English Muffin Bread GF

By MaryEllen

This gluten free English muffin bread is by nature a very wet dough. So not only does it rise quickly, but it will rise even in a drier environment. It’s still possible to dry it out enough that it won’t rise, but there’s a bigger margin for error. That’s like rising insurance!

Ingredients

• 3 cups (420 g) Gluten-Free Bread Flour, plus more for sprinkling*
• 1 2/3 teaspoons (5 g) instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon (12 g) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (9 g) kosher salt
• 1 2/3 cups warm milk (110°F)
• Coarsely ground gluten free cornmeal, for sprinkling (optional)
• GLUTEN FREE BREAD FLOUR
• Makes 1 cup (140 g) flour
• 100 grams (about 11 1/2 tablespoons) all-purpose gluten-free flour (71%)**
• 25 grams (about 5 tablespoons) unflavored whey protein isolate (18%)
• 15 grams (about 5 teaspoons) Expandex modified tapioca starch (11%)
• For the all-purpose gluten-free flour in Gluten-Free Bread Flour, you can use either the High-Quality All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour (below, which is a copycat recipe for Better Batter gluten free flour) or Better Batter Gluten Free Flour itself.
• 1 CUP (140 g) HIGH-QUALITY ALL-PURPOSE GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR
• 42 grams (about 1/4 cup) superfine brown rice flour (30%)
• 42 grams (about 1/4 cup) superfine white rice flour (30%)
• 21 grams (about 2 1/3 tablespoons) tapioca starch (15%)
• 21 grams (about 2 1/3 tablespoons) potato starch (15%)
• 7 grams (about 1 3/4 teaspoons) potato flour (5%)
• 4 grams (about 2 teaspoons) xanthan gum (3%)
• 3 grams (about 1 1/2 teaspoons) pure powdered pectin (2%)

Preparation

Step 1

In the bowl of your stand mixer, place the flour, yeast, and sugar, and use a handheld whisk to combine well. Add the salt, and whisk to combine. Add the milk and mix with the paddle attachment until the dough is smooth. It will be very wet. Cover the bowl with oiled plastic wrap, and set in a warm, draft-free location to rise until nearly doubled in size (about 40 minutes). You can skip this first rise and proceed right to the following step, if you prefer. The bread will just have a bit less flavor but it should not affect the final rise at all.

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease well an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan and sprinkle the bottom and sides with cornmeal. Once the dough has doubled, stir it down to deflate it a bit. Scrape the dough into the prepared loaf pan, smooth the top with a wet spatula, and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Place in a warm, draft-free location to rise until the dough is about 1/2 inch above the sides of the pan (about 1 hour). Remove the plastic wrap from the loaf pan and slash down the center of the loaf at a 45 degree angle and about 1/4 inch deep with a sharp knife or lame. Sprinkle the top of the loaf lightly with cornmeal, and place it in the center of the preheated oven. Bake until the loaf is lightly golden brown, registers 185°F in the center on an instant-read thermometer, and sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom (about 35 minutes).

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the loaf pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Slice thickly and serve.