Gluten-free Boule Bread

My loyal readers may be shocked to find out that I have never made my own gluten-free bread.

That is, I had never attempted it before last night.  I wasn't giving it too high a chance of success.  I have a history of screwing up bread recipes - and that's with glutinous bread.  You know how people go on and on about how much they love the feel of bread dough in their hands as they are kneading it?  I was not one of those people.  I hated kneading.  Now I have another reason to love being gluten-free: no more kneading.  And guess what?  It came out great! 

I tried the Gluten-free Crusty Boule Bread Recipe that I read about on Gluten-free Girl earlier this year.  It's very similar to a no-knead bread recipe I had heard about from my sister of the Green Baby Guide blog.  The idea is actually very basic - even primitive.  Did you know that people used to bake bread on a hot stone with a pot inverted over it?  Bread was cooked this way even before ovens were invented.  This recipe uses a very hot oven with a pizza stone or a dutch oven inside to simulate the environment of the earliest bread-baking technique.

I followed the recipe almost exactly.  I used olive oil instead of canola oil, but aside from that I didn't revise.  I expected the dough to be sticky and wet, but I think mine may have been too wet.  I couldn't properly form a ball with it - it was too amorphous.  Then transferring the dough to the hot dutch oven was tricky (and sticky).  It didn't retain its shape.  Mine didn't rise in the oven as much as the bread in Shauna's picture, but the texture was great.  I still have some dough left in the fridge for another boule, so I'll try again in a few days.  The next go-round, I'll form the boule on parchment paper, and after it rests I can put in in the pot - paper and all - without disturbing it.  I may also try spritzing the top with water to get a crisper crust.  I'm excited to try it!