Let There Be Bread: the first homemade sans boxed mix loaf.

The joints feel better today so I decided to make bread while I could. I looked at a bunch of different recipes and a few called out to me. I mixed a few together, came up with my own. Not bad for a first try...still needs some improvement...but I'll post the recipe anyway.


Prepare a loaf pan...I think I have an 8-inch. Lightly oil then dust with brown rice flour. Set aside.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside:
1 cup almond flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup white rice four
1/4 cup tapioca starch
2 teaspoons of guar gum or xanthan gum
1 teaspoon sea salt

In a small sauce pan, heat water to warm, not hot, then turn off heat:
1 1/4 cups of water
then add:
2 Tablespoons honey or agave nectar
1 packet active yeast
Mix well; set aside.

In a small mixing bowl:
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons of veg oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Mix well.

To the dry ingredients:
Add egg mixture, then the warm yeast mixture. Beat by hand until thick and well combined.

Pour into the prepared pan, tent with foil, and let rise until doubled in bulk. Preheat your oven to 350 when the bread is done rising.

Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the pan, and bake for another 15-18 minutes. Let pan cool on a rack then turn bread out for further cooling before slicing. Hot...it tasted a bit tapioca bun like. Cooled...yum.

Almond Flour!

OH MY GOODNESS! I am feeling so much better eating lots of protein and veggies. Grain free forever? Probably not. Almond flour forever? Yes!

My daughter came over for a Mom-made dinner, laundry, sleep-over night. I hadn't baked all week... and I could tell that was not going over well by the hungry circling in the kitchen a few hours after dinner. I said the words..."If you'll make it gluten free and cut the sugar in half, I'll eat it." She printed out a brownie recipe from Hershey's, then proceeded to ransack the pantry. Rice flour wasn't doing it for her, so I suggested the almond flour in the refrigerator. The Kid's love for almonds is legendary around here. She replaced the almond flour cup for cup of flour, and cut the sugar in half, then followed the classic recipe for the rest, intuitively adding an extra 1/4 tsp. of baking powder.

She then proceeded to the frosting recipe in the similar ransacking way. "Agave nectar? What kind of hippy crap is this, Mom?" I gathered my patience (I almost named her Patience. I should have). "Kid. Where did we grow up?" "New England. Why?" Well. What did we get fresh from Maple trees in Vermont?" "Maple syrup...duh." "Where do we live now?" "The desert. Are you feeling OK?" "Do you see any Maple trees or do you see Cacti and Agave in the yard? It's now our local food." She pondered for a minute, then asked,"How the hell do you tap a cactus?" I sighed and went the college kid route. "Agave plants have a heart under those pointy leaves. You can collect it's sap aka nectar and/or you can steam press it for Hornito's Silver." "OH. Cool. It's like the multi purpose pig of Cacti-Agave world. What else can you make with it?" Mi Corazon...

Back to the brownies. She baked them according to the directions, and actually let them cool before frosting them. WOW. So good. Honestly, the best gluten free baked good I've had yet. They were among some of the best brownies ever, and I have eaten a Moosewood Brownie, there. She used agave nectar in the frosting in place of the corn syrup. It worked well. The half pan that was left...went in the 'fridge overnight and they were BETTER the next day. Almost like fudge. Funny thing was...even though they had some sugar in them, I didn't feel like crap after I ate them. Yep. Almond flour is my new friend. While they were really, really good with cocoa powder...I'm so going to start looking for dark chocolate deals and come up with my own melted chocolate recipe. I'll share.