Gluten Free Beet Bread

Adventures in Making Gluten Free Beet Bread

Free of gluten, eggs, nuts and soy

Gluten Free Beet Bread with strained yogurt cheese

Seriously.  That's not food colouring.  It's gluten free bread made with beets.  Don't believe me?  Keep reading.  

I've been wanting to do this for awhile now.  A couple of months ago I was trolling the internet, searching for things to do with some beet puree leftover from my gluten free chocolate beet muffins and cupcakes when I came across this awesome-looking recipe on Taste for Adventure for a regular, glutiny beet bread.

Well those of you who follow me have probably noticed I have a thing for slipping beets into baked goods and just about everything else.  

First there was the aforementioned muffins and cupcakes.

Then there were several salads that featured beets, such as my Quinoa, Beet and Bocconcini Salad with Honey Dijon Dressing and Steamed Kale and Beet Salad with Sweet Tamari Dressing. 

And finally and most recently, my Gluten Free Beet Ravioli.  

What can I say?  I like beets.  I also LOVE the gorgeous colour they lend to everything they encounter.  

So I finally got around to fiddling with the recipe to convert it to a gluten free beet bread.  The result was pretty decent.  It's totally edible, but it's definitely in need of tweaking.  Since this is what I had planned to share with you this week and I don't have anything else stellar to share, I'll tell you the good and the bad and maybe, just maybe, some of you more experienced GF chefs can help me figure out what to do with this!  

I actually don't make a lot of GF loaves of bread, I tend to stick to my super easy Flax Bread, and my  Sprouted Green Lentil and Red Lentil Breads, so I'm experimenting a bit out of my element here.   This is a work in progress.

Here's my verdict on this bread so far:

The Good: 

1) It's gorgeous.  The colour is stunning.  Who would believe that a baked good could have such a show stopping colour, completely naturally?!  

2) It's cheap and easy to make.  Ingredients are minimal and free of most major allergens. 

3) It smells awesome when it's baking.

4) The flavour is pretty good.  It's kin of like what I remember rye bread to be like.  It's definitely got a bit of a beet bite to it, which is good if you like beets, not so much if you don't. 

The Bad:

1)  It's heavy.  Something went wrong and it didn't rise as well as I had hoped.

2) The texture is not quite right.  It's dense, so the crust is fairly hard, and the innards are "clingy".   I don't know how else to explain this.  It's not gummy, or even really dry, but it's a bit of a workout to chew (also like how I remember rye bread to be!).  Next time I'm going to try it without xanthan gum as I think that will help. 

* So next time I'm going to try it without xanthan, and perhaps with more starch and some baking powder.  I want it to lighten up and be softer.  Perhaps even sweeter, like with some honey.  I may also mix it less.  For regular bread, kneading a long time is a good thing.  Not so for GF bread.  I should have listened to my instincts and not kneaded too long.  

Also, I ground most of the flours I used in my coffee grinder = not the finest grind.  Coffee grinder flour is ok in small amounts, not so much in larger ones, as the grind is a bit gritty and makes for heavier baked goods.  

So again, I'd love to hear your tips on making GF bread, especially for lightening the loaf and getting that springy texture! 

Ingredients: 

Gf beet bread dough in progress

¼ c + 1 Tbsp warm water

1 ¼ tsp yeast

1 tsp sugar or equivalent sweetener to feed the yeast

About 2.5 cups of GF flour (+ more for dusting and kneading) I used: 

½ c tapioca starch

½ c potato starch

½ c sorghum flour

½ c millet flour

½ c rice flour + more for dusting and kneading 

1 Tbsp flax meal

1 tsp xanthan gum (I’d probably do without this next time)

2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp poppy seeds (optional)

¾ c beet puree (this is approx. 1.5 – 2 beets, roasted in a covered container or wrapped in tin foil and roasted at 375F for about an hour, until soft, then pureed in the blender/food processor.  The original recipe called for raw beets, and I may do that instead next time)

½ c yogurt

1 tsp apple cider vinegar 

Directions:

1) In a small bowl, mix the water, yeast and sugar and allow to rest for 5 minutes, until it starts to bubble. 

2) In the meantime, mix your flours, flax meal, salt and optional poppy seeds in a bowl.  

3) In a large  bowl, combine your beet puree, yogurt an apple cider vinegar.  

4) Blend the yeast and flour  mix into the beet mix.  

5) On a floured surface, lay out the beet mixture, knead a few times to work in some flour to get a more dough-y texture.  Work into a circle, about 8" across and 1.5 " high.  Transfer to a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.  

6) Allow to rise about 1 hr in a warm spot (i.e. oven with a light turned on, or with a bread pan of hot water, or heat oven to 200F while prep'ing dough, then turn off heat and place bread in warm oven).   Score an X on the top of the bread. 

7) Heat oven to 350F, then bake the bread for 30-35 minutes.  

How do you get your GF bread to be light and fluffy?  I'd love to hear how you've learned to tweak and maneuver GF bread! 

OAS Info: This recipe is free of all the major allergens listed on all the OAS charts I've seen. 

This post was shared on the following great sites: Musings of a housewife, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Monday Mania, Make Your Own Monday, Gluten Free Monday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasteful Tuesday, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Allergy Free Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Wheat Free Wednesdays, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, Eat Make Grow, Tasty Traditions, Farm Girl Blog Fest,  Fresh Bites Friday,