Anyone who follows me on twitter will know I'm a big fan of a couple of mixes for bread making (Coori and Bakels). Biscuits and cake can be made with any of the flour blends easily available, but if you've had a go at making bread with wheat flour, you will know that making gluten free bread is a very different story. No kneading required as its almost cake mix like consistency can only be poured into a tin to contain it. In the early days of being wheat free, I had a go at trying to use a thicker workable dough, but just ended up with ugly, cracked, brick like breads (yes, really, I have bad days in the kitchen too!).
I love that I can get a good workable dough with consistently good results from Coori and Bakels (but both require a little more effort) and finally make some of the things we used to have regularly at home. Have now perfected flatbreads, brioche, cinnamon bun, jam doughnut, sausage rolls, tarte tatin recipes to name but a few...
The first time I used the Bakels Multiseed mix (after the Allergy Show in London in 2015), I had to double check the ingredients as it was not only 'workable' like a wheat containing dough, but also smelt and looked like a malted wheat loaf when it came out of the oven! Of course, it was fine, they just have better food scientists than me and access to ingredients that improve the consistency of the dough…
The other problem I have is that as a Registered Dietitian, I'm not supposed to promote specific brands. This is even more frustrating when doing free from baking as some of the flour blends need more or less liquid to get the same results in a recipe. I've resigned myself to actually saying which flour I used now on the basis that I name several throughout the recipes, so not promoting a specific one on the site. So here goes…
I don't have anything as fancy as a stand mixer, I've tried using my electric hand whisk, but on balance, I've gone back to good old fashioned mixing by hand.
300g Bakes Multi Seed Bread Mix
270mls Milk Substitute (if you use a fortified one, it will add 324mg calcium to your loaf, or 54mg/roll)
1tsp dried yeast
100g Violife Original Cheese* (Grated)
2tbsp Chopped fresh Herbs (sage and rosemary from the garden) or 2tsp dried
Additional wheat fee flour for kneading (I used Doves Farm white bread flour, but any wheat free (not self raising) flour would do)
Warm milk substitute to 'hand hot'. Sprinkle on the yeast, stir and set aside to foam up (even if you're using instant dried yeast).
Put flour, grated cheese and herbs in a large bowl. Mix together with a blunt knife.
Pour in the milk and yeast mixture.
Stir with the blunt knife until it begins to come together.
Sprinkle on a little extra flour and bring it to a ball with your hand. Knead lightly until you have a smooth ball of dough (you may need to keep adding a little extra flour if your hand get too sticky, but don't be tempted to add too much).
Cover with cling film and set aside in a warm place to rise (I think I left mine for about 45 mins, won't quite double in size like wheat bread, but when you press it with your fingers you will see it sink back down).
Sprinkle with a little more flour and knead lightly again. Shape into 6 rolls (or a loaf) and put on a floured tray. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise again.
Bake at 220ºC for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and sounding hollow when tapped underneath.
Try to leave to cool before eating…
*Violife Original (as you may have found) does not melt with direct heat (like on a pizza), but melts well in toasties, sauces etc, that's why you can see the spots of it on the outside of the rolls where it poked through the dough, the cheese melted will on the inside of the rolls. You could try other dairy and soya free cheeses, but as this is available in most of the main Supermarkets now, it made sense to use as easily accessible.
Bakels mixes are currently available at Sainsbury's and on Amazon.
