Friday, April 03, 2009

Gluten Free Pita Bread



Here's another recipe from Kate's blog, gluten-free gobsmacked. This one is good. It wasn't what I was expecting though. I was really craving an authentic, almost sourdough pita bread. This is more like a thick pancake. It works well for tucking a sandwich into, but just tasted like bread to me.
I stuffed mine with peanut butter, mashed up sweet potato, tuna and melted soy cheese, spaghetti sauce w/ turkey meatballs, and turkey, lettuce, tomato w/ a little mayo and mustard (my favorite!). I also just toasted a couple and ate 'em plain. Yum!

Gluten Free Pita Bread
Makes 8 -10 pitas, depending on size (mine made 10, but next time I'd try to make them a bit bigger)

1/2 cup sorghum flour
1 1/2 cups Featherlight flour mix*
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp gelatin
3 tbsp almond meal
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 tsp agave nectar
2 eggs
1/4 hot water
2 tbsp melted butter/butter sub (I used Earth Balance)

Proof yeast with agave and warm water. Let set for about 5 minutes.
Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Heat remaining 1/4 cup of water. Stir in butter. Add hot water/butter, eggs and yeast mixture to dry ingredients. Blend until dough/batter forms. Dough will be a bit sticky.
Preheat oven to 500F. Prepare baking sheets by covering them with a parchment paper (I was out of parchment paper, so I just used foil, and sprayed it with Pam). Grease hands (pour a little oil into a measuring cup, then drizzle into your hands. You will have to do this a few times). Break off a piece of dough about the size of a large egg, and shape it into a ball. I recommend making all the balls first, then flattening them. That way you know how much of the dough to use. When you flatten them, they should be the size of a medium pancake. Lay the shaped pitas on the pan. These don't rise, which I learned after using 4 baking sheets to make this recipe, so you can cram them onto your pans.
Cover with dish towels, and let pitas rise in a warm place for 30-45 minutes. Preheat oven to 500F. Once the pitas have risen, bake for 5-6 minutes. They will brown a bit, but shouldn't burn. Although my oven didn't like being that hot, and started smelling a bit smoky.
Transfer the pitas to a cookie rack, and allow to cool. You want to cut the pita in half, then slice an opening into each to make a pocket. Can be reheated in the microwave or in a toaster oven.

*Featherlight flour mix:
2 cups rice flour
2 cups tapioca flour
2 cups cornstarch
2 tbsp potato flour (not potato starch flour)
I make mine without the potato flour, since I don't eat potatoes.

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