Gluten-Free Crusty Boule

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Gluten-free breads were a major request from readers of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The options for buying gluten-free bread are both unsatisfying and expensive. So here is a wonderful bread that anyone, celiac or not, would want to eat.

Several readers have asked about the olive oil dough on page 302 of The New Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. While the Crusty Boule (page 299 in the book) has a chewy and toothsome texture, the bread made with the olive oil dough has a much lighter, almost fluffy interior. Replace the neutral flavored oil in the Gluten-Free Crusty Boule recipe with olive oil if you prefer the texture of that loaf. They are both wonderful and give you fantastic options for free form loaves, sandwich breads, pizzas and even crackers. You will find all of these, plus many other gluten-free breads and awesome sticky buns in the book, with the link above.

For those of you who are celiac or just baking for someone who is you will find all of the directions and tips for handling gluten-free dough below. It is just as easy as the other recipes, but requires slightly different techniques and a new list of ingredients.

Gluten-Free Crusty Boule

Makes enough dough for at least four 1-pound loaves

2 cups Brown Rice Flour

1 1/2 cups Sorghum Flour

3 cups Tapioca Flour (also called tapioca starch)

2 tablespoons yeast (can be reduced but you will have to increase the rise time)

1 tablespoon kosher salt (increase or decrease to taste)

2 tablespoons Xanthan Gum

2 2/3 cups lukewarm water

4 large eggs, whisked together

1/3 cup neutral-flavored oil or olive oil

2 tablespoons honey or sugar

Click here to see the video of this recipe

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Mixing and storing the dough: Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt and xanthan gum in a 5-quart lidded Round Food Storage Container. Combine the oil, honey and water, set aside.

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Dump the eggs into the dry ingredients and then stir while you pour in about 1/3 of the oil and water. Unlike my wheat doughs, do not add all of the liquid at once and stir. If you do, that will result in a lumpy dough.

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Continue to stir while you pour in another 1/3 of the liquid.

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The dough will start to come together in a thick dough. Add the final 1/3 of liquid and

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Stir until the dough is smooth. Cover with the lid, but do not snap it shut. Allow it to rest on the counter for about 2 hours. Place the dough in the refrigerator and store for up to 7 days. (I have a piece in the freezer and I will report back about how that turns out once I defrost it and bake it up. Stay tuned.)

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On baking day take the bucket from the refrigerator. The dough will be quite fluffy still and you want to try not to handle the dough too much. Just like our other doughs the trick is to keep as much of the air bubbles in tact as possible.

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Use wet hands to remove 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece of dough from the bucket.

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The dough will be quite scraggly when you take it out, just place it on a piece of parchment paper.

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Use wet hands to smooth out the surface of the dough.

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This may take dipping your hands in the water a few times…

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to get a nice shape.

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Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest on the counter for about 90 minutes. If your kitchen is very warm you may only need about 75 minutes.

30 minutes before baking time preheat the oven with a 5 1/2 quart Dutch Oven in it to 500 degrees. Be sure it is fitted with a metal Replacement Knob, the original plastic knobs can only be heated to about 400 degrees. To find directions for baking on a stone see page 237 of HBin5.

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The dough will not have grown much while resting, but it will seem a little bit puffier. Use a serrated knife to cut slashes in the dough.

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Remove the pot from the oven and take off the lid.

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Lift the bread on the parchment and VERY CAREFULLY lower the parchment and bread into the pot, replace the lid onto the pot. Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes remove the lid, turn the heat down to 450 and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

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Once the bread is done baking remove it from the pot using a spatula.

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Allow the bread to cool completely before eating or the center may seem gummy.

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WEIGHTS for GLUTEN-FREE FLOURS

Brown Rice Flour: 1 cup = 5 1/2 oz = 160 grams

Tapioca Flour (Starch): 1 cup = 4 1/2 oz = 130 grams

Sorghum Flour: 1 cup = 4 3/4 oz = 135 grams

Cornstarch: 1 cup = 4 1/2 oz = 130 grams

Note: BreadIn5.com is reader supported. When you buy through links on the site, BreadIn5 LLC earns commissions.

1,097 thoughts to “Gluten-Free Crusty Boule”

  1. I am sorry, I just have to comment again. Because I just baked my fourth loaf and this bread is AMAZING! Zoe, you were right. I thought I had let it cool enough but you really have to let it sit for a bit even after it is cool to the touch.

    I am serious. I didn’t think it was possible to bake bread like this. Thank you SO much! I can not believe that I can eat bread that I don’t have to toast first! Incredible! My kids just set aside their ‘regular bread’ sandwich and asked for my bread instead. Unreal. oooxxx

  2. Hi! I’ve just this week been baking the whole wheat master loaf for my husband and it looks lovely. I’m severely allergic to gluten though so I am looking forward to trying this. Unfortunately I’m also allergic to eggs, so I was wondering if anyone had experimented with an egg-free version. I expect I will try it out myself soon but I thought I’d ask if anyone else had advice so far. I know it’s an extra level of difficulty… I will report back when I get a chance to try it (I’m out of sorghum flour and have to order more). Thanks for all your help and advice!

    1. Hi Dana,

      I have not yet tried it with an egg replacer, but I’ve heard from a couple of readers that it works well. If you try, will you please report back and let me know what product you used in place of the eggs?

      Thanks, Zoë

  3. Zoe & Jeff,
    I’m GF and was really excited about this– but I wound up not having much luck. My bread was super-dense and had a very yeasty taste. It didn’t seem to rise at all once I took it out of the refrigerator. I don’t have one of those food storage tubs and have been using a metal bowl with a lid (not airtight) instead; could this be the problem?

    Shannon

    1. Hi Shannon,

      Did the dough have any rise when you first mixed it and let it sit? The trick is to keep all of the air in the dough as you form the loaf. It may not rise much as it rests before baking and will have a little oven spring, but not as much as traditional dough. In order to not handle the dough too much you can even scoop it out of the bucket with a slightly wet metal spoon. Just scoop it out onto the parchment and then gently smooth it out with wet hands into the shape you want.

      The metal bowl should be fine as long as it is stainless steel.

      Thanks! Zoë

  4. Zoe,

    It did, if I recall correctly– but when I pulled it out of the refrigerator it seemed to have lost the initial rise. I barely handled it at all, like you said. If it helps, it also had a strange, unappetizing cement-like color to it.

    thank you,
    Shannon

  5. Shannon: I’m wondering if you have different ingredients than we do– otherwise everything else sounds exactly like what we do. Any chance you used white rice flour instead of brown (will throw off the water requirement).

    Don’t know what to make of the color situation– but stored dough does become gray– that’s not a problem, generally.

    Jeff

  6. You not only answered my questions & calmed my nerves about eggs in record time, but you also back up that quality with fantastic-ness. I tried this Gluten-Free bread recipe & methods (and used Gluten Free Girl’s suggestions of adding Olives & Rosemary) and it made me cry. I can now have the bread that I’ve always had here in Chicago at fancy bakeries prior to my wheat allergy diagnosis, and now I never have to feel left out. I’m ready to Craig’s List my breadmaker. Cheers to you on listening to your wheat-deprived fans and doing the experimenting for us. Sending you the warmest praise and love on changing my life one loaf of g/f bread at a time.
    My Best,
    Tif

  7. I’ve got a sister who is allergic to gluten AND eggs. She tried one (not sure which one) with egg replacer and said it tasted great, but was dense as a brick. Any suggestions or additional recipes she might try? Thanks

    1. Judy: Eggs really do lighten up recipes, that’s why they’re so prominent in GF recipes. We haven’t tested the various egg replacer products, so can’t yet comment intelligently. “Dense as a brick” is not sounding promising though. Jeff

  8. Hello, I’m planning on making this bread for my 3 year old daughter but I dont have a baking stone or a Dutch oven….so I was going to make it in a small tin. How long do I bake it if it’s in a tin?

    1. Hi Janine,

      You can follow the G-F Cheddar and Sesame Bread directions for baking in a loaf pan on page 244. We use a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2- baking pan, so if you are using a smaller one you will need to reduce the resting and baking times slightly.

      Hope that helps! Zoë

  9. Is it possible to substitute melted butter for the oil in the boule and brioche recipes? Would I need to make any other changes? will a 4.25 qt le creuset marmite pot work?

  10. Hi,

    I went to the biggest health food shop in my area today to get all the flours needed to make the GF breads but I couldn’t get any Sorghum Flour or Tapioca Flour. I did get some buckwheat flour, Teff flour as well as the other flours mentioned in the book. I have coconut flour at home as well.

    Which flour can I use to replace the Sorghum Flour and Tapioca Flour?

    1. Hi Janine,

      You may want to order them on line. I know you can find them through Amazon, which I have linked to in the ingredients section of this post. I have not yet tried to substitute any of the flours, but surghum is most like brown rice flour and Tapioca is closest to corn starch.

      Hope that helps! Zoë

  11. Hi,
    After trying the gluten-free Boule and reading about all the amazing recipes in your book, I just purchased HBin5 and decided to try out the Brioche and Super Sam Gluten-Free Cinnamon Buns. I followed the recipe exactly, except I substituted rice milk for cow’s milk and found my dough to be very goopy. It didn’t roll well at all…my goopy buns are rising as I type and I’m hoping that they still taste delicious. Would replacing the cows milk with rice milk have this goopy effect? Thanks for your help, amber 🙂

    1. Hi Amber,

      Our dough is quite soft, but it sounds like yours is overly so. One cause could be the way you are measuring the flour. We use a scoop and sweep method, which will result in much more flour than spooning the flour into the measuring cup. I don’t think that it would be the rice milk.

      The dough is also slightly stiffer after it is chilled, which may make it easier to handle.

      Let me know if this sounds like it could be the problem? Thanks, Zoë

  12. I would love to order them on-line but I forgot to mention I’m in Germany. Its just not available here. I’ve been searching all day.
    It will help to know which the flours are similar to. I can use them instead and hope for a nice loaf of bread and not a brick.

    1. Hi Janine,

      I didn’t realize you were in Germany. Try those other flours I mentioned and see if that works. You may want to start with a 1/2 batch. Please let me know how it goes.

      Thanks, Zoë

  13. Just wanted to let you know my goopy gluten-free cinnamon buns turned into cinnamon blobs…but they are absolutley declicious and have a nice bready flavour. Had to cook them a little longer to account for the goopiness. I added some extra brown rice flour and cornstarch to the remaining dough, hopefully that will do the trick. amber 🙂

  14. Thanks for the response Zoe – I keep all my gluten-free flours in Tupperware so that they can be scooped, so I don’t think that was the problem.

    After mixing in the extra flours in, I let the dough rest another 3 hours in the fridge and have just put some in a loaf pan to rise, it was definitely easier to handle, but I was still not able to form a ball at all, the dough kind of slid through my fingers when I picked it up.

    I think next time I’ll try using less rice milk and potentially more flours.
    amber 🙂

  15. We have been using your 5 minute basic recipe since the fall and the “wheat eaters” in the family love it. Just recently I purchased the healthy grains book and today decided to try the GF boule. Wow! We love it! The taste and the texture are both exactly what we GFers in the family have been missing all these years. We could not get the olive oil out of the cupboard and the rosemary out of the garden fast enough. Thanks so much! I’m so excited to find you’ve posted the recipe online and looking forward to sending it to my GF family members.
    I looked at several of the other GF recipes in the book and noticed that they use soy flour which several of us cannot tolerate. Do you have a suggestion for a substitute?

    1. Tina: We’re talking about 1/2 cup of soy flour, so you should be able to slightly increase each of the other flours in the mixture to make up for a half-cup of solid ingredient that way. Jeff

  16. Hi Zoe,
    Just popping in quickly to say I found the sorgum flour. The problem was working out what its called in Germany and then searching for it using the German name for it. I have a 5kg sack of it OTW now.

    It’s called Milomehl in German should anyone should have this problem in the future.

    I’m sure I have a better chance of making a nice bread when I only need to replace one of the ingredients. Thanks for the help.

    Janine

    1. Hi Lisa,

      Yes, you can use any kind of yeast for all of the recipes. Active dry, instant or rapid rise all seem to behave the same in our stored dough.

      Thanks, Zoë

  17. OMG!!! The brioche is awesome!! After countless failures and yuk bread, at last something edible and delicious! I baked one two days ago and left a part on the counter to see how it would be in one day and two days. Wonderful!!! I am having a party tomorrow evening for dinner and am baking two more loaves for that, and dough for two more in the fridge. Have you tried freezing the bread once baked? There are only two of us and a loaf lasts a few days. That takes lots of will-power!!!!

    1. Hi Sandy,

      So glad you like the bread! Yes, I think that the brioche would freeze quite well. I don’t like freezing breads with a crisp crust, but the brioche has a soft crust and it will not be ruined by the freezing process. Just be sure to wrap it very well before putting it in the freezer.

      Thanks! Zoë

  18. I made the brioche bread today as well. OMG it is beautiful! I never expected it to turn out (lack of faith in myself, not in your recipe) well and it did. Fantastic. No more expensive bland cardboard breads for my 3 year old little girls now. My older girls are all excited about the bread too.

  19. If I wanted to make the boule but wanted to add some seeds/nuts to the recipe, how much should I add without worrying about messing up the integrity of the dough?

    1. Hi Brandi,

      If you are adding seeds and nuts to an entire batch of dough I’d start with 1 cup and see if that gives you the bread you want, without changing the dough. If you want a loaf that is full of seeds and nuts you may want to try Betsy’s seeded oat bread in HBin5.

      Let me know if that does it! Zoë

  20. Hi, Thanks so much for working so hard to create great GF breads.

    Do you give a break down of the measurements in weight somewhere in the cookbook? A list of what one cup of each flour should weigh?

    The CIA GF cookbook messed this up big time. Every single “flour blend” had different weights for the same flours. Making it extremely frustrating to recreate their results.

    I have been flipping through your available pages on amazon and none of the recipes are given in weights. Baking bread can be perfected when measuring by weight. That’s how bakeries can produce the exact same perfect loaf over and over. If the recipes were written in weight (like the King Arthur Baking Baking Book and various recipes by Alton Brown) then I would consider purchasing this book. But if I have to play games and use trial and error I could do that without a book. Hence, I did not buy the CIA GF book.

    It is possible to buy a decent kitchen scale very inexpensively $12 over at amazon. Whereas a dutch oven or even a pizza stone is considerably more expensive than that. If the information is not available in the book please consider posting it here. otherwise this one will have to stay on the shelves.

    Sincerely,
    Patricia

    1. Hi Patricia,

      I’m sorry to say the G-F chapter doesn’t have weights. I hope you will give the recipes a try though, despite the lack of bakery precision they are quite good.

      Thanks, Zoë

  21. I am so excited to find this recipe for gf bread boule. We used to eat your artisan bread weekly and we were so disappointed when we couldn’t eat it due to going gluten free. I saw the question of substituting cornstarch for arrowroot. Did that ever get answered? We also try to avoid cornstarch, so that would be great to find a substitute. Thanks again, Kellyc

    1. Hi Kellyc,

      So glad you will give this a try! I would use tapioca in place of the cornstarch. Arrowroot may work, but I have never tried it.

      Thanks and enjoy! Zoë

    1. Leslie: Haven’t heard this problem before. Are you following the directions carefully from the book? Whisking in the dry ingredients so that the xanthan gum doesn’t clump? Are the lumps persisting in the finished loaves (if not, forget about it!). Jeff

  22. I just made the GF Boule last night and it was awesome! we ate the whole thing right there on the spot! This morning I’m making it again so we can try some sandwiches on it today. I cant wait to try to make a soup bowl with some nice thick chowder! Also made some substitutions since I am low on some GF flours. I used the rice but instead of sorghum I use Oat flour (wanted to try Millet but I was out of that too!) I ran out of Tapioca so I ended up using 1.5 cups of both tapioca and cornstarch. Everything turned out great! It was so good. I do have a question, Could I replace the GF Boule in the recipes that call for the regular Boule? the same with Brioche?

    1. Holly: I assume you mean the various variations and roll-in techniques. While we haven’t tested all of these that way, it should work. The risk you run is that the result may be over-dense, but see what you think. It also may be difficult to handle because the GF dough has less stretch and is stickier. Jeff

  23. What do you suggest for egg replacement? my sister is GF and Vegan and I would like to be able to make her bread. I saw you said no to the flax replacement any other ideas?

    1. Holly: About egg replacer– I don’t think you’re going to have any luck if it has to be BOTH vegan AND GF. Bob’s Red Mill has a product but it DOES contain gluten: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EDI2C6?ie=UTF8&tag=arbrinfimiada-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000EDI2C6“>Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer, 16-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4)<img src=”https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=arbrinfimiada-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000EDI2C6″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;

  24. Just wondering why a stand mixer couldn’t be used to make the dough. I just did my first batch and for an old lady like me, all that stirring wasn’t easy. And with all that effort it still has lumps.
    Gudrun

    1. Hi Gudrun,

      In both of our books we mention using a stand mixer for all of the doughs. It was just not mentioned in this post. Use a mixer if it is easier on you! I do it all the time!

      Thanks! Zoë

  25. Hi there are actually a number of egg subs including about 2.5 tablespoons of preground flax (or 1 tablespoon of whole flax ground in coffee grinder or equiv) with 3 (?) tablespoons of water until it turns gel, this from what i’ve read on newsgroups for Gluten free/casein free/allergy groups is generally for 1 egg, multiple eggs are used for leavening purposes (did i get that right i’m pretty much a GF baking n00b correct me please if the 4 eggs in the boule dough is NOT leavening) but for multiple eggs a baking powder sub is suggested. this is the link where I got the egg subs

    https://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/Writermom77/Substitutions/Gluten_Free_Egg_Substitutes.html

    **Baking Powder

    Mix #1: 1 heaping tablespoon baking powder, 1 heaping tablespoon oil, plus 1 tablespoon warm water

    Mix #2: 1 heaping tablespoon baking powder, 1 tablespoon cider or apple cider vinegar, plus 1 tablespoon warm water

    1. Hi Cynthia,

      Thank you so very much, this is really helpful! I will try that out and let you know how it goes. I’ll be working on a g-f pizza dough for our next book and wanted it to be egg free!

      Thanks, Zoë

  26. Hi there, my sister is allergic to gluten and eggs and I had great success with the master recipe. I used flax seed (2tbls of flax with 3 tblsp of water) for the eggs and I used buckwheat flour for the sorghum flour (I was out of sorghum) and I also used guar gum instead of xanthum gum( used 1.5 times more guar than xanthum). It was awesome, best gluten free bread we’ve ever had. Hope this helps someone

    1. Oh wow Susan,

      Thank you so much for letting me know about all of the various things you did. It will prove very helpful to others!

      Happy baking! Zoë

  27. I made this yesterday for a GF friend. She said it was the best GF bread she’s had yet. And, it’s easier to make than a batch of cookies. I, too, am interested in making it egg-free. If Susan reads this, please let us know if the egg replacement you mentioned was per-egg, or to replace all 4 eggs? Thanks!

  28. Tried the recipe as written above this past weekend. WOW. The GF wife loved it – and I really liked it, too. And I am generally not a huge fan of GF breads. Thanks so much for including GF recipes. I bought the book a couple weeks ago – a leap of faith – and am now looking forward to trying some other recipes. And I suspect if I keep making her GF breads, she won’t mind if I play with some others!

    1. Hi Dave,

      Thank you so much for trying the GF breads, we are thrilled that you and your wife liked them!

      Happy baking! Zoë

  29. I have my first loafs cooling using Ener-G egg replacement now. Can’t attest to whether or not they’re any good yet. As I’m also egg & gluten free I’m curious and excited about Susan’s post. Susan could you clarify was that per egg you replaced or total (the quantities you listed). I would greatly appreciate it. I was also going to try the blended Mori-Nu tofu egg replacement but I had just used the last of it to make pudding. Will have to do that soon.

  30. Any reason you mix by hand rather than with a mixer? Does a stand mixer overwork the dough? (Yeah, I haven’t read the book yet… I’m impatient) Thanks, Dave

    1. Hi Dave,

      You can absolutely use the mixer to make any of our doughs. It is stated that way in the book, but I just didn’t mention it on this post.

      Enjoy, Zoë

  31. Hi Anna and Cynthia,
    To clarify, I used 2 tbls. of flax per egg, so 8 tblsp. of flax total. I made the bread with ener-g egg replacer first, and I found the loaf was quite dense and heavy, using the flax it had a nice crust and was much lighter. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions! I’ve also made this again and it was just as good, so not a fluke!

  32. I just tried the GF Crusty Boule but the dough came out very moist and sticky and hasn’t risen at all and it has been 3 hours. Is it normal? It seemed like a lot of liquid as I added it but my friend said I should follow the recipe. I also added eggs as part of the liquid ingredients and beat them in with the wet ingredients. Was that incorrect? Should I add more flour so that the dough is less moist and sticky? My son is GF and I am looking forward to making bread that he can enjoy!

    1. Hi Nicole,

      Did you use the scoop and sweep method of measuring the flour? If you spoon the flour into the measuring cups you will end up with too little flour and it will be very wet, too wet. That doesn’t account for the lack of rise in the dough? Did it rise at all or just very little? Did you use cold water or hot water? Cold water will cause the dough to take a very long time to rise, but it eventually will. Hot water on the other hand will kill the yeast.

      One time I mixed the dough without the xanthan gum and the dough was like quick sand and impossible to mix by hand. Could that have happened?

      Let me know if any of this sounds right and we can fix your dough! Thanks, Zoë

  33. Thank you for sharing this recipe! I am eager to try out the gluten-free bread recipes in your book but have a question about egg replacement. My son is allergic to eggs in addition to wheat. When baking, I often replace eggs with a mixture of flax seeds and water. However, this often makes breads not cook well in the center. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks so much.

    -Lulu

    1. Hi Lulu,

      If you have the time to scan through the comments on this post you will see that there are several readers that have successfully baked the bread doing it with the flax/water replacer.

      Thank you! Zoë

  34. I have just learned that I need to go on a gluten free diet as well as an egg free diet. Is there any way to make bread without eggs?

    1. Hi Julia,

      We have not made the breads without eggs, but there are several people that have and they detail their experience here in the comments. If you read through the comments on this post you should find some very helpful information!

      Thank you and enjoy the bread! Zoë

  35. I just posted the question about egg free bread and I got my e-mail address incorrect. This is the correct one.

  36. Hi Jeff and Zoe,

    I am just about to make the baking group assignment for the gluten free olive oil bread. I made a special trip to an Indian food store to get many of the ingredients for less money.

    I wish I had read the recipe, before adding the ingredients. I started adding everything, till I got to the cornstarch. Is that really 3 1/2 cups of cornstarch? I can buy more, but I want to make sure that is correct. I put all the preceeding flours in the bowl already. Measured for a full batch.

    Also, a number of people who have already done this recipe say its a runny batter. Your dough doesn’t look runny. I wonder if it’s because people are pouring these new flours directly from the bags. I don’t have enough containers for all these new flours. Should I try cutting back on the liquid?

    Thanks so much,

    Judy L (name change to Judy M)

    1. Judy: The recipe is correct. If you want a GF recipe without corn, try the GF Crusty Boule instead. If you’re finding it too liquidy with the ingredients that are available to you, just adjust the liquids slightly.

      We measure with the scoop-and-sweep method, so if you were to pour the flours directly into a cup-measure, that will give you a lighter cup of flour; there’s less packing-down that way. This could be the explanation.

  37. I’ve baked this twice now with the ener-g egg replacer. I did a half-recipe with egg replacer for 3 eggs (so it would be 6 for the whole batch) and it’s turned out good. I could even eat it at room temp the second and third day after baking, which is a triumph since most gf breads I’ve made before have been good the first day but need to be toasted half to death to be edible thereafter. I’ll try the flax next time.

  38. I mixed a batch of the GF crusty boule for the first time tonight to make for my MIL who is on a GF diet. I made half the recipe, but I forgot the oil (which would have amounted to 1/6 of a cup). What should I do? It’s already in the fridge for me to bake some time tomorrow. Any suggestions would be great!

    I’m also going to try the GF brioche to make into Super Sam’s rolls for Mother’s Day brunch. Thanks for developing these recipes!

    1. Riva: You won’t get quite the same crust result, but experiment anyway. I’m guessing you can achieve 450 and that will be a decent approximation.

  39. Hi there, we’ve been baking from the original book with lots of success but have just bought the second book as it looks like our recently weaned child may have a gluten intolerance. Do you have any suggestions for an alternative to honey for this recipe? My son is still under a year and it is recommended not to give honey (including as a baked ingredient) to under ones.

    1. Jane: You can swap agave syrup, barley malt syrup, maple syrup, or even sugar. And of course the flavor will change depending on the sweetener; molasses in particular has a strong flavor.

  40. Thanks for that – maples syrup works a treat!! I am so pleased to have these recipes. They are fantastic. They are making this gluten free trial much tastier than it would otherwise have been (and much cheaper too!)

  41. Hi ~ it was suggested I try the recipe for the Gluten-Free Crusty Boule after having multiple failures with another recipe I had tried to convert to GF. Would I be able to substitute chia flour or quinoa flour for any of the brown rice flour or sorghum flour in this recipe? I’m really excited to try this out !! Also, is it necessary to refrigerate the dough overnight before making the 1st loaf or can it be used immediately after the 2 hour proving? Thanks so much, I look forward to trying this recipe and others I might find here. I really miss my bread (I’m gluten-intolerant) and it has been a struggle to find a recipe that works for me and offers the wonderful flavor and texture of wheat-based breads. Thanks in advance.

    1. K: If you do try to swap in other flours, do so in small proportions first. The question is whether chia or quinoa will absorb water at a different rate than brown rice flour or sorghum. If they do, you’ll end up with a too-wet, or a too-dry dough and the batch will fail. So only swap on ingredient at a time, and in small amounts (start with a quarter-cup and increase from there if things are working).

      But I’d really recommend that for the first time out, do the recipe exactly as written and tested. I think you’ll be pleased. Jeff

  42. Thanks Jeff ~ I’ll try it the first time as written. Off to buy some sorghum flour 🙂 the other question ~ is it necessary to refrigerate the dough overnight before baking? I’m impatient to try this so was wanting to bake a boule today … is that possible or do the best results come from the over night refrigeration?

    Thanks again in advance.
    K

    1. Hi K,

      If you don’t want to refrigerate the dough you can bake it the first day, but you need to reduce the resting time before hand. In fact, you can mix the dough, shape it and let it rest on the parchment. After it has risen then slide it directly into the oven. I’ve only tried this once, but it worked nicely. I’d save some of the dough to bake after it has chilled as the recipe is written.

      Thanks and enjoy! Zoë

  43. Hello,

    I’ve used your first bread book for a couple of years. Fabulous recipes! I gave the book as a gift to almost everyone I know. Unfortunately, I was recently diagnosed with a gluten allergy. I’m looking forward to trying your GF boule. I have a baking stone and would prefer to use that method–as I’m already familiar with it. Can I use the baking stone in the same way I did with the regular bread and get good results? i.e. preheat stone and add water to a roasting pan, then bake the boule for 35 minutes. Will that work?

    Thanks for your help,
    LL

    1. Hi Laurel-Lea,

      That is exactly how we do it in the book, this post is just an alternative approach.

      Thank you and enjoy all the g-f breads! Zoë

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