Truth be told, I have tried a dozen times to create a pliable dough with a light consistency that holds together well. I tried substituting GF flour in my classic recipe. I tried various recipes online. I tried different flours, adding vinegars and gums, and for the most part they were all epic fails.
The trouble with GF bread is the lack of gluten. HAHA! In all seriousness though, the gluten is what holds the bread together, and many of the so called substitutes either don't work, or they work by bulking up the dry ingredients until nobody wants to eat it. Many of my fails were crumbled and frozen and reincarnated into bread crumbs. And I did not process them. I just ground the loaf up with my hands. That is just too dry.
So today I got back in the saddle again and tried out a new combo adjustment to my recipe.
First, I swapped out my flour for Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo and Fava Bean Flour. Second, I added two heaping tsps of Bob's Xanthan Gum to the flour. I added everything as usual, but I did NOT add that extra cup of flour (that will ruin this bread. Don't do it.). Then, I only let it rise about half way, so like 20 minutes or so. Lastly, I did not give it a second rise.
I was pleasantly surprised by the consistency of the dough. It was pliable! I was able to roll it into snakes and braid it with only minor cracking! That is pretty much miraculous.
I let it sit for a few minutes until I noticed some slight blistering under the surface of the dough. I popped into my over (350F) and baked it up. I did the egg was and poppy seeds at about 10 minutes and pulled the finished loaf out 10 minutes later.
It looks like challah!
It rips apart like challah!
It tastes like beans!
Yes, beans. It is, after all, made from garbanzo and fava bean flour, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Sigh. Wow. So very beany. I'm guessing if I added some sort of savory vegetable like zucchini and some italian herbs it would be amazing. But with a glass of Manischewitz and some honey butter? No way, Moshe.
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