Playing with My New Toy (and a gluten-free bread recipe)

Oh, wait, that's not me!

Abby and some of her new toys on Christmas morning.  I think she had a gummy bear in her mouth.

GF bread on left and plain white bread on right 

Here is my new (to me) toy.  A lady in our church gave me her old bread maker a few months ago and I have finally put it to use.  Just to let you know, I can make bread the old-fashioned way.   That is one of the reasons why I hadn't used it until now.   After I used it the first time, I was hooked.  It saves SO much time.  I love that I can just start a loaf of bread, walk off, get on with my day, and the machine will beep and let me know when my hot, fresh bread is ready to come out.

I've also found a recipe for gluten free bread for the little one.  I've tried making GF bread by hand, and it was a flop.  Abby seems to like this recipe and both  my husband and I think it's all right too.  I made the GF loaf three days ago and it is still moist and doesn't crumble, too much.

So, without further ado, here are the recipes I've found and tweaked to our liking.

Basic White Bread

1 cup warm water

2 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

3/4 Tablespoon Yeast (I just don't fill the 1 Tablespoon measuring spoon up all the way)

1/4 cup oil

3 cups flour (I just use plain-ole-all-purpose flour)

1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve sugar in water in bread pan.  Sprinkle yeast over top and let proof for 5 - 10 minutes.  Add oil, flour, and salt.  Turn machine on to Basic White Bread Setting and walk away!  We prefer the light crust setting.

GF Bread Recipe

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup warm water

1 Tablespoon yeast

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup milk (we used soy)

3 Tablespoons butter or margarine (softened)

1 teaspoon soy lecithin

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

1/2 cup potato starch

1 Tablespoon guar gum

1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve sugar in warm water.  Sprinkle yeast over and let proof for 5 - 10 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients in order listed.  Again I used the basic setting with light crust.  I found it helpful to scrap the sides down a few times while the machine was kneading the bread.  I did it two times for this loaf, and I think I should have done it at least 1 more time to help get all the flour mixed in.

Abby is so glad to have her bread again.  She's had it for almost every meal since I made it!