Listen, sometimes you just want to have a piece of warm bread. No bells and whistles, no extra flavors, just warm, pillowy, comforting bread. And sometimes you have no yeast. So you scour the internet for “gluten free yeast free bread please for the love of all that is good in the world” and you find recipes! And all of those recipes have their own special flour blend that “works best” and they’re all complicated and require you to have approximately 75 different types flours and starches that you’re supposed to mix together in absurd combinations specifically for that recipe. That is, if you want it to be good. Because otherwise it will be filth and thus not fit for human consumption.
Like...cool.
I do not have the resources to mix together 3/4 cups of sorghum flour and 3/8 tablespoons of brown rice flour and a fairy’s thimble of that one specific whey powder you can only find under cover of darkness on a midsummers eve, SUSAN, I’m gonna need you to get all the way off my back with this.
Anyway! For this recipe, I used my usual preferred flour and a baking soda/baking powder combo to achieve maximum rise and pillowy soft texture. This bread is springy! And delicious! It toasts beautifully and doesn’t have that pound cake or banana bread texture that a lot of quick breads do. It’s maybe not the best for sandwiches, only because it may not hold up to the weight of fillings. But it’d be great for a PB&J. Ooooor a fluffernutter. Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.
It’s also an excellent base for brunch dishes, like, for example, poached eggs and cheese (and piquillo peppers and mushroom sage infused olive oil and pesto, you’re welcome).
And honestly, it’s super easy to make.
Combine the dry ingredients in a big bowl. I used a stand mixer, but you could definitely do this one by hand. It doesn’t get thick enough to require heavy machinery.
Combine the wet ingredients in a measuring cup and whisk them together so the egg yolks are broken up and smooth.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir them together. You might need to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times. After it’s all mixed together, turn the mixer speed to medium and leave it on for about five minutes. You want to beat some air into it so the baking soda and powder can do their thing.
Bake the batter in a 350° oven for about 45 minutes or until it’s beautifully golden and you can put in a toothpick and pull it out clean.
When you take it out of the oven, let it cool for at least an hour before taking it out of the pan (I know, I’m sorry). And wait until it’s totally cool(-ish, sometimes patience is a virtue I do not possess) before cutting into it, or you risk having it fall.
Plain Bread
🥄; makes one loaf
3 cups flour (King Arthur All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Mix)
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup olive oil
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1. Preheat the oven to 350° and prep a bread pan with parchment paper and/or baking spray.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a big bowl (like the bowl of a stand mixer).
3. Combine the wet ingredients in a measuring cup.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined, scraping down the sides as needed. Leave the mixer on medium speed (or mix by hand) for about 5 minutes, incorporating air into the batter.
5. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minute, or until the top is golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.