One of the times when I miss the convenience of gluten food most as a coeliac is when we travel away from home. I have yet to try a supermarket gluten free loaf of bread that I really think hits the sweet spot of tasting ok (or even good) and not being too expensive, and even if (or maybe when – I can hope!) I found such a product, there’s no guarantee it will be available wherever we are. So, for the times when we are travelling and will have access to an oven I came up with this bread in a bag. It is basically a homemade box mix, with the convenience of being able to mix everything in the bag so no bowls are required. In addition to my pre-mixed bread mix, I will also take my own loaf tins and baking paper, to reduce the risks of cross-contamination from glutenous baking pans. If you are at home, this could also be made in a large bowl.
The taste is quite wholegrainy. This makes enough for one regular homemade bread loaf sized loaf and can be doubled without a problem if you want to make more in one go. If you use the optional seeds, you may need to put some of the batter in a second tin, or make sure you put the loaf into the oven before the batter rises too close to the top of the tin to ensure it doesn’t spill over in the oven. Like a lot of homemade gluten free bread this is great as bread on the day it is made. At a push, it can be used as bread the following day but is best toasted from day 2 onwards! When measuring gluten free ingredients in cups, it is better to spoon them into the measuring cup and then level off the cup with a butter knife than to scoop them straight into the cup.
What you’ll need:
3 tablespoons of white chia seeds, finely ground
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 sachets of instant dry yeast (about 2 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 ½ cups of buckwheat flour
½ cup of potato starch
¾ cup of tapioca starch
½ – 1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of seeds (for example, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flaxseeds; the seeds are optional)
3 eggs
1 ½ cups of lukewarm water
What to do:
1. Put all the dry ingredients (chia seeds, sugar, yeast, baking powder, buckwheat flour, starches, salt and seeds) in a large Ziploc bag. Seal the bag with a good amount of air still in the bag and shake it well to mix everything together. Once mixed, carefully press out as much air as possible and reseal the bag. This is now ready to take away with you, with the remaining steps completed when you are ready to make the bread. If you are making this in a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl and then continue immediately with the steps below.
2. When you are ready to make the bread, add the eggs and water to the bag with the dry ingredients, reseal the bag with as much air removed as possible, and mix everything together well. I find it easiest to do this by almost massaging the outside of the bag until all the ingredients are fully mixed together. If you are making this in a bowl, add the eggs and water to the dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly with a whisk, wooden spoon or even your hands if that works best for you!
3. Line a loaf tin with baking paper and carefully squeeze the bread mix out of the bag into the lined tin. I find it easiest to do this by opening the bag upside down into the tin and then squeezing the bag from the closed end to the open end. If you are making this in a bowl, this step will be much easier – just scrape your bread mix into the lined loaf tin!
4. Set the tin aside to allow the dough to rise to about 1.5 to 2 times its original size.
5. Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 180°C with the fan on and then bake the bread for about 30 minutes or until it looks done and sounds hollow when tapped.
6. Once done, take the bread out if the oven and leave to cool on a cooling rack. It will slice more easily once cool. Enjoy!
Some, Some and Some 