Gluten-free Gourmand

I have been trying various methods of doing a fully sourdough-leavened pizza for awhile, but the timing is tricky.  I've started to just do a "hybrid" sourdough recipe that also uses yeast, and it's been fantastic.  I get the texture and flavor of sourdough while also having the benefits of the rising power and easier time management of baker's yeast.  This recipe offers a few different variations that makes it easy to work for a vegan crust. Here are Amazon USA links to some of the equipment used: Perforated Pizza Pan I use the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone which is amazing But I've also used less expensive pizza stones like this one Actually the least expensive pizza stone I ever had I sourced at a local restaurant supply store. I haven't invested in a Pizza Peel yet but I like the looks of this wooden one .  I also like the looks of this metal pizza peel with detachable wooden handle. And of course I have had my eye on an OONI PIZZA OVEN for awhile.  Is t...

It's been awhile since I posted the original Grain-free Sandwich Bread Recipe.  That recipe contained an single egg... this one doesn't.  To span that gap took endless testing, but here I am with my new egg-free recipe, and it's better than ever! When I make this recipe it fills the house with the most amazing scent of baking bread.  But what I like the most about it is how fluffy this bread is, and how flexible. The egg replacer here is flax seed.  It wasn't an exact swap though.  I had to make some other alterations, including reducing the starches.  However, the result is every bit as fluffy, maybe fluffier, than the original. A few helpful affiliate links to give you an idea of what tools and ingredients are needed: A stand mixer.  You can hand mix but this tool makes it much easier with gluten-free dough.  I use the Kitchenaid Artisan Stand Mixer  in black. I use a 4x4x9  USA Steel Pullman Loaf pan  - the lid is optional but I...

Teff Basics The first thing you need to know about teff is that it's a wild card, but only in the best possible way.  Unlike other gluten-free grains, teff is the most flexible GF grain for baking, and it's also the most variable grain I've ever worked with for flavor.  Nutty, earthy, sour, sweet, spicy, and mild are all flavors that I've gotten from teff bread.  I'm still not always sure how to control the flavor, I'm just along for the ride. Teff is one of the world's tiniest grains and has been used in sourdough bread for as long as 40,000 years.  (See this recipe for traditional injera flatbread .)  It comes in two main varieities in the USA, brown and ivory, though many other varieties exist.  It comes originally from Africa. However, Idaho seems to have a climate conducive to growing it, so that is where much of the teff is grown here in the USA.  Bob's Red Mill , Maskal and Judee's are the three brands I buy. (I've included affiliate lin...

It's one of the first things you learn when you start trying to bake gluten-free: use a blend of different flours.  No single flour can work.  Especially for bread. I based all my baking on this principle for years.  More like 1.5 decades.  Then this year, for the very first time, I asked myself: why?  And to single flours: why not?  Thus were born many, many little baby loaves of single flour gf bread. No surprise that it didn't work for everything.  Glutinous rice flour? No way. The surprise was that it did work for almost  everything. 100% Cassava flour.   100% Oat flour. 100% White rice flour.   100% Brown rice flour. 100% Buckwheat flour. Then, the other surprise that shouldn't have been a surprise.  My favored grains were the best of the bunch. 100% Teff flour (this one is sourdough, the rest are yeasted). 100% Sorghum flour.   100% Millet flour. There is a method to my madness.  This whole experiment was made possi...