A New Bread for Fall

I combined a couple of recipe to create this lovely pumpkin cranberry bread for a potluck my husband was having today at work. The theme was "healthy eating" and one of the categories was gluten free. So, I decided to make this bread since I had some pureed fresh pumpkin and fresh cranberries from the farmer's market on hand.

And....I won a $20 cash prize for this bread in the gluten free category! It was fun and exciting to win!

This wonderfully moist gluten free, dairy free, soy free bread is so delicious it is more like cake! You could never tell it is gluten free or made in any other way than the traditional way of baking.

I know that this will become one of the favorite fall treats in our household.

I learned a lot about gluten free baking when we had Farmer's Tea- selling our baked goods at a farmer's market. There were many customers who came to appreciate our growing selection of gluten free treats. So, I love to combine recipes and create many new gluten free baked goods to try. Also, since we have a couple of friends who need to eat gluten and dairy free- having these types of things on hand is always great!

Enjoy this lovely bread!

First of all- before baking you need to create a special flour mix. If you live locally (in Oregon) I have found all three of the flours available at New Seasons- or if you go to Bob's Red Mill in Milwaukie, Oregon you can buy these flours in bulk which saves a lot of money.

The flour mixture is as follows (I usually mix up a large batch and store it in a zip lock bag or a storage container) I got this mixture idea from "Gluten Free Baking Classics" by Annalise G. Roberts. It is a wonderful book and a great one for coming up with baking ideas.

Small Batch of Gluten Free Flour:

2 cups brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour

Large Batch of Gluten Free Flour:

6 cups brown rice flour
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour

The only other ingredient that is essential to gluten free baking is xanthan gum which helps hold the flours together and helps prevent baked goods from being too crumbly. It can be found in most stores. It is expensive but only a bit is used in each recipe and it lasts a long time. Below you can see a photo of all of the ingredients laid out:


Gluten Free Pumpkin Cranberry Bread:

Makes three 8x4 loaves- they freeze wonderfully!

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:

• 3 cups brown rice flour mix (if you don't need to make this gluten free substitute all-purpose flour)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
  
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 3 cups granulated sugar
  
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree (or use fresh pumpkin that you have baked and pureed yourself- be sure to use a pie pumpkin or other sweet pumpkin for this
  
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries-chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 8x4-inch loaf pans.
2. Combine flour, spices, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Set aside.
   
3. Stir together sugar, pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil and orange juice in bowl; beat until just blended. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans.
4. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy a lovely slice of fall!!

A little slice of heaven!

After my earlier debacle with the sourdough bagels I was in the mood for some good bread! So, I decided to create a new twist on an old favorite. Last weekend we all went to a Scottish restaurant for breakfast where we tried some Scottish Oatmeal. It was so creamy and delicious! For a long time I have not been a fan of cooked oatmeal for breakfast, but this kind of oatmeal has changed my mind. We bought some Bob's Red Mill Scottish Oatmeal at the store last weekend to make up some cereal for ourselves. It is a very finely ground oatmeal that is very healthy and tasty as well! So, I decided to try using it in an old family recipe for oat bread.

This recipe makes two loaves. I usually keep one loaf plain and for the other one I create a cinnamon swirl in the middle. This time I put brown sugar and nutmeg in the swirl since that's what Scottish oatmeal is usually made with according to the Scottish place we visited. It was fantastic! It's even softer than the original bread and delicious! Enjoy!

Scottish Oatmeal Bread: Yields: 2 loaves

2 cups Scottish oatmeal
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup butter
4 tablespoons brown sugar
5 + cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons yeast
1 egg yolk
4 tablespoons rolled oats (to top the bread for decoration)

For swirl filling:

4 tablespoons melted butter
6+ tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Warm the milk, water and butter either in a saucepan on the stove until the butter is melted or in the microwave for about 4 minutes. Place the oats and 4 tablespoons brown sugar in the mixer bowl and pour the liquid over. Let stand until just warm or lukewarm, about 30 minutes.

2. Stir in 3 cups of flour, salt and yeast. Mix together thoroughly. Change to dough hook, or gradually stir in by hand; adding enough additional flour to make a soft dough that holds its shape. Knead until smooth and elastic- about 10 minutes by hand or 6-7 minutes with a dough hook, or til the dough is not sticky and pulls cleanly from the bowl sides.

3. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a clean greased bowl, turning to grease all sides. Cover with a towel and let it rise in a warm place free from draft until doubled, about one hour. I like to place the bowl in a sink filled with warm water.


4. Grease 2 small loaf pans. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and cut into two equal pieces. Form 2 rectangles of dough. On one rectangle brush the 4 tablespoons of melted butter onto the dough. Then, sprinkle it with brown sugar and the one teaspoon nutmeg. Roll up and place into a prepared pan. Form the other loaf and place into the pan. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled- about 20 to 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 425 F.

6. Uncover loaves, brush with the egg yolk mixed with water and sprinkle each loaf with oatmeal. Bake until golden brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, about 25-30 minutes. Unmold the loaves and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy a yummy slice of bread!