Gluten Free Sandwich Bread

I love this recipe!!  I worked on this one for a long time....using different methods (oven vs. bread machine) and different flour mixtures.  At first I was trying to make a more nutrient packed whole grain sandwich bread, and it just didn't work.  It came out too dense every time and would fall apart.  We don't eat a lot of bread in our house, but I wanted my son to be able to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich once in a while.  This bread is perfect for that!  It doesn't crumble or fall apart...and it is light and full of little air pockets!   The key is making it in the oven, not a bread machine.....and being patient enough to wait for it to properly rise before baking.  I actually eat wheat (not around my son of course)...so I have had every kind of bread out there, and if I had to compare, I would say this bread tastes most like Italian bread :)

Ingredients:

2 TB active dry yeast
1.5 TB sugar
1.5 cups warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup brown rice flour (you can substitute millet flour for the brown rice with equally delicious results)
1 cup sorghum flour
1 TB xanthan gum (make sure it says "gluten free" on the box)
2 tsp salt
2 TB olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 egg whites (at room temperature)

Instructions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Heat  the water in a glass measuring cup in the microwave for 1 min 25 seconds...this should put it at just about the right temp, depending on the strength of your microwave.  (**NOTE:  I use filtered water from my fridge which is cold going into the microwave.  If you are using room temp water to start with, it will take much less time to heat in the microwave!)   Stir in the sugar to dissolve.  Add in your 2 TB (packets) of yeast and let sit until foamy.....about 10 minutes.
3.  Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer on low speed, mix the flours, cornstarch, salt and xanthan gum until well combined.
4.  Add the yeast/water mixture and mix well.
5.  In a small bowl, mix the egg whites, apple cider vinegar and olive oil.  Add to stand mixer.  Mix everything on high speed for 5 minutes.
6.  Spray your loaf pan (1 lb capacity, 8 1/2" x 4 1/2") with non-stick cooking spray (I use olive oil flavor).
7.  Spoon dough into loaf pan and smooth out the top with a spatula.  After this step, do not touch the dough again!!
8.   Cover your loaf pan and let your dough rise until it just about doubles.   I like to do this is in a "warmed" oven turned off (but only if you have two ovens....one for rising and one for preheating).  I put my loaf pan in a huge metal bowl covered with a wet dishcloth, and put that into the warmed oven (turned off).  There are a million ways to get dough to rise...I recommend googling this to see what you like best.
9.  Bake for 55 minutes.  If it begins to brown too much on the top, cover very loosely with aluminum foil for the last 15 or 20 minutes of baking.
10.  Let cool completely (out of pan) on a cooling rack before slicing.

Notes:  The bestpan for making sandwich bread is the Goldtouch Non-stick 1lb Loaf pan from Williams Sonoma.  The bread comes out in a perfect shape and just slides right out after baking...its amazing!  If you know you are baking bread in the morning, put your 3 eggs in a bowl on the counter overnight.   By  morning they will be perfectly room temp.  If you forget, take the 3 cold eggs and put them in a bowl of hot water to bring them quickly to room temp. 

You can store this on the counter in a zip loc bag over night, but it really tastes best the same day it is made.  It still tastes good the second day, but not as spongy.  I store the extras in the freezer and usually toast them straight from the freezer.