Gluten & Dairy Free Challah

This recipe was a BEAST to figure out! WHEW. ( I have been saying that a lot lately.. haha for some reason chose to take on some really challenging recipes back to back!)

This recipe required SO many days of trial and error. It was wellll worth the effort though as I ended up with a loaf of bread that literally increases in size by 3 times! I have never in my life come across gluten free bread that increases in size like this. It’s glorious. You’ll have so much fun making it as the results are really rewarding.

It ends up with a bit of a rustic look. Due to being gluten-free the shape of the braid expands a bit since this bread rises so much. It still turns out gorgeous & tastes airy, light and fluffy! To keep a perfect looking shape means limiting how much the bread can rise- so I opted for a huge loaf with a bit of rustic look.

This bread has a rich flavor thanks to the egg yolks and sugar. Its always delightfully soft and fluffy when its warm. Fresh out of the oven, nice and warm the texture reminds me almost of a croissant!! I was unbelievably excited the first time I tried it. As with most gluten free bread I have found that it tastes best warm- so if you are eating it on day 2 or 3- I recommend warming it up in the microwave or briefly in the oven. But- as with all homemade bread (gluten free or not) this bread tastes the absolute best the day its made. The beauty of this dough is that you can make it up to two days in advance and pop it in the fridge. So if you are short on time but still want to serve a fresh loaf- prep the dough in advance. Honestly I think you could even pre-shape the dough in its braid & store the braid in a sealed Tupperware container. It will expand some but I don’t think this should be a problem.

As for storing it I suggest putting it into a sealed ziplock back when its almost fulled cooled. If its still a little warm the condensation from the heat trapped in the bag will help keep the bread soft.

I worked really hard to master this recipe so that it could be made freeform the traditional way- but I wanted to mention that you can absolutely make it in a large bread pan if you would like a nice and tall loaf. If you go this route- just follow the steps provided to braid it then add it to your large bread pan instead of a 9X13 pan.

As for substitutions … I don’t have any for you today. This bread is FINICKY and required that I get the ingredient amounts exactly right. Don’t get me wrong..it won’t be finicky for you if you make it using the gram measurements. But creating it.. what an adventure. So as a result of that I wouldn’t make a single change. Unless you have the patience to do trial and error. (AND let me tell you this recipe tested my patience like no other.)

Lets talk ingredients:

Better Batter Original Blend: I opted for this flour as I have found its a dream for bread recipes and is rises so nicely! Natalie (the company owner) has since released a new artisan blend that does not have any gum in it. It uses psyllium husk instead. I bought a bag- but have not done enough testing with it to know if it will sub properly cup for cup in my bread recipes using the original blend.

I typically buy my better batter on amazon. This time of year it seems to sell out as Amazon keeps running out of stock for a day or two! But, I believe Walmart carries it in the store & I have ordered it from the Walmart website to ship to my house. I’m always nervous to order from Walmart (Never do store pickup haha. Its always a nightmare at my store anyways). But, shipping direct to my house seems to be pretty quick and dependable.

Garbanzo Bean Flour : Heres the deal with garbanzo bean flour.. if you use too much it STINKS & tastes pretty gross. But, at the same time I have found no flour that creates better rise or structure in bread. Literally nothing performs even slightly as well as it. So, I opted to use just a small amount (about 1/3 cup) to get enough in there to add some lovely structure and rise without getting the overwhelming taste of it. You might taste/smell it a bit prior to baking. This is normal. But I find the flavor really dissipates once its baked.

Make sure your garbanzo (chickepea) flour is fresh. As it ages the smell and taste intensify… to the point that even this small amount called for could make the bread taste a little off. When it goes rancid (YUCK) you will know as the smell is intense. I recommend only getting a 1 lb bag and storing it in the fridge. I will be adding it to bread recipes more in the future , so I promise well get some good use out of it. I usually just buy Bobs Red Mill Brand.

Expandex

Expandex is simply a modified form of tapioca starch. Its non gmo and quite straight forward. Its been used for a long time primarily by the companies that are selling pre-made gluten free baked goods. Its available now for everyone on amazon. One bag will last you awhile as I only use a small amount in my recipes.

WHY do I use it? Simple. It makes everything taste super legit and no longer gluten free. If you are familiar with gluten free baking you know that typically when baked goods cool down and age they get dry and hard. (Especially bread). Something may start out perfect when its warm then taste not so appetizing when it cools down. A lot of gluten free flours cause that to happen unfortunately. Expandex helps prevent that from happening in almost every recipe I have tried it in. The texture remains what it should be as it cools (for the most part.) Either way its a huge improvement. The second reason I like to use it is because I find it really does help baked goods expand. They tend to get taller, fluffier & even softer in some situations. It also makes dough easier to work with as it helps glue the dough together. It also helps provide structure to baked goods.

For this bread specifically- the expandex made a huge difference in how big it got!! Without it my challah did not rise nearly as much.

This is a photo of a slice 3 days after I made the bread! So its a little bit crumbly here- but if you warm it up it goes right back to being soft as ever and tender.

Gluten & Dairy Free Challah

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Author: Brittany Angell

Prep time: 25 MinCook time: 35 MinInactive time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 H & 45 M

This recipe was a BEAST to figure out. But it was well worth the effort. I have never before made a gluten free loaf of bread that expands this much. Your challah will triple in size between the time you braid it and when you pull it out of the oven. I have only included gram measurements here as accuracy is the only way this bread will turn out perfectly! Make sure your grams are exactly the same as mine.

Ingredients

Bread Dough

• 225 grams lukewarm water
• 2 Tbsp Honey or Agave
• 2 tsp Quick /Fast Acting Yeast
• 335 grams Better Batter Original Blend
• 132 grams Expandex
• 49 grams Garbanzo Bean Flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp double acting baking powder
• 70 grams Organic Cane Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Oil (Vegetable, Olive or Avocado)
• 3 Large Egg Yolks
• Egg Wash: 1 Large egg whisked liberally with 2 Tsp water.
• 1 Tbsp melted butter to brush on after baking. (Regular or vegan)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment.
2. To the bowl of your stand mixer add the warm water, yeast and honey. Mix and allow it to bubble and froth. (Note: If you know your yeast is alive and well you may skip this step and just add all the bread ingredients to the mixing bowl.)
3. Add all the remaining dough ingredients to the bowl being careful to measure with precision.
4. Turn the mixer on low gradually increasing to high. Stopping once to use a spatula to make sure everything is incorporated from the sides. Mix until a smooth dough forms. At this point you can oil a Tupperware container and then add the dough and chill for several hours or up to 2 days. OR you can continue on to the next steps to make the bread right away. If you have the time to allow it to chill for even an hour or two- the dough being cold makes it easier to work with.
5. Sprinkle your work surface with a bit of better batter or tapioca starch & place the dough on it. Sprinkle a little flour on the baking scale and measure the total weight of the dough. Divide that number by 3 to figure out the weight of each piece of the braid.. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces.
6. Sprinkle a tiny bit of water on your work surface to make rolling the dough out easier. Roll each out into a log that is 10 -12 inches long making sure they are equal in length. Gently braid the 3 pieces sealing the ends with water and pushing them under a little bit.
7. Transfer the braided challah to the prepared baking pan. Brush it liberally with water & then the first layer of egg wash. Spray the top of the challah with a little bit of oil and gentle drape ceran wrap on top. Then loosely drape a kitchen towel on top.
8. Turn the oven off & place the towel covered pan inside. Leaving the door open a crack for 10 minutes. Then close the oven for 20 minutes.
9. Remove the bread from the oven & brush on another layer of egg wash. Gently press back together any areas that have broken. Turn oven back on to 350 degrees. Place on top of the stove to rise for another 10-15 minutes while the oven preheats.
10. Brush the bread with a third layer of egg wash. Then place into the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 22-23 minutes until golden brown. Then turn the heat down to 250 degrees and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven. Brush with melted butter. Allow to cool & serve warm.

Notes:

I made this dough so many times & along the way noticed that finding a balance in keeping the shape & a ton of rise was the trickiest thing to figure out. Changing the amount of expandex in a small quantities made a huge difference. So, all that to say- if you want your bread to rise even more (and don't mind If it retain its braided shape a little less) then you can use 120g expandex instead of 132g.

Note: You can make this dough up until a day in advance! If you opt to do this store it in a tightly sealed Tupperware container until ready to roll it out & braid it. Giving it extra time to slowly proof in the fridge is great for the flavor and I have found that when the dough is chilled/cold its easiest to work with.

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