New Standards for Gluten-Free Breads
Nicole Hunn is the personality behind the popular blog, Gluten-Free on a Shoestring, and the author of the book "Gluten-Free on a Shoestring."
From the book “Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread: Biscuits, Bagels, Buns and More” by Nicole Hunn. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright (c) 2013
Has someone ever told you that a piece of gluten-free cake or a gluten-free cookie is “good, for gluten-free”? They’re trying to manage your expectations, to protect you from disappointment. But this attitude is what relegates gluten-free food to second-class status. No more! I have embarked on a one-woman crusade to shift the cultural conversation surrounding gluten-free food. If it’s gluten-free food that is not just plain “good,” or (dare I say it) “great,” by any measure, then it’s just not good enough. Who’s with me?
Now, of course, not all gluten-free food is of good quality. But we can apply the same standards to gluten-free foods as we do to conventional foods. Like all good cake, gluten-free cake should be moist, tender, and flavorful. If it’s crumbly and dry or gummy and tough, it’s bad cake.
Gluten-free bread should taste like bread. Enriched breads should be soft and tender, lean breads crusty and tangy. Yeast breads should fill your home with the kind of yeasty aroma that sells a house right out from under your feet.
Before I wrote my third cookbook, Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread, I had developed plenty of gluten-free bread recipes made the conventional way. These early recipes still work, and work well. But I felt it was time for dough that you could shape properly into dinner rolls, stretch into real pizza dough, and tie into garlic knots. So, I began experimenting with new flours and protein powders that could serve as a true substitute for gluten, the original protein that creates the stretch in conventional yeast breads. Using these new gluten substitutes, these revolutionary gluten-free bread doughs are closer to the “real thing” in taste, texture and function than we had ever even hoped. And crossing that threshold means that we can begin to reshape the cultural conversation about gluten-free breads.
Below is the recipe for Herb Focaccia from Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread. It has big, yeasty holes like proper focaccia should. You dimple it not so it looks like you expect focaccia to look, you dimple it for the right reasons. When focaccia dough proofs, it develops some holes that are so large they must be deflated lest they overtake the entire bread, and the dimples help this process. This focaccia is crusty on the outside and tender and yeasty on the inside, just like good, fresh focaccia bread should be. And not just “good, for gluten-free.” 
First published April 2014
Gluten-Free Herb Focaccia
From Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread: Biscuits, Bagels, Buns and More by Nicole Hunn excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright (c) 2013.
- Servings 1 large focaccia
Ingredients
Starter
- 140 grams (1 cup) Gluten-Free Bread Flour or High-Quality All-Purpose Gluten-Free Bread Flour* (see recipe below)
- 4 grams (1⅓ teaspoons) instant yeast
- ¾ cup warm water (about 35° C/95° F)
- 30 ml (1 tablespoon) honey
- 6 grams (1 teaspoon) baking powder
- 3 grams (½ teaspoon) xanthan gum
- Gluten-free nonstick baking spray
Dough
- 280 grams (2 cups) Gluten-Free Bread Flour or High-Quality All-Purpose Gluten-Free Bread Flour, plus more for sprinkling
- 6 grams (1 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 1.5 grams (¾ teaspoon) cream of tartar
- 12 grams (1 tablespoon) sugar
- 177 ml (¾ cup) water, at room temperature
- 90 ml (3 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil
Toppings
- Rosemary
- Oil
- Garlic
- Salt
*GLUTEN-FREE BREAD FLOUR
Makes 140 grams (1 cup) flour
100 grams (about 11½ tablespoons) all-purpose gluten-free flour (see below) (71%)**
25 grams (about 5 tablespoons) unflavored whey protein isolate (18%)
15 grams (about 5 teaspoons) Expandex modified tapioca starch (11%)
HIGH-QUALITY ALL-PURPOSE GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR
Makes 140 grams (1 cup) flour
42 grams (about ¼ cup) superfine brown rice flour (30%)
42 grams (about ¼ cup) superfine white rice flour (30%)
21 grams (about 2⅓ tablespoons) tapioca starch (15%)
21 grams (about 2⅓ tablespoons) potato starch (15%)
7 grams (about 1¾ teaspoons) potato flour (5%)
4 grams (about 2 teaspoons) xanthan gum (3%)
3 grams (about 1½ teaspoons) pure powdered pectin (2%)
Preparation
1. To make the starter, place all the starter ingredients in a medium-size bowl, and whisk until well combined. The mixture will be thick and shapeless. Cover and set the bowl aside in a warm, draft-free location to rise until more than doubled in size (about an hour).
2. Once the starter has finished rising, make the dough. In the bowl of your stand mixer, place the flour, salt, cream of tartar, and sugar, and use a hand held whisk to combine. Add the water, oil, and risen starter, and mix on low speed with the dough hook until combined. Raise the mixer speed to medium and knead for about 5 minutes. When you raise the dough hook, a trail of dough from the hook to the bowl should be intact for at least the count of five. The dough will be quite sticky. Spray a silicone spatula lightly with cooking oil spray, and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl or proofing bucket large enough for the dough to rise to double its size, and cover with an oiled piece of plastic wrap (or the oiled top to your proofing bucket). Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours and up to 5 days.
3. On baking day, line a large rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside. In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients and mix to combine to create an herb oil. Set the bowl aside.
4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, scatter a generous amount of flour on a flat surface, scrape the dough out of the bowl on top of the flour, and sprinkle with flour. Turn the dough over on itself with a bench scraper and transfer it carefully, with the help of a floured bench scraper, to the center of the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle half of the herb oil on top of the dough and, with the tips of your fingers, press and push the dough out toward the edges of the pan. The dough will be very wet and may be difficult to handle. Cover the dough with oiled plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free location to rise until doubled in size (about 2 hours). The dough will rise both up and out.
5. About 25 minutes before the end of the dough’s rise, preheat your oven to 232°C (450°F) and place a pizza stone on the lower rack. Once the dough has finished rising, pour the remaining herb oil over the top of the risen dough. Gently spread the oil around with your fingertips, dimpling the dough if you see any large bubbles, but otherwise taking care not to deflate it.
6. Place the baking sheet on the pizza stone, and bake for 5 minutes at 232°C (450°F). Lower the oven temperature to 204°C (400°F) and continue to bake for another 15 minutes, or until the top of the focaccia is golden brown and the center of the bread reaches 93° C (200°F) on an instant-read thermometer. Slice and serve warm.
Nicole Hunn
Nicole Hunn is the personality behind the popular blog, Gluten-Free on a Shoestring, and the author of the book Gluten-Free on a Shoestring, featured in the New York Times, MSN Money, Epicurious.com, and the Dr. Steve Show. Created with the busy family in mind, Hunn shares her secrets to getting a complete meal, including bread, on the table in no time flat — all without breaking the bank. She lives with her husband and three children in Westchester County, New York.
Courtesy photo
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