Gluten Free, Yeast Free Bread

Before my children were diagnosed with Celiac Disease, I used to bake fresh homemade bread every week or two. I loved the way it made the house smell, how my hands felt making it, and the satisfaction of creating something new. Once they were diagnosed and my son wasn't getting better with just being gluten free, I'd thought my bread-baking days were over. Now, here we are, 5 years after their diagnoses, and my son's finally able to just eat gluten free again without issue. I was buying GFYF bread from the store, but it was a tiny little loaf for $5.99...AND it tasted like acidic cardboard (seriously, it wasn't good). So...I decided to adapt my old bread recipe and see what we could come up with. This is the finished product...and my husband (who hadn't liked 90% of the gluten free products we've bought and tried) says the bread tastes like a muffin (which he likes). So...it's husband AND kid-approved (which is a rare thing). :)

This recipe makes exactly ONE loaf. I usually bake 3 loaves at a time...but instead of tripling it all, mixing them all at once, and divvying up the dough into each pan, I just do 3 batches of it one right after the other and then bake them together.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (I like Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 flour)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. honey
• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 3 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar)
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. 
2. Grease your bread pan with oil (I like coconut oil...but you could use olive oil or another vegetable oil if you wish). 
3. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda). 
4. Add in the honey, eggs, and olive oil. Mix thoroughly. 
5. Slowly add in the milk, until incorporated but not overly wet (you want it to just barely get all the dry ingredients wet). It should look like this...
   
6. Mix in the red wine vinegar. 
7. Add 1 tbsp. of the lemon juice and stir quickly. 
8. Place the mixture (which will be sticky/wet) into your pre-oiled bread pan. Gently spread it with your hand or a fork until it's relatively level. 
9. With a bread knife, gently cut/separate the bread mixture down the middle of the loaf. 
   
10. Gently drizzle the remaining 1 tbsp. of lemon juice into this opening. Cover the opening back up. 
11. Let rise for about 30 minutes (it won't rise much...but you want to let it bubble a bit). It should look similar to this...
    
12. Bake in a 375F oven for about 50 minutes. You want the tops nicely browned and for the cracks to not look wet at all. 

Wait at least 30 minutes for the bread to cool a bit. Using a butter knife, cut around the edges of the bread to separate the bread from the loaf pan and gently flip it upside-down until the bread falls out of the pan. Place on a wire rack to cool for an additional 30 minutes (at least). I prefer to cut my bread while it's still a bit warm...though I know there are those who think that's sacrilege.

Once you're ready to cut, cut it to your preferred thickness (I try to do relatively thin on ours...somewhere between 1/4-1/2 an inch) and store in a ziploc bag. If you're not going to use it straightaway, store it in the freezer to keep it fresher for longer. The loaf should last about a week...though mine eat it up, so it's never lasted more than a few days. lol 

Enjoy!