Gluten Free + Vegan Soft & Fluffy Italian Bread

With eggs costing a small fortune lately there’s no better time for me to dive into learning to master egg free breads which I have been wanting to hone in on for awhile.

The key to success in making a great egg free/ gluten free + vegan bread is Psyllium Husk, Which is an ingredient I have been wanting to experiment with but felt a little overwhelmed knowing there would be a big learning curve and a lot of trial and error. I had tested it out a number of times and felt as though it was actually preventing my breads from getting as big as I knew they could be.

Turns out I was making one mistake.. I wasn’t adding enough hydration to my bread doughs when I used it. The cool thing about psyllium is that it allows you to sneak in a lot more water into the recipe without the dough getting super wet. Typically with gluten free bread recipe development I’m walking the fine line between getting as much hydration into the dough as I can while also making sure the dough can be worked with and shaped.Psyllium provides the structure to bread that it needs very similar to how gluten works. It allows allows for more moisture which means the bread gets bigger. Its kind of a miraculous ingredient when used correctly. I’m finding it also allows for recipes to contain less ingredients. It really opens the door to a new frontier of innovation & I’m really excited to go down the path and see what I can create.

The Psyllium + Xanthan Gum & Potato Flour in Better Batter + the Expandex that I like to add in is my personal magical combination to creating REAL deal bread. The expandex is what makes the dough really explode open in the oven & it gives is that real bread texture and look that I haven’t seen another ingredient make happen.

Psyllium is a really unique ingredient that has properties to it that I have not found in any other ingredients besides gluten itself. So I don’t think (at this time) anyways that I can recommend a way to substitute it successfully.

Psyllium really did wonders for the recipe. It makes the dough easy to work with & it allowed me to reduce the amount of steps substantially. The trickiest part really is shaping the bread without over working it & adding too much flour to it. Don’t stress over your bread looking perfect. That will come with time. The main goal to get started I think anyways is for it to taste good. Which will be the case so long as you follow the exact gram measurements and directions :). Using too much flour will prevent an “oven spring” from happening.

For this recipe you will need bread baskets! I used 10 inch Oval Banneton Proofing Baskets ( a set of 2)

https://amzn.to/3Zs0f9L. <—- I purchased this set on amazon!

You could also get away with using two 10 inch round banneton proofing baskets (or 1 of each shape!) I opted for oval since Italian bread typically comes in that shape & size.

Have you ever heard of the term oven spring?? Unless you are a baker then probably not.

Oven spring is a magical thing that happens in the oven that bread bakers aim for. IF there is enough hydration and structure in the dough and you put the dough into a very hot oven (preferably on a pizza stone or baking steel) then the moisture in the dough quickly bubbles up and creates a lot of height in the bread in the first 10 minutes in the oven. This then equates to a fluffy bread with a beautiful crumb & lots of perfect air bubbles. Even without an oven spring happening the bread will still taste good .. it’ll just be a bit dense in comparison. I discovered that mixing in too much flour when shaping the dough prevented the oven spring from happening because it reduced the amount of moisture in the dough. This is why I suggest trying to shape the dough using only a few tbsp of flour at the most.

Ingredients (Some of these are affiliate links that earn me a few cents if you shop using them! :)

Better Batter Gluten Free Orginal Blend

This flour blend continues to amaze me. It can do so many things better than most other blends that I have tried. As a result its extremely popular. Around the holidays it tends to sell out everywhere. Usually its available on Amazon and at Walmart. Lately I have been ordering it from the Better Batter website directly. When they sell out- they tend to restock pretty quickly. Check back within a day or two if they are sold out when you look. I buy it in bulk now (Up to 40 lbs at a time) as I cant risk running out. I use it in too many recipes that we love.

What if you cant get your hands on it? This may be the case if you live outside the US. My friend Nichole from Gluten Free on a Shoestring has figured out a mock recipe for better batter. Her version should work great in this recipe! The owner (Naomi) of better batter has confirmed that the mix is similar to the official version.

Better Batter so kindly offered me a 30% off promo code to share with all of you! This can be used as often as you would like for every single purchase made directly on BetterBatter.com Use the code: BakingAngell30

Expandex

This bread is truly only possible because of the magic of expandex. It is a modified form of tapioca starch that was formulated to improve gluten free baking. The word Modified tends to worry people- so let me explain further. Essentially they studied tapioca and removed portions of it leaving only the parts that would allow for it to cause amazing elasticity (aka its name) in gluten free recipes. This flour allows me to get an incredible rise with everything I use it in. It traps the air bubbles in the dough just like regular flour with gluten does! Its honestly incredible. If you eat any processed or store bought foods you have eaten many forms of modified starch. Its nothing new- its just semi new to the home baker. Its non gmo and I typically get it from the brand Judee’s on amazon. Under no conditions can you sub it out for another regular starch.

Outside of the US there is a product called Ultratex 3 I have not worked with it but from what I understand its comparable! I would use that in the exact same quantity as the expandex amount that I call for.

Yeast: I recently learned about a special yeast made for sweet breads. Breads with sugar that are higher in fat have a harder time rising and typically take much longer to do so. Which means that this yeast has some extra oomph to it. Which gives me confidence that it could really benefit gluten free bread recipes. https://amzn.to/3AQPMsZ

If you don’t want to go to the trouble of getting that specific bag- any brand will do. Just make sure that its fast acting or listed as instant.

Sugar- REAL Sugar is important. Its what feeds the yeast and makes this bread possible. I do not recommend swapping in a liquid sweetener as that could throw off the recipe. Please don’t use any keto sugars or even coconut palm sugar. It may not work as well.

Gluten Free + Egg Free Italian Bread

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Yield: 2 Loaves of Italian Bread

Author: Brittany Angell

Prep time: 25 MinCook time: 50 MinInactive time: 2 H & 40 MTotal time: 3 H & 55 M

This bread is honestly unbelievable!! Thanks to the addition of whole milk (or a fattier dairy free milk of your choice) vinegar and butter (regular or dairy free will work great). I was able to achieve an incredibly soft tender yet fluffy texture which is how Italian bread should be! Combine that with a delicious crunchy crust & its all around perfect. Feel free to use the adjustable serving tool to cut the recipe in half to make just one loaf if you prefer.

Ingredients

• 14 grams Psyllium Husk Powder (4 tsp)
• 250 grams Warm Water
• 225 grams Warm Whole Milk/Vitamin D milk. *For dairy free opt for a higher fat option as this helps make the bread soft.
• 2 Tbsp (31 grams) Organic Cane Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Fast Acting/Instant Yeast
• 3 Tbsp Softened Butter (Dairy or nondairy)
• 385 grams Better Batter Original Blend
• 134 grams expandex
• 50 grams Garbanzo Bean Flour Or Superfine Brown or White Rice flour. (Must be labeled as superfine)
• 3 Tbsp (40 grams) Vinegar (I used Apple Cider Vinegar)
• 2 Tsp Salt

Instructions

1. Carefully measure out your milk and water/ and warm them up in the microwave until Luke warm. (a hot temp will kill the yeast). Add to the bowl of your stand mixer and then measure in the psyllium husk powder & give the mixture a quick whisk until combined.
2. Add in the sugar & then yeast and whisk it together again. If you have used your yeast recently & know its alive then you can skip the step of waiting for the yeast to activate (aka start to bubble and froth ) But If you are unsure you can let it sit at this point for 5 minutes. If you see any development from the yeast you know you are good to go.
3. Add in all of the remaining ingredients being careful to measure accurately. Turn the stand mixer on low until the dough begins to come together then mix on high for about a minute or two. I like to scrape down the sides once or twice to make sure all of the dough is well mixed. Oil a large glass bowl and place the bread dough into it. Cover it tightly with ceran wrap and then cover with a towel and stick it in a warm spot. If its a cold day- then I will preheat my oven to the lowest temp possible (175 degrees) and then turn it off. I place the bowl into the oven- with the door cracked open for 15 minutes then close it. OR, if its a relatively warm day I will just leave the bowl on top of my stove.
4. Let the dough proof for 2 hours. Giving it ample time is important as the psyllium will absorb a substantial amount of the moisture and make the dough quite easy to work with.
5. After the 2 hours its time to shape the dough. Liberally flour the inside of two oval bread baskets. (with rice flour or better batter) Now its time to shape the dough- a very very important key here is to not use too much flour to shape or else you will end up with bread that does not spring up to its full potential size. I only use about 1 Tbsp of better batter on the counter to shape each loaf + dipping my hand in the flour to prevent them from sticking. Do your best to shape the dough into a smooth surface on one side roughly the size and shape of the baskets. Place the dough into the baskets and press it down into place so it fills the bottom of the basket completely. You can pat/slap the dough a bit to smooth it out inside the basket. Brush just the exposed side of the dough with water (I often just do this with my hands). making sure not to get it wet around the edges as that will encourage sticking.
6. Cover both baskets with ceran wrap & then a towel and place on top of your oven. Place a pizza stone or baking steel into the oven on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 475 degrees. After about 45 minutes both baskets of dough will nearly double in size and reach just about the top of the basket.
7. Sprinkle some flour (better batter or rice flour) on to the tops of the dough in each basket. Place a sheet of parchment over the baskets and one by one place a cutting board over the parchment and carefully flip the basket upside down so that the dough can hold its shape and plop out of the basket onto the parchment.
8. Use a sharp knife or razor blade to cut a design into the top of each loaf. If the oven has fully preheated- turn it down to 450 degrees and using the cutting board slide the parchment with its bread directly onto the baking stone. (I bake both loaves at once ). Do this quickly and carefully getting the oven door as quickly as possible without burning yourself. Set the timer for 20 minutes.
9. Next throw 2-3 cups of ice cubes into the bottom of the oven and quickly shut the door again. (I do this within the first few minutes of baking). Most bakers will have a hot pan in the bottom of their oven to throw the ice into. I have found this to be unnecessary as the oven is so hot the ice will evaporate and wont leave a trace behind or harm the oven. The steam created will allow the bread to spring to its full potential size. Do not open the oven again until the end of the baking time.
10. After 20 minutes at 450 degrees, turn the oven down to 350 degrees and set the oven for another 26-30 minutes. Bake until firm to touch- the crust should be firm to touch and crisp. Carefully remove from the oven both loaves of bread using the cutting board. Serve warm or room temperature. In general gluten free bread is a bit gummy while its hot and its best to let it cool and set itself up before slicing into it. Otherwise steam will escape and you may end up with your loaf losing some of its spring. The texture will be the very best if you give it an hour or more to cool.
11. Store in the freezer for another day or at room temperature in a sealed bag/or tightly wrapped in ceran wrap once cooled. It will stay soft for 2-3 days at room temperature.

Notes

If you would like to make the bread dough 1-2 days in advance you absolutely can. I would suggest allowing it to do its two hour proof in the oiled bowl after mixing it. Then transferring it to a large well sealed Tupperware container and placing it in the fridge. You can "deflate" it before putting it into the container - don't worry it will proof up nice and big again.

Then whenever you are ready to make the bread take it out of the fridge and shape it into its two loaves. Since the dough is cold it will take more like 1 1/2 hours or so to fully proof (rather than 40 minutes which is how long it takes if the dough is warm and is doing its second proof the same day its made.)

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