Kneadable gluten free bread

September is officially here and we can really feel the seasons shifting in the southern Appalachians. Daylight is quickly decreasing and our mornings and evenings are much cooler. For many of us, we are shifting back into school year routines and trying to find our rhythm again.

Many families are telling me they are in need of solid, grounding rhythms as the world around them feels anything but that!

If life feels out of control, it can be helpful to add one "anchor" to our day or week. What is an anchor? An anchor grounds us to a place we have intentionally chosen; it keeps us there despite how calm or rough the sea may be. Anchors in our rhythm are things we do consistently, at an expected time, that we rely on for connection. These are things like having read aloud before bed each night or always greeting your children with muffins and tea after school. The beauty is in their simplicity (You can learn more about anchors in this past blog post.) 

Despite their simplicity, adding anchors in our day has HUGE effects! They add connection, calm, and ease. They reduce power struggles and challenging behaviors. 

At Little Round Schoolhouse, we had lots of consistent and predictable rhythms that supported the children and our time together. One of our favorite rhythms was bread baking. We took time each Tuesday to mix the dough, let it rise, knead it together, and then bake it into rolls. Many of our school children were gluten free and I wanted to find a way to make bread making accessible to everyone. And, ideally, I wanted us all to eat the same food together.

I quickly realized that while finding gluten free bread was doable, it was much more difficult to find something that could be kneaded. I experimented with several recipes and ended up with this one. While this bread is certainly "kneadable," gluten free bread doesn't have to be needed like glutinous bread. It is a joy to knead bread with children and allow them to have this sensory experience. Let me know if you give it a try and how it goes!

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of warm water
• 1/2 Tablespoon maple syrup or honey
• 2 Tablespoons of baking yeast
• 1/3 cup ground flax
• 1/3 cup psyllium husk (whole husk not ground)
• 1 cup sorghum flour
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup millet flour
• 1 cup tapioca flour
• 3/4 almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Recipe:

•  Mix together warm water, maple syrup or honey, and yeast and let sit for 3-5 minutes.
•  Mix together flax and psyllium husk and whisk into warm water. Let sit for 3-5 more minutes.
•  In a separate bowl mix together the flours and the salt.
•  Add flours to wet mixture slowly until incorporated.
•  Let rise, covered, for 60 minutes.
•  Knead, if desired.
•  Bake at 375 for 75-90 minutes for a loaf. Or 45-50 mins for rolls.
• Let cool for 10-15 mins before cutting.

Printable Version:

 As I added the yeast and watched it bubble, I would sing (To the tune of Brother John):

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping, brother yeast, brother yeast?
It's time for you to wake now, warm bread we will bake now.
Yum, yum, yum.
Yum, yum, yum.

 This delightful song is from the Seasons of Joy Autumn Curriculum.