Baguette (GF/DF)

Bread truly is one of the greatest joys in life. There may be no more versatile a bread than a good baguette. Whether you toast it under the broiler for garlic bread, serve it plain with dinner, or top it with diced tomatoes, basil, olive oil and balsamic for bruschetta, it was probably the thing I missed the most when we went GF/DF.

It’s taken me over a year, but I’ve finally developed a recipe that’s crusty and chewy while still being soft on the inside like I associate with the real thing. If you’re a purist, yes, this isn’t technically a baguette; no Frenchman would use eggs and butter. But if you want something that’s very reminiscent of a true baguette in a gluten free form, here you go. French laws be damned!

First, a reminder to check my kitchen ground rules.

Next. I can tell you, based on my experience, my oven seals really well. In fact, sometimes I have difficulty getting the door open. So, this recipe will produce a good crust even when I forget to put water in the oven, but if you want some insurance, make sure you put a dish of water in the oven when you start preheating. The steam is an important part of the crust formation. If you want your bread particularly crusty, leave it in the oven for a few extra minutes.

You will also need a baguette pan. You may be able to get away without one with a standard recipe, but the GF dough is just too loose. You’ll end up with a funny looking baguette cookie. Trust me.

Ingredients

• 10 ounces Sorghum Mix
• 2.9 ounces Tapioca Flour
• 1 ounce White Rice Flour
• 0.25 ounces Potato Starch
• 0.35 ounces Yeast
• 0.4 ounces Salt
• 1.3 ounces Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Butter, melted and cooled
• 4 Lg Egg Whites
• 1.5 cups Warm Water

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F(375F) and place a pan of water on the lowest rack in the oven.
2. Mix dry ingredients
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on high speed for 3 minutes
4. Place the dough into a gallon size ziploc bag. Cut the corner of the bag such that there a hole approximately 1.5-2 inches in diameter.
5. Pipe the dough onto the baguette pan.
6. Cover with a towel and let rise for 25-30 minutes.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
8. Remove from pan and cool on rack. Remove the water pan from the oven.