Cheese Garlic Bread - Gluten Free Yeast Bread

For a long while I've been seeking out a good recipe for a yeast risen gluten free bread. At first I used a bread maker and created a lot of doughy bricks that were fairly inedible. My resistance to using xanthan gum has also made my quest for gluten free yeast bread difficult.

Gluten Free Gnocchi w/Marinara Sauce & Bread

Tuesday evening I had some friends over for dinner. We enjoyed a lovely Italian dinner of gluten free gnocchi  with a cream sauce, sautéed red onion and a side of cheese garlic bread with marinara sauce. I take a lot of pleasure in cooking for my friend Sean who is also fully gluten free. He gets the same delight that I do in eating foods we thought were no longer possible in our restricted diet. 

I hope you enjoy this bread as much as we did! It is easy to make but there are several rise times so this is not a quick bread.

The texture is perfect and the bread is not dense but has a tender crumb and the crust is crispy, the use of sea salt crystals on the top crust really helps to enhance all the flavors and makes this the perfect compliment to your Italian dinner for sipping up tapenade or marinara sauce.

Cheese Garlic Bread - Gluten Free Yeast Bread

• 2 1/2 cups brown rice flour
• 1/3 cup potato flour
• 3 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 tablespoons cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup warm milk
• 4 tablespoons soft butter
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt crystals
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese (or cheese blend)

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl combine flours, corn starch, cane sugar, yeast, and salt (not the sea salt crystals.) Mix till thoroughly combined.

2. Slowly add warm milk as mixer continues on medium speed. Add soft butter and combine. Dough will be sticky but not yet batter like. 

3. Add eggs one at a time and beat till batter is combined. Do not be surprised that this is not a typical dough. 

4. Set to rise covered in bowl for one hour undisturbed. 

5. Grease inside of baking pan, I like using a round casserole dish for this but you can use a standard large bread pan too, just depends on the shape you would like. Please keep in mind this will rise and double in size so be sure that the pan you use has plenty of room for expansion. 

6. Fold in shredded cheese and 2/3 of the minced garlic. Transfer batter into greased pan. Moistened your CLEAN hands to pat dough flat. I opt to poke holes with my finger into the bread as it leaves a little pock mark on the top of the bread and also permits the seasoning to go into the holes too.

7. Drizzle top with olive oil, sprinkle with remaining minced garlic and sprinkle with sea salt crystals. 

8. Cover again and let rise for another hour. About 20 minutes before rising time is up get oven preheated to 350 degrees. 

9. Place bread in oven to bake. Baking time with vary depending on your individual oven but should be approximately 45 minutes. During this time in the oven the bread will rise even more and will golden on top. 

10. Once the bread is gold brown on top remove from the oven. 

11. Set to cool for approximately 15-20 minutes. Tap bottom of pan and remove bread from pan. You don't want to leave the bread in the pan for the duration of it's cooling as the heat will "steam" the crust and you will not have as nice of a crust to the bread so allow to cool on cutting board outside of pan. 

12. You can slice into the bread while it is still warm or wait till bread is cool and package storing bread in your fridge. 

Enjoy! xoxo - Iris