beanBaking | Bread

Giving up gluten is what I imagine it's like to quit crack. I am a foodie, who went for six months without wheat (when I had my own kitchen and was able to banish it from my home).

It was a Wendy's burger that had me fall off the wagon. Combo #2 to be exact and a Diet Coke... but that's beside the point. Since I'm back to my grain-loving ways I wanted to share one of the best recipes I have ever tasted, with you... my friends and strangers.

You will need:

1 tablespoon Sugar 2 teaspoons Salt 2 packages of Active Dry Yeast 5 cups All Purpose Flour 1 tablespoon Butter 1 tablespoon Water 1 tablespoon Cornmeal 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil 1 Egg White

In a large bowl, combine sugar, salt, yeast and 2 cups of flour. In a 1 quart saucepan over low heat, heat butter and one 1 3/4 cup water until warm (120° to 130°F). * The butter does not need to melt *

With a mixer at low speed, gradually beat liquid into dry ingredients until just blended. Increase speed to medium; beat for two minutes, occasionally scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Beat in 1/2 cup flour to make a thick batter; continue beating mixture at medium speed for two minutes, scraping often with a rubber spatula. With a wooden spoon, stir in enough additional flour about 1 3/4 cups to make a soft dough.

Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding flour when needed. *Do not over-knead!*

Cut dough in half; cover pieces with a bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes (for easier shaping!).

Grease a large cookie sheet and then sprinkle the cookie sheet with cornmeal.

On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll each half into a 15“ x 10“ rectangle. From the 15" side tightly roll the dough in a jellyroll fashion; pinch the seam to seal it.

Place loaves, seam side down on the cookie sheet and taper ends. Brush loaves with oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap before refrigerating for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 425°F and remove loaves from refrigerator, cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Cut diagonal slashes on top of each loaf. Bake for 20 minutes.

In a small bowl with fork beat egg white with 1 tablespoon of water. Remove loaves from oven and brush them with egg white mixture, return to oven, bake 5 minutes and serve!

Thank you to my good friend Leslie Vanderburg for sharing this delicious recipe!