Rustic Gluten Free French Bread {Dairy Free & Vegan option }

This gluten free french bread is perfectly crusty on the outside and super soft and chewy on the inside. If you’ve been missing the taste of real bread you’re definitely going to want to give this recipe a try!

When I first started my gluten free baking journey, bread was really intimidating. Trying to get the perfect texture and flavor seemed impossible using gluten free flours. After many test recipes and lots of weird looking “bread” I finally perfected it! The result was a bread that was light and chewy on the inside with a perfect crust on the outside. I love having this bread with pasta or making bruschetta with it.

This has been one of the most requested recipes I’ve received lately so I’m happy to be finally sharing it with all of you! I hope you give a try and enjoy it with your family and friends. As always, let us know in the comments what you think about this recipe, we love hearing from you!

Gluten Free French Bread Ingredients

• Rabbio’s Gluten Free Bread Flour
• warm water
• instant yeast (not active dry)
• olive oil
• psyllium husk powder
• salt
• sugar
• xanthan gum

Can I Make This Dairy Free Or Vegan?

Absolutely! To make this recipe vegan and dairy free you will need to substitute the whey protein powder in our Rabbio’s Gluten Free Bread Flour. That recipe goes into detail about all the substitution options available, but in general I suggest substituting the whey protein for pure soy protein or egg white protein.

Can I Use A Store Bought Flour Blend?

The short answer is unfortunately no. While testing bread recipes I quickly figured out there aren’t any commercially available flour blends that work quite as well as I wanted them too. They all gave different results, but the one thing they had in common was they didn’t make great bread that tasted like the real thing. That’s why I created our Rabbio’s Kitchen Gluten Free Bread Flour; it was the only flour blend that gave me perfect results every time. I would recommend making a big batch of our bread flour blend and using it for all your bread recipes, not just this one. I specifically formulated it for bread, so you can feel confident that you’ll have great results.

Do I Need Any Special Tools For This French Bread?

Of course there is always a way to avoid all the fancy doodads out there but there are a few tools that come in handy when you are making bread.

The first tool I’d recommend is a plastic bench scraper like this one. This really comes in handy when you are shaping the dough. Since this dough has a high moisture content, it’s really sticky and can be hard to work with. I use these plastic bench scrapers along with a well floured surface to more easily kneed and form the dough into the desired shape without it getting stuck to my hands.

I would also suggest getting a baguette pan like this one. Of course you can form this bread into whatever shape you’d like, but traditionally french bread is formed into a baguette shape. This pan will help give the bread that perfect shape and will make the baguettes look more consistent. If you don’t have one of these pans don’t worry, you can form the baguettes by hand and simply lay them onto your baking sheet or bread stone.

Speaking of bread stones, that would be the third tool I recommend. Again, it is optional, but a bread stone like this one will give your bread a much better crust compared to a normal baking sheet. Bread stones distribute the heat more evenly and can retain higher temperatures which help form a more even crust. If you plan on making your own bread often it is a great investment.

Rustic Gluten Free French Bread {Dairy Free & Vegan option }

Author: Andrew Rabbio Courses:Uncategorized

Difficulty:IntermediatePrep time:1 hour 10 minutesCook time: 25 minutesRest time: 30 minutesTotal time:2 hours 5 minutesServings:12 servingsCalories:120 kcal Best Season:Suitable throughout the year

Description

This gluten free French bread is perfectly crusty on the outside, and super soft and chewy on the inside. You’ll never miss bread again!

Ingredients

• 3 cups (420g) Rabbio’s Kitchen Gluten Free Bread Flour
• 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 Tbsp psyllium husk powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp instant yeast (not active dry)
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 400 ml warm water
• white rice flour (for sprinkling)

Instructions

1. Whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, sugar, salt, and psyllium husk powder in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Combine the warm water and olive oil, then slowly pour them into the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until a cohesive dough forms with no clumps.
3. Scrape the dough off the sides of the bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Allow the dough to proof at room temperature for 1 hour. The dough should double in size.
4. Preheat the oven to 425°F and arrange the oven rack to the center position. Place a shallow baking dish (like a small casserole dish or cake pan) on the bottom rack of the oven.
5. After 1 hour turn out the dough onto a well floured surface and using a plastic bench scraper and/or well-floured hands kneed the dough. Continue to sprinkle with flour and kneed the dough until it is smooth and becomes easier to work with. Split the dough in half. Working with half the dough, lightly roll the dough with your hands on a floured surface to form a baguette shape. Sprinkle the baking sheet, bread stone, or baguette pan (on a baking sheet) with flour then very gently place the rolled baguettes onto the prepared surface. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and allow to proof at room temperature for about 10 minutes or until they have visually increased in size, but not so far that doubles.
6. Remove the plastic wrap and use a bread knife to score the top of each baguette 3 times and place them onto the center rack of your preheated oven. Immediately pour 2 cups of warm water into the shallow pan at the bottom of the oven and quickly close the oven door. Bake for 25 minutes without opening the oven door. After 25 minutes, remove one of the breads and with oven mitts and pick it up–if it feels light and has a golden crust you know it is done baking. However, if the baguette feels heavy, let it bake for another five minutes before removing again from the oven. Once they are done, allow the bread to cool to room temperature on the pan before slicing; otherwise if you slice it too soon it can become gummy. Enjoy!

Notes

• Can you cake this recipe dairy free or vegan? Absolutely! To make this recipe vegan and dairy free you will need to substitute the whey protein powder in our Rabbio’s Gluten Free Bread Flour. That recipe goes into detail about all the substitution option but in short I suggest substituting the whey protein for pure soy protein or egg white protein.