Gluten Free Soda Bread Recipe

My Irish Cousin Bread

I’m calling this “My Irish Cousin” because I ended up using baking powder rather than baking soda. Baking powder is a lot easier to work with, and I like to make things easy for myself =)

12 oz. (2 2/3 c.) Mary’s gluten free flour mix
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. xanthan gum

12 oz. water
6 oz. oil
3 egg yolks

3 egg whites
1 tsp. sugar

As we’ve already discussed, the mixing technique is the key to this recipe. Start by mixing the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Use a fork to stir the ingredients for several minutes to make sure that the baking powder is evenly distributed.

Now, find two mixing bowls and a small ramekin and separate your eggs. The white from each egg goes into the the ramekin; the yolks go into one of the mixing bowl. Once you’re sure that there is not any yolk in the white you’ve just separated, go ahead and put that white into the other mixing bowl. Be sure to not get any pieces of egg yolks in the whites and be sure that the mixing bowl for the egg whites is clean and dry, because the fat in the egg yolk or water in the bowl will keep the whites from foaming. Add the sugar to the egg whites.

Add the water and oil to the egg yolks. Go ahead and mix up the yolk, water and oil with a fork.

The last step in getting the ingredients ready is to make the egg foam. Using a mixer that has clean, at a slow speed and gradually increase the speed to medium-high. Continue mixing the egg white until your mixer starts leaving trails in the foam. Turn the mixer off and lift it straight up. If the blades leave peaks with curved tips then it’s ready.

Now, we’ll mix everything together. Start by adding the liquid ingredients (egg yolk mixture) to the dry ingredients. Mix this up for 3 – 4 minutes with your mixer. Then, very carefully fold in the egg white foam until the foam is evenly distributed throughout the dough (Watch the video of this; it’s much easier to see it than to read it).

Conventional Oven: Preheat your oven to 375 F before you being preparing your dough. If you have a pizza stone, put it on the lowest oven rack when you turn the oven on, and then place the loaf pan on top of the pizza stone when the dough goes into the oven.

Scoop the dough into a loaf pan that has been lined with greased parchment paper. Smooth the dough out. Bake the bread until it reaches an internal temperature of 210F. The bread should also be hard on top at this point and hollow sounding when you tap on it. If the bread seems to want to squash down when you touch the top, leave it in the oven for a few more minutes. The bread will probably need to bake for between 60 and 75 minutes.

Bread Machine Directions: I have not tested this recipe in a bread machine. If you would like to use a bread machine, choose a setting that bakes the bread at 375 F for at least an hour. If you’ve lost the manual for your bread machine, you can usually find a copy online so that you can figure out which setting, if any, is appropriate for this recipe.