The Gluten-Free Homemaker

We recently had some very warm weather that put my boys in the mood for grilled hamburgers. Hamburgers have been my exception to the rule that dinner is always gluten free. Normally, I use some type of gluten-free bun or bread, or simply go without, while the rest of the family uses wheat based buns.

I have kept store bought gluten-free buns in the freezer and I have made my own hamburger buns.  When I make my own, the kids are always jealous. I use my focaccia bread recipe which they love, so they would rather have a gluten-free bun than a wheat bun.

Knowing that, I treated the family by making gluten-free hamburger buns for all of us. The kids were thrilled. I used four English muffin rings and for the fifth one I folded a sheet of foil into a strip and made a circle the same size as the other rings. The foil didn’t hold the dough quite as well, but I was the only one who noticed the difference.

My gluten-free focaccia recipe made enough for the five buns and a small round cake pan sized loaf. This recipe is adapted from Carol Fenster’s recipe in her book Gluten-Free 101. I love it because it is so versatile. I didn’t use the Italian seasoning on top of the hamburger buns. You can of course use other toppings also. I like using this bread for dips such as spinach dip. It is also great baked in two cake pans or springform pans, sliced in half like a large hamburger bun, filled with sandwich type fillings, wrapped loosely in foil and reheated in the oven.

If you don’t want to use the flours listed in the recipe, just substitute any gluten-free flour mix. It should work well.

Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread

Ingredients

Dry:

• 1 1/3 c. brown rice flour
• 2/3 c. sweet rice flour
• 1 c. tapioca starch
• 1 Tb. instant yeast
• 2 tsp. unflavored gelatin
• 1 Tb. xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder (optional)
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. sugar or honey

Wet:

• 1 – 1 1/4 c. warm water
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1 tsp. vinegar

Topping:

• olive oil
• Italian seasoning
• coarse salt

Instructions
Mix the wet ingredients together in the bowl of your mixer using 1 cup of the water.  Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and beat for 2 minutes. Add more water if it is too dry.  The dough should be very soft and sticky.

Transfer the dough to whatever pan you are using. This recipe will fill a large cookie sheet. Let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Brush the top of the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and Italian seasoning.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. The top should be nicely browned.

View Printable Recipe

Labels: bread recipes