Well, thankfully there's another option. I actually started looking for a gluten-free, yeast free pita bread that I could easily veganize when I was putting together my Resetting Yourself program in early January. Blundering around in the sea of Google results, I clicked onto a gem of a website called Gluten-Free on a Shoestring. Gluten free goodies, made on the cheap? Count me in! Nicole Hunn (who also authored a book by the blog's name) has a host of culinary delights to browse through, including gluten- and yeast-free pita bread! With pockets! I was so glad you'd think I had just won the jackpot.
And with a few small modifications to her formula, I think I did. The original recipe was gluten and yeast free, but I needed to eliminate the dairy, processed soy, egg and corn ingredients for a client on my program. A mixture of ground flax slurry (my current favourite egg replacer) and prepared ener-G powder stood in for the egg and egg white while adding a little boost of nutrition and fibre, and I used water in place of the milk since I didn't want to buy a whole container of rice or hemp milk for 6 breads. My own blend of GF all-purpose flour (which I call "Gluten Free 'Anything' Flour" and is in both my Dining Not Dying and Outside the Box cookbooks), brown rice flour and millet flour formed the base dry mixture, and a homemade baking powder replaced the cornstarch formula I had on hand. Because xanthan gum is sourced from corn, I relied on guar gum instead for binding. Flavour wise, I bumped up the "Middle Eastern" aspect of pita bread with fruity olive oil, toasted sesame oil and a pinch of cumin for good measure.
The best part about not needing yeast was that it was in and out of the oven in under an hour, and even without a pizza stone fired to a gazillion degrees the finished loaves opened into glorious envelopes perfect to stuff with whatever you might fancy. Of course, you don't have to create pockets - you can also use them as mini pizza bases or cut them into wedges to go with your favourite dip (and might I suggest the hummuses?).
Almost Everything Free Pita Bread
Makes 6 pitas
1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1 tsp guar gum
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
pinch cumin (optional)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup warm water
1 tbsp ener-G egg replacer
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
3/4 - 1 cup warm water
- Preheat the oven to 400F and place a pizza stone or an upside down baking sheet inside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- In a separate bowl whisk together 1/4 cup warm water and egg replacer, then add to the flours with the oils and another 1/4 cup warm water.
- Mix to combine, then slowly add 1/2 cup warm water, mixing to make a wet dough.
- Keep mixing until parts of the dough begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl (it won't clump).
- Scrape onto a dampened counter and divide into parts.
- With wet hands, place one piece of dough on a sheet of parchment paper and, with wet fingertips smooth the dough into a 1/2" thick round.
- Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, placed about 1/2 inch apart on the parchment paper.
- Place the parchment paper on the hot pizza stone.
- Bake for 5 minutes, then carefully flip and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes, or until lightly brown on both sides.
- Allow to cool for 3 to 5 minutes, or until they can be handled. Slice each round in half through the center. With a very sharp knife, gently coax open the center of each pita half.
- Once cooled, the pitas will keep for 2 days in a plastic ziploc bag on the counter, or wrap in plastic, then foil, and freeze up to 2 weeks.
Amount Per Serving Calories: 209.2
Total Fat: 6.0 gCholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 3.3 mg
Total Carbs: 36.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.0 g
Protein: 5.3 g
0 comments:
Post a Comment