Friday, July 18, 2008

Teff Bread Heaven

Another update for my delicious bread recipe! How to go Dairy-free.

Here it is:

Amsuka's Teff Bread for the Bread Machine

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Tapioca Starch
1 cup Rice Flour (Brown for denser, healthier loaf, white for lighter loaf)
1/2 cup Teff Flour (or Sorghum)**
2 TB Cane Sugar
2 1/2 tsps Xantham gum
2 TB Ground Flax
1 tsp Sea Salt


2 1/2 tsp instant or bread machine yeast

Wet Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups Milk- Warm!***
1 egg- Warm!
2 TB Olive oil
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar (unpasturized)


**Now bread machines differ, so pay attention to your own machine's basic instructions! My machine (Cuisinart) stipulates adding the wet ingredients first, then layer the dry ingredients over top, finally sprinkling the GF yeast over the dry.**

Here we go!
Warm your milk for 1 minute in your microwave (or on the stovetop). *This is important to activate the yeast!
Place your egg in a cup of hot water to warm. Set aside.


Whisk together the dry ingredients, except for the yeast.

Take your warm milk, add the vinegar, olive oil, and your warm egg. *The egg is warmed so that it doesn't cool off the milk mixture, or cook in the warmed milk mixture!*


Place wet ingredients into the bread pan. Layer the dry ingredients on top. Sprinkle the yeast. Place in bread machine on the gluten free cycle, 2Lb loaf size, and medium crust. remove the mixing paddle when the machine indicates, and re-shape the dough with a spatula- it will be sticky! At this time I also put a generous sprinkling of Poppy or Sesame Seeds over the whole loaf.
This bread is wonderful for sandwiches, toast, everything! Enjoy!

**update- feel free to substitute rice flour for the teff, if you are unable to find it, or if you want a simpler taste. I find the teff gives the bread a sort of Rye-taste, while the rice-tapioca combo is more of a straight forward sandwich bread- still delish!!
Also, if possible, buy your rice (& tapioca) flour in chinatown- it is milled very finely, which results in a nicer texture.
***If you want to go dairy free and use water for milk, you will need to add another egg. Warm the two eggs in warm water at the start.
When you get to the liquid stage of the recipe, break 1 egg into your pyrex measuring cup, then fill with warm water to the 1 1/3 cups mark.  THEN add your second egg and other wet ingredients.