Easy Gluten Free Bannock Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to gluten free baking? ›

Mix Batters Longer

While conventional wisdom has taught us not to overmix our batters, we've found most gluten-free batters simply need to be stirred for longer. If you're worried this will turn your muffins and cakes rubbery, have no fear. Gluten-free recipes need to have more structure.

Bannock can be baked in a pan or on a stone (camping), shallow pan-fried, or deep-fried. You can enjoy it with stews or just jam and butter.

When all-purpose flour won't cut it, stock your pantry with additional gluten free flours, like oat flour, nut flours, bean flours, even powdered dry milk and others. You'll also need binders, like xanthan gum or psyllium husk, to adjust the structure in what you're baking.

Add binders and stabilizers: Gluten-free bread lacks the structure and elasticity provided by gluten. To compensate for this, add binders and stabilizers like xanthan gum, guar gum, or psyllium husk powder. These ingredients help improve the texture and binding properties of the bread. Use eggs or egg re.

If the original recipe calls for 260 grams of all-purpose flour, substitute with 260 grams of your blend. Beat the batter more. Because gluten-free flours provide less structure than all-purpose, the batter or dough you make with them may require more beating than that which you are accustomed.

Gluten-free baking is a lot harder than traditional baking because gluten protein is what gives baked goods their structure.

Bannock, a round of mostly flour, baking powder, water and some sort of fat, has been a part of Indigenous peoples' diets since the 18^th century. It is believed that bannock, derived from the Gaelic word bannach, was introduced here by the Scottish fur traders.

Today, most often, bannock is baked in the oven, making it heavy and dense; or it is pan-fried, light and fluffy; or it is deep-fried.

The Inuit call it 'palauga,' it's 'luskinikn' to the Mi'kmaq, while the Ojibway call it 'ba`wezhiganag. ' Whatever they call it, from north to south and coast to coast, just about every indigenous nation across North America has some version of bannock.

Rice flour(s): A combination of brown rice flour and white rice flour, with their ideal balance of protein and starch, provide bulk and mildly sweet, neutral flavor. The rice flours are finely ground so they absorb liquid quickly and evenly.

What to avoid in gluten-free baking? ›

What's the best gluten-free flour for baking? Bob's Red Mill gluten-free 1-to-1 baking mix is my favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour blend for baking. It has a mild texture and plenty of "stick" thanks to a blend of sweet rice flour, brown rice flour, and sorghum flour, plus some starches and xanthan gum.

The three most common binders are xanthan gum, guar gum and psyllium husk powder. Each one works in a slightly different way to help create the structure we need to hold baked goods together.

Your bread will not rise if your yeast or baking powder has expired. A dense loaf could also be the result of not measuring your ingredients accurately. Weight measurements are best (I have to update my recipes). Otherwise scoop the flour into your measuring cup and level without shaking or packing the flour down.

If you want to buy just one gluten-free flour, we highly recommend the Pillsbury all-purpose gluten-free flour. Not only is it our favorite gluten-free flour, and easy to use in gluten-free recipes, but it's also one of the few gluten-free flours currently on the market that is recommended for baking with yeast.

Use xanthan gum or guar gum: Gluten-free flours lack the elasticity and structure that gluten provides, so adding a binder like xanthan or guar gum can help to hold the ingredients together and give your baked goods a better texture.

Owing to the challenge of gluten-free flours to form a protein network that provides structure and strength to dough, breads produced in the absence of gluten tends to be flatter, denser, crummier, less chewy and less tasty.

One of the most common gluten-free baking tips is “let your batter rest”. Letting the batter rest gives the gluten-free flours and starches more time to absorb the moisture. In theory, it will turn your dry, crumbly cakes into delicious, moist masterpieces.

These breads take longer to bake because the gums and fiber in Gluten-Free Bread Flour hold onto water more than gluten (which is typical of gluten-free flour), so they take longer to fully bake and “dry out.” If you have a digital thermometer, the internal temperature should be between 208°F to 212°F.