Gluten-Free French Bread a la Four Chickens

Happy May Day! It's wonderful in Seattle today--sunny, warm (70s), a slight breeze. It's actually way too nice to be in the kitchen, but I just wanted to give you the recipe for French bread I've been working on. I've been baking loaves upon loaves of this, tweeking the recipe, trying to make it the best tasting/best texture I can.

I started with other recipes that I found online for gluten-free French bread, most notably those by the Gluten Free Girl and The Gluten-Free Homemaker. I also read up on classic French bread in the Baking With Julia book by Dorie Greenspan and Julia Child. And, I referred to Shirley O. Corriher's book Cookwise for insights into the science of French bread (I know she has a new book, Bakewise, which I can't wait to read).

I discovered that one of the keys to a crispy crust is a humid oven. I used a pan of water placed on the oven floor and spritzed the oven with water to create humidity during baking.

So, here it is! Let me know what you think.

Gluten-Free French Bread
NOTE: I modified this on 8/12/09--I had forgotten to include the egg whites. Blush...

Special tools needed:
-heavy duty stand mixer (or a hand mixer will work in a pinch);
-French bread pan (this really is helpful--keeps the loaves in the proper shape)

-extra pan for water in the oven (I use an 8"x8" glass pan)
-water spritzer bottle

Ingredients
1 C. sorghum flour
1 C. brown rice flour
1 C. tapioca flour
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 TBL sugar
2 TBL active dry yeast (I use Red Star)
1 C. warm water (warm but not hot to touch)
1 TBL olive oil
1 tsp. vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
3 egg whites

- in mixer place flours, xanthan gum, and salt. Mix to combine.
- in a small bowl, dissolve sugar and then add and dissolve yeast--wait a few minutes for the yeast to foam (this means that it's working and starts the rising process)
-add olive oil, cider vinegar, and egg whites to the dry ingredients. Add yeast mixture to dry ingredients
-mix slowly to combine
-turn mixer to high and mix for 3 minutes or so
-spoon dough onto the French bread pan in two equal amounts
-shape dough into baguette oblongs
-slash top of each loaf with 3 slashes with a sharp knife or razor blade


-lightly rest a piece of aluminum foil over all (not touching the loaves)

-turn on oven to 400 degrees
-place pan with dough on top of stove (I do this so they're in a warm environment)
-let rise for about 30 mins or so (until they are double-ish in bulk)


-while you're waiting for the dough to rise, boil a pan's worth of water
-once dough has risen for 30 mins, place water in an oven-proof pan


-place pan of water on the floor of your oven
-spray oven with a spritz or two of water from spray bottle
-wait for another 5 minutes to let the oven get humid (necessary for a crisp crust)
-lightly brush tops of loaves with olive oil (to make them get brown and crispy)
-place bread pan in the oven

-bake for 30 minutes--until brown


-cool for a few minutes

This bread is best eaten hot or warm--as soon as possible after baking. It's got a nice crispy crust and my family found it to be delicious! I like it best when I tear off pieces with my hand rather than cutting it with a knife.



If you want to go totally crazy, you can make a version of Pain au Chocolate by shoving some chocolate, like chocolate chips, into the middle of a piece of warm bread and eat it that way. Yum....

Store whole loaf on counter in the open and uncovered (covering softens crust). If you have a bread box, that would be fine. Cover any partially eaten loaves by placing a piece of aluminum foil at open end (not over the whole loaf). May be frozen.
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If anyone makes this recipe, I would love any feedback you have.