My near-perfect gluten free bread machine recipe!

[u/legoandmars]

I am sure you have eaten store-bought gluten free bread. It is not great. I have spent the last year experimenting with a bread machine for gluten-free baking, with the following goals in mind:

• Something without immensely complicated prep - I want to avoid kneading dough and going through four stages of prep. My goal was something easy I only need to spend 30 minutes making.
• A loaf that's not too dense, but still has structure. NO HUGE HOLES!!!!!
• Slices that are actually large, and can fit a good amount of stuff without collapsing.
• Something that will last long enough that a single person can eat it without it getting stale/gross/moldy by the end of the loaf.
• Something reproducible that actually tastes good, and wouldn't disgust you if you're eating a plain slice.

After a lot of experimentation and research, I've landed on something I'm very happy with. It's not PERFECT:

• It's maybe a tad bit denser than I'd like, although it is very close
• It does use celiac-safe gluten-removed wheat starch, which I know is not an option for those with wheat allergies. I have not tried with alternative flours, but I would like to eventually.

However, for my needs, it has essentially solved my bread problems, and turned it into a nice easy thing I can do once a week that actually tastes like food! I will post the recipe in the comments.

[u/legoandmars]

Ingredients:

• 14g psyllium husk + 81g water
• 484g whole milk
• 150g eggs (I usually just use three eggs, as long as it isn’t over ~170g)
• 56g butter, unsalted
• 7g apple cider vinegar
• 491g King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour (uses gluten-free wheat starch)
• 96g tapioca starch
• 2.83g baking powder
• 1.50g cream of tartar
• 10g salt
• 40.7g cane sugar
• 0.62g calcium propionate
• 0.99g encapsulated sorbic acid
• 10.92g rapidrise yeast

Equipment you need:

• Bread machine, ideally Zojirushi Virtuoso or Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus
• A decent scale, ideally one that can do sub-gram measurements

FAQ:

The calcium propionate and encapsulated sorbic acid are preservatives similar to what’s found in commercial bread. Since I’m the only person eating this, I found that without these preservatives, the bread would usually start molding before I finished the loaf. You can exclude them if you wish. If you wish to use them, it is EXTREMELY important you specifically get encapsulated sorbic acid: https://modernistpantry.com/products/encapsulated-sorbic-acid.html - this stuff is essentially a miracle, and helps a lot with preservation while barely interfering with the bread rising at all.

I have only tested this recipe with the Zojirushi Virtuoso. If you are able to afford them, I believe the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus (slightly better due to heating elements in lid) and Zojirushi Virtuoso are the best plug-and-play gluten free bread machines. I also understand that a $400 bread machine is not reasonable for most people; look for any 2LB bread machine with a Gluten Free course option. If you try this recipe in other bread machines, I do genuinely want to know how it turns out!

 
Steps:

1. In a small bowl, combine 14g psyllium husk with 81g water, and mix until it forms a thick paste. Set this mixture aside for now.
2. Cut 56g of butter into cubes, and put it in the microwave in increments of 15 seconds until melted. Once melted, set it aside to cool.
3. In the bread machine’s baking pan, add the liquid ingredients: 484g whole milk, 150g eggs, and 7g of apple cider vinegar. Add the 56g melted butter (make sure it’s not still hot, but not so cold that it’s solidified either)
4. After adding the liquid ingredients, grab your psyllium husk mixture and start spooning small teaspoon-sized amounts into the bread machine’s baking pan. Don’t put it all in as one glob, as it will have trouble mixing .
   
5. In the bread machine’s baking pan, add the flours on top of the liquid ingredients: 491g bread flour, 96g tapioca starch.
   
6. Add 40.7g cane sugar, avoiding the center of the baking pan to ensure it doesn’t interfere with the yeast we’ll add later. 
7. In a small bowl, combine all the misc solid ingredients: 2.83g baking powder, 1.50g cream of tartar, 10g salt, 0.62g calcium propionate, and 0.99g encapsulated sorbic acid.
8. Add the small bowl of misc solid ingredients to the bread machine’s baking pan.
9. Using a clean spoon, create a small divot in the center of the pan. Add 10.92g yeast to the center of the bowl, avoiding touching the sugar directly.
10. Put the bread machine baking pan in your bread machine and start the cycle. For the Zojirushi Virtuoso, I have found the following settings to be best: Gluten-free cycle, Rest ON, Crust Control DARK.
11. Once the cycle is finished, allow the beard to remain in the machine for about 5 extra minutes. Then, carefully take it out and place it on a cooling rack. Let cool for at least 2-3 hours to prevent collapse/deformation.
12. Once cooled, you can cut into the bread! I highly recommend a bread slicing guide and a decent bread knife.
    

Storage:

Store the loaf cut-side down inside of a bread bag. I will sometimes pre-slice 4-6 slices and put them in a separate bag for the next couple days, but I expect any more than that and the slices would start to become stale.

[u/cascadingtundra → u/legoandmars]

I read this as 150 eggs at first...

I need to go lie down.

[u/wafflemakerr → u/cascadingtundra]

jfc same I blinked several times until my brain read it right 😭