way for 41 years and have been miserable for just about that long that why does it matter if I’m gluten free? It’s an everyday struggle with myself and I really have no support groups except what’s on this internet.
Hi Ernestina, I’m so sorry to hear you’re struggling to follow a gluten-free diet. I don’t know what the retail outlets stock in Alaska but, from what you say, it must be difficult. Is it possible to get a bulk order delivered to you – of different flours like rice flour, gram flour, maize flour and ground almonds? Or even a gluten-free flour mix? And also things like xanthan gum (although you can do without this) and gluten-free baking powder? If you have all the ingredients sitting in your storecupboard it really helps. And you can make this bread incredibly easily – just in your food processor. It won’t last as long as store-bought bread that is often treated to make it last longer. But you can slice it up and freeze it – and simply toast the frozen slices.
I think the thing with having to follow a gluten-free diet is that you have to follow it totally – and even a tiny bit of gluten can give you horrible reactions. But when you do follow it totally it can make you feel so much better. Hang on in there – it’s worth it.
Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with.
All best,
Grace
Hi Grace
I have been coeliac for 8 years and this is the most delicious gluten free bread I have ever tasted, thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
My supermarket didn’t have gram flour so I replaced it with soya flour and it worked very well
YAY! Delighted you like it! Gx
I know this is an old post, but this looks elicious! I was wondering, should I use potato starch or potato flour? Recently I tried a gluten free bread recipe that called for potato flour but it ended up very heavy and didn’t rise properly (actually it didn’t rise at all!) – so I suspect that I maybe should have used potato starch (white and fluffy like cornstarch,compared to the darker grainier flour). Can you clarify?
Hi Sarah, Delighted to hear from you and I promise that the bread is delicious! This recipe uses potato flour and it works extremely well. Don’t substitute potato starch for flour here as it will mean that there’s too much starch in the mixture and it won’t rise. But if you want to use potato starch in bread recipes I think it works best if your starch mixture is no more than 30% of the whole mix. It makes a difference, too, if the rice flour you use is white (starch) or brown (not starch). Do use ground almonds as they really help the taste. And you could always use coconut flour, too, as this is truly delicious. Happy Baking! And let me know how you get on, will you? All best, Grace