Low histamine bread
Gluten free, yeast free, egg free, nut free, xanthan gum free, dairy free option, vegan option
Equipment
- 1 X USA Pan Pullman steel loaf pan in size small ( 23cm length X 10cm width X 10cm height or 9 X 4 X 4 inches)
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 650 g fine, fresh white rice flour
- 150 g tapioca flour/starch
- 30 g psyllium husk powder (see notes)
- 30 g gluten free baking powder
- 7-12 g fine salt (see notes)
Wet ingredients:
- 75 g butter, melted (or 20-40ml neutral oil of choice)
- 20- 40ml maple syrup or agave syrup
- 700- 800g water (see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 250C/482F or the highest possible setting if your oven doesn't go that high. Grease and line your steel USA pan Pullman pan (23cm X 10cm X 10cm or 9 X 4 X 4 inches). I like to create handles with the baking paper so I can easily lift the loaf out later. I also use bulldog clips to secure the baking paper in place while I add the dough to the pan.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the maple syrup and melted butter and stir a little to loosely incorporate it. Add 600-700g water while whisking as the dough firms up quickly.
- Once the dough becomes too stiff to whisk, get one hand into the dough and squelch the dough through your fingers, stirring and picking up any dry flour into the dough as you work.
- You are looking for dough that feels moist and cohesive with no dry bits in the bowl. If you squish a piece of dough in your hands, it should feel cohesive and snack out of your hand like a wet dough would.
- If your dough feels fluffy and squishes out of your hand in a slightly chunky or non-cohesive way, add more water. All of my tests needed around 750-800g water, but this will depend on your flours (see notes in the body of the post).
- Once you are happy with the consistency of the dough, transfer it to the lined Pullman pan. Use a moistened hand to smooth down the top of the loaf thoroughly.
- Remove the bulldog clips if you have used them and place the bread in the oven for 40-50 minutes. If you have made the version with butter, it should be lightly golden on top. If you have made the oil version, it will be quite pale.
- Allow the loaf to cool in the tin for 15-20 minutes and then transfer it to a cooling rack. I find that this bread stales quite quickly on the bench - I recommend slicing it and freezing it on a tray, then transferring the frozen slices to an airtight container. I toast the bread straight from frozen.
Notes
- I grind psyllium husk flakes to a powder using a cheap Breville spice grinder. I find the store bought powder too fine. Some varieties of psyllium husk (powder and flakes) can give your baked goods a purple/grey appearance.
- Because this loaf contains a lot of baking powder, it can taste a bit salty as is. Add salt according to your preference for salt, but also according to whether you use salted butter, unsalted butter or oil.
- Hydration is a moving target when it comes to gluten free baking. What works for me might not be perfect for you. Make sure you add water according to the description of the dough rather than just the number listed in the recipe.