My fiance has celiac disease and so I have been trying to get better at baking gluten-free lately. I have made the following recipe many times and it is soooo delicious; I was wondering if someone more knowledgeable than myself can help me with the proper conversions to make the recipe gluten free? The recipe is found here, but I have also copied it below. My initial thoughts are trading the bread flour and whole wheat flour for a mixture of buckwheat and garfava flour with maybe 2 tsp of xantham gum. Thank you for any help!
Ingredients
Night Before:
* 1/3 cup bread flour
* 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/3 cup lukewarm water
* 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
Soaker:
* 1/4 cup toasted cracked wheat
* 1/4 cup water
Day of:
* 2 cups bread flour
* 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
* 1 cup lukewarm water
* 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
* 1 cup roasted potatoes and onions
Method
The night before you want to make this bread add all the "night before" ingredients
together and mix till smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and leave on the counter for
12-16 hours. In a separate bowl combine the "soaker" ingredients together and cover
with plastic wrap and leave on the counter for 12-16 hours. In the morning chop a few
potatoes and place in a baking dish. Cut about a half a onion and mix with the
potatoes. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and some thyme roast in the oven till
golden brown. Cool before using in the bread. Prep all the ingredients you will need
ahead. This will help to make things move faster. In a large bowl add the "night
before" mixture, the soaker, water, salt and instant yeast. Mix together. Add whole
wheat flour and have the bread flour. Mix till the batter is smooth and well blended.
Allow to sit uncovered for 15 minutes. Sprinkle some of the flour onto a flat surface
and pour out the dough. Top with some more flour and begin to knead slowly adding in
the rest of the flour. Add a little at a time till the dough is smooth and elastic.
Plus, a little on the sticky side. You will need to knead the dough for about 8 - 10
minutes. Take the dough and flatten it out a little. Add the roasted potatoes and
onions to the top of the dough. Now, knead in the potatoes into the dough. Knead till
the potatoes and onions are well incorporated. Add a little olive oil to a bowl and
place the dough into the bowl. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow to rest
till double in bulk. Pour out the dough onto a flat surface. Cut dough in half and
shape each piece into a ball. Sprinkle some cornmeal onto parchment paper. Place the
pieces of dough on top and dust with a little whole wheat flour. Cover with plastic
wrap and allow to rest for 1 hour. Remove the plastic wrap and score the top of the
bread with a sharp knife. Place into a preheated 440 degree oven with a baking stone
or on a cookie sheet. Create some steam by placing a cast iron pan on the bottom of
the oven the same time that you turn on the oven. Once you place the breads into the
oven pour about a cup of boiling water into the hot pan and close the door. Bake for
30 -35 minutes or till when tapped on the bottom of the loaf it sounds hollow.
Best Answer
Gluten free bread recipes are hard to get right, and maybe won't function with kneading per hand (there was a question about non-rising gluten free bread yesterday). You are much better off with an existing gluten-free bread recipe. Pick one which you know to be good, and prepare the dough as usual. Follow the recipe which is described here from the "Take the dough and flatten it out a little" sentence on, using your known good gluten-free dough instead of the one described here.
I don't know what would be the best substitute for the soaked wheat, experiment with soaked grains or myabe something else which gives a slight crunch (sunflower seeds, almond pieces - don't soak these).