Bread, you are always in my head!
When I was a child I used to go grocery shopping with my aunt: looking for fresh veggies, typical products and other goods. Our first stop, though, would always be the bakery.
The smell in that shop was the highlight of my days as a child. I used to taste everything on the counter: from pizzas, to cookies till my beloved bread!
How can I forget about the crunchy crust, the soft crumb and that rich taste?
I used to call it "il pane che fa rumore" which literally translated in English means:
the bread which makes noise (from chewing it).
Well, coeliac disease meant dealing at first with a range of flavours and textures that killed all my desire for gluten-free bread.
That was the moment I started thinking that getting my hands on some baking sessions would be worth the effort!
If you want to create the simplest bread loaf and add a touch of fanciness with sunflower seeds, then follow this recipe:
What you need to bake two small baguettes or a big bread loaf:
- 500 grams of gluten-free flour*
- 250 ml of water
- 1 spoon of gluten free yeast
- sunflower seeds (quantity according to your taste)
*Which gf flour do you like the most? I used Juvela White Mix which is really easy to work with. And, for my brown bread, I used Glutafix Fibre Mix - reliable too.
The making:
Put a spoon of gluten free yeast in the bowl containing water and stir it till it melts. Then, slowly add the flour to it, till the dough becomes easy to knead. You can shape it as a small sphere and leave it rising till it becomes double of the size.
Note that working with gluten free flour is challenging: you'll find the dough easier to knead if you keep putting dry flour on your hands.
It's now time to pre-heat the oven temperature around 200°C.
Then, take the dough and create the shape of bread you like the most: baguettes, flat loaf, high loaf, etc.
Wait for it to rise double the size again and add the sunflower seeds.
Then finally put the dough in the oven, using a tray or directly on the grid. Remember to oil the baking paper under where your dough is going to cook!
Cook it at the temperature of 220 °C for the first 20 minutes and then increase the temperature till 250°C in the last 10 minutes, to achieve the golden crust!
There is a secret ingredient to have a the perfect crust: gluten-free xanthin gum!
This effective thickening agent can be added at the beginning of the making, when you melt the yeast in the water.
Well, I can tell you I won't miss my loud bread anymore and you shouldn't either!
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