Yes, you read correctly! This is a recipe for baguettes. And they are gluten free!
When you had to go gluten free, you probably thought, like me, that never again would you have the pleasure of biting into a fresh, crusty baguette… Well I’m pleased to tell you that we were wrong. It is entirely possible to bake delicious, crusty gluten free baguettes! When I make them, all my children want to eat some, even those who can eat gluten 🙂
The hardest thing with this recipe is finding a baguette mould. I tried very hard to find one here in Switzerland, but I couldn’t. I finally found one completely by chance in Clas Ohlson in England. You’ll find some on Amazon too, of course.
These baguettes freeze very well, so I usually make a batch and keep some in my freezer. Once thawed, I put them in the oven for a few minutes, just to make them perfectly crusty again.
So… here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
Makes six small baguettes
- 350 ml water (not too cold)
- 7 g dried yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 20 g olive oil
- 300 g gluten free flour – I use Schär’s bread mix B
- 50 g buckwheat flour
- 5 g salt
- 5 g psyllium husk powder
Method:
- In a big bowl, mix the water and dried yeast.
- Sprinkle the sugar on the mix and let it rest for ten minutes.
- Add the olive oil, flours, salt and psyllium powder and mix well.
- Let the dough rise – if possible in a warm and humid place. It usually takes about an hour to rise properly.
- Place a piece of non-stick baking paper on the baguette mould.
- When the dough is risen, make six small baguettes or three big ones, and place them on the baguette mould.
A quick note about the last step… gluten free bread is always tricky, because it’s sticky. You can’t knead it and make it into beautiful shapes like you could if you were using wheat flour. So it takes a bit of patience and practice. Some people flour their hands with gluten free flour; I prefer to wet my hands. I know it sounds crazy, but it works! Whatever way works for you is fine, just know that this step is tricky, and don’t expect perfection. I always make six small baguettes, as the dough is easier to work on in small quantities.
- Let the baguettes rise again for about 30 minutes in the baguette mould.
- Heat your oven at 220°C and bake for 25 minutes.
Optional:
- If you have a conventional oven, lightly brush your baguettes with a little olive oil just before baking. This makes them even crustier and shinier.
- If, like me, you are the lucky owner of a combined steam oven, select the “hot air and steam” cooking mode. It bakes them to perfection and there is no need to brush them with oil:-)
This is what they look like inside:
And this is my baguette mould… lined and unlined:
Here is a link to one of the many baguette moulds you’ll find on Amazon: