Bread

In our pre-GF days I used to grind our wheat and make our bread most of the time. I'd make 5 loaves in a batch and it would last 5-8 weeks. We're not huge bread eaters here, luckily (I know some families who go through almost a loaf per person per week). Upon Jacob's diagnosis we had to decide how to go about the bread thing. We tried some of the $6 for a mini-loaf of cardboard that they call GF bread at the store, and soon after started trying out various bread recipes and mixes. We have since found one (Udi's bread) that is decent, but it's still hard for me to bring myself to pay $6 for half a regular loaf. So I make our bread. One day in the future when I have school lunches to make I'm sure I'll give in and buy wheat bread to save myself from baking so much stinkin' bread, but for now we don't go through bread fast enough, and besides, for now that saves us from the hassle of having two separate peanut butter jars, jam jars, Miracle Whip jars, etc. to avoid cross contamination.

Anyway, since with GF baking you have to use several different kinds of flour, I've got my staple flours that I always have on hand:
brown rice flour (I grind that myself)
tapioca flour or corn starch
potato starch
soy flour
almond flour
I also occasionally have other flours, like oat flour, coconut flour, masa flour, or sorghum flour, depending on recipes I want to try.

I ended up giving my wheat grinder to my parents (in case they ever need it to use all the food storage they have, but have no way of grinding), since there's no way to clean all the wheat out of it. So I got a new grinder out of this deal. I use it mostly to grind rice to make rice flour. I've also used it for quinoa, and popcorn to make corn meal (I've tried a couple different corn meals from the store, but they've been cross contaminated every time, tested with this, so I just grind my own now). In looking into food storage options I read that the GF flours do not store well for long term (though starches do fine), and it's better to store the whole grain, then grind it. So one of these days I'll pursue that and get some soybeans or some other stuff...

Anyway, in the meantime, I make bread. Unfortunately GF bread is harder to make fluffy, and the dough is rather gummy, so I can't make my big 5 loaf batches that I used to do, because my bosch can't handle it. Two small (8 x 4 ½ in) loaves fit barely, so I stick with that. The smaller loaf pans work well, too, because even with a regular 9 x 5 pan, the dough won't rise as much as you're used to, so it looks squished. With the smaller pans it looks a bit more proportional.

I tried many recipes and store-bought mixes. This is the best I've found. It's actually edible without toasting it (a rarity for GF bread). And with the soy and brown rice and almond flour, it's actually pretty nutritious.

I got the original recipe here, then adapted it just a little based on what I usually have on hand in my kitchen.

For two 8 x 4 ½ loaves:

1 ½ C. GF flour mix

1 ½ C. brown rice flour 
½ C. soy flour
½ C. tapioca flour 
¼ C. almond flour
¼ C. potato starch                (or 4 ½ cups total GF flour)  
4 ½ T. heaping tablespoons ground flax seeds 
¾ C. instant non-fat milk -or- dry milk substitute  
1 ½ T. xanthan gum  
1 ½ t. unflavored gelatin  
1 ½ T. Sure Jell 
 ¾ t. teaspoon salt 

3 T. egg powder (or if using real eggs, do 3 eggs in the wet ingredients)
 
Leavening/Proofing Ingredients:
4 t. active dry yeast 
3 t. brown sugar/honey 

½ C. minus 2T. warm water (110 degrees) (if using real eggs, just ¼ C. here)

Wet Ingredients:
2 C. warm water (110 degrees)
(3 eggs, room temperature, beaten, if not using egg powder)
3 egg whites, whisked
6 T. olive oil (or vegetable oil or smart balance margarine, melted)1 ½ t. apple cider vinegar

Directions: 

Mix all dry ingredients in stand mixer. Proof yeast and let stand until bubbling. Mix wet ingredients in separate bowl. Add yeast mixture and wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix for 8-10 minutes. The dough should begin to be a little more stringy, but mostly resembling a very thick, sticky cake dough. 

Heat oven to 200 degrees, and turn off immediately. Spray loaf pans with cooking spray and divide dough evenly into pans. Smooth tops with a wet spatula. Spray 2 sheets of plastic wrap with cooking spray and cover each pan gently, sprayed side down. Place covered loaves in oven to rise for 45 minutes to an hour.

Heat oven to 350 degrees then cook for 30-35 minutes. Crust should be light brown and thermometer inserted should read 190 for a finished loaf. Let loaf cool completely before cutting. 

Enjoy!

As a side note, for the GF flour mix, I usually do:
3 parts brown rice flour
3 parts corn starch (sometimes tapioca flour instead)
2 parts soy flour
1 part almond flour (though I do sometimes use masa flour)