This gluten free almond challah is a tender, sweet bread that is dairy-free and may be made vegan/egg-free as well. The texture is extremely close to gluten bread and is packed with flavor!
Course
Bread, Breakfast, Lunch, Snack
Cuisine
Jewish, Kosher
Ingredient Keyword
potato starch, superfine fine almond flour, superfine white rice flour, white rice flour
Cook Time25minutes
Rising Time1hour20minutes
Total Time1hour45minutes
Servings15slices of various sizes
Ingredients
3cupsCarla’s Gluten Free Almond Flour Blend
2teaspoonsinstant yeastSAF
2teaspoonsxanthan gum
1cupwater
1/4cupneutral-flavored oil
1/4cuphoney
1large eggor 2 tablespoons liquid from a can of cannellini beans + 1 additional tablespoon margarine or full-fat coconut milk
Oil a braided challah pan or similar pan; set aside. In a bowl, whisk together the flour blend, gum, and yeast; set aside.
In the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the whisk/balloon attachment, add the water, oil, honey, egg, vinegar, and salt; mix a few seconds until foamy.
Add the dry mixture all at once. Beat on medium speed for 6 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 170 - 200ºF, the lowest your oven goes, but no lower than 80ºTry not to let the temperature get much higher than 90ºF; turn off the oven.
Using a silicone/rubber spatula, gather the dough into one mass, lightly oil the top (spray oil works well), and cover with a tea towel. Place on the center shelf of your warm oven for 50 minutes or until the dough just begins to crack open on the top.
Remove the dough from the oven and preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Poke the risen dough, 5 or 6 times, or until it deflates a little. Transfer the soft dough batter to the prepared pan and smooth out the top. Let it rise 15 minutes or until the pan is completely filled. It's okay if it gets a little higher.
Bake on the center rack of the oven 25 minutes and tent the top with foil when it reaches your desired color brown.
Immediately turn upside down onto a wire rack and baste with a mixture of 1 tablespoon melted margarine and 1/2 teaspoon of honey, if using. Allow the bread to cool at least 30 minutes but 1 hour is best. The texture is closer to real bread when it cools though it's still delicious when served warm.
Slice and serve with margarine or some of the leftover margarine-honey mixture. It makes incredible grilled cheese sandwiches.