OK, so as some of you know, there’s not a lot to love about most gluten-free breads. They crumble, they taste “flat”, they are dry, they are void of almost any flavor, some of them have a weird slippery consistency when they are traveling down your throat, and a lot of them don’t really even resemble “real” bread. Well, today those experiences are going to change for you. This bread recipe is from 250 Gluten-Free Favorites by Donna Washburn & Heather Butt. If you are going to live the gluten-free life, you need this cook book as your bread bible. It’s filled with hundreds of fantastic and delicious recipes. They also have several other cook books to choose from, all of which are on my future “gifts I’d like to have” lists.

I have tried a gazillion pre-made, gluten-free breads along with maybe a gazillion more gluten-free bread recipes. This recipe is by far the ABSOLUTE best gluten-free bread I have ever tasted, hands down. And hold on to your seats people because what I’m about to tell you is going to make you want to jump for joy. When it bakes, it smells like gluten bread, when you slice it, it doesn’t fall apart. When you make a sandwich out of it, it doesn’t crumble. When you bite into it, it doesn’t have some creepy texture that makes you want to gag. It smells absolutely heavenly in the oven, coming out of the oven, and every single time you slice a piece of it. I’m even going to go out on a limb and call it perfect. You can slice it and butter it right out of the oven, you can make sandwiches, you can make toast, and you can dry it and make bread crumbs or bread cubes for stuffing. You can do whatever you want with it because it is real bread that smells and tastes and has the texture of the real thing. You can even fiddle around with the recipe a little to mix it up every now and then by trying different flours and grains. Can I get an Amen?

My husband and son bought me the cook book for Mother’s Day two years ago and I can’t count how many times I’ve made this recipe. When I finally grew tired of eating the infamous rice hamburger buns from the grocery store, you know which ones I’m referring to right? The ones that are almost as dry as cardboard, crumble when you bite into them, or get soggy when you try to put a condiment on them and are white and dense as a hockey puck? Yah, those horrific things. Anyway, when I finally got tired of dealing with those, I thought, “Why couldn’t I make my favorite bread recipe into hamburger and sandwich buns?” Well, it turned out that they actually sell hamburger bun pans online, much to my surprise. Since those pans arrived, I’ve been happily making my own delicious hamburger and sandwich buns thanks to Donna Washburn & Heather Butt. Next on the list…hot dog bun pans.

The first time you make this, it may seem like there’s a lot of ingredients which therefore make it complicated. Trust me, it’s extremely easy. What I do now to save time is buy the flours in bulk and then measure out about 10 bags or so of the dry ingredients at a time. I keep them in my pantry and then they are ready to go when I need them. All I have to do is add the wet ingredients and choose which pan I want to use.

Multigrain Bread

Preheat oven to 350 while you’re getting everything ready. Use a 9×5 inch loaf pan, lightly greased (or a hamburger bun pan).

1/2 Cup Brown Rice Flour

1/2 Cup Gluten-Free Oat Flour

2/3 Cup Amaranth Flour

1/2 Cup Potato Starch

3 Tbsp. Amaranth Grain

1 Tbsp. Ground Flax Seed (Sometimes I switch these two around…1 Grain/3 Seed)

1 Tbsp. Xanthan Gum

2 tsp. Instant Yeast

1 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt

2 Eggs, lightly beaten

2 Egg Whites, lightly beaten

3/4 Cup Warm Water

3 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil (I use Olive Oil)

3 Tbsp. Honey

2 tsp. Cider Vinegar

1.  In a large bowl combine the flours, potato starch, amaranth grain, flaxseed, xanthan gum, yeast, and salt. Whisk together and set aside.

2.  In a seperate bowl, using a heavy-duty electric mixer with the paddle attachement, combine beaten eggs, beaten egg whites, water, oil, honey, and vinegar, until incorporated.

3.  With the mixer on its lowest speed, slowly add the dry ingredients until combined. Stop the machine and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

With the mixer on medium high speed, beat for 4 minutes (set a timer).

4.  Spoon evenly into prepared pan. If you’re making a loaf of bread, spread it out so it is as even as possible.

If you’re doing sandwich buns or hamburger buns, wet fingers and carefully pat the dough out to fit the molds.

Lightly spray a piece of plastic wrap with oil and cover loosley and allow to rise on the top of the oven  for about 60 minutes. This time will depend on how warm your kitchen is. If you’re making a loaf of bread, don’t allow it to rise too much (just until it is peaking over the top of the pan), or it will fall when you take it out of the oven. If you’re making sandwich buns, the same applies. (Usually about 45-50 minutes.)

5.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the internal temperature of the bread or sandwich buns register 200-205° on an instant-read thermometer (about $7 at your local grocery store). Remove the bread from the pan immediately, and allow to cool completely on a rack.