Kristie McNealy, MD

Once we settled on a few foods that our son was definitely allergic too, I started trying to find foods in the grocery store, and a local natural grocer that he  could eat.  I quickly discovered that finding a bread without any corn (think high fructose corn syrup and corn meal), egg or soy ingredients was difficult at best, unless I wanted to pay $5 or more for each loaf.  With a family that can easily eat an entire loaf of bread in a day, this just wasn’t working for me, so I began to experiment with making my own bread.  The recipe below is the result.

I originally started off with a no knead bread dough recipe that I found here at Cooks.com.  It was ok, but it used egg, and I found that it got pretty dry within a day or so of baking.  I started making some tweaks on my own.  The result is an egg free bread dough that is extremely versatile, and can be used for pretty much everything from plain sandwich bread, to flavored loaves, as well as buns, pizza crusts, cinnamon rolls and pretzels.

Here’s the basic bread recipe to start.  I’ll post instructions for pizza, pretzels and other goodies son!

Basic Bread Dough

2 packets or 1 1/2 T yeast
3 T sugar
3 cups warm water
8 cups all purpose or bread flour*
4 T vegetable oil
1 T salt
3 T vital wheat gluten with vitamin C (optional but I think it gives a better texture)

Makes 3-4 loaves.

*This recipe makes a white bread dough, but I’ve found I can substitute up to 2 cups of the flour with whole wheat flour without significantly changing how the bread rises or compromising on taste or texture.  Beyond that, this dough gets a little heavy and bitter.  I also have a 100% whole wheat bread recipe I’ll share in the future.

1. Combine yeast, sugar and warm water, and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.  If you don’t see bubbles and foam forming after 5 minutes, your yeast probably isn’t any good, so you’ll want to start over.
2. Add flour, oil, salt and gluten and mix.  I use my KitchenAid
   Professional 600 6 Qt. Stand Mixer, and it is a total life saver.  If you do have a stand mixer, I recommend mixing the dough on medium speed for 5 minutes at this point.  If you’re working totally by hand, just skip this extra mixing step.
3. Cover the dough loosely and put it in a warm place.  Allow the dough to rise until doubled – about 1 hour.
4. Punch down dough, and then turn it out onto your counter or a non-stick baking mat. Divide into equal portions and form into loaves.  If I plan on putting the dough into greased 9×5 inch loaf pans, I make 3 loaves.  If I’m not using a loaf pan, I usually make 4 loaves because they are easier for me to handle if they are a little smaller.
5. Allow loaves to rise until doubled (30-60 minutes).  During the last 10 minutes of rise time, preheat your oven (and pizza/baking stone if you’re not using loaf pans) to 425 degrees.
6. If you’re using a stone, spread corn meal or flour on the preheated stone to prevent sticking, and then transfer your loaves to the stone.  Otherwise place the loaf pans in the oven.
7. Bake loaves for 30-40 minutes until they are golden brown on top, and sound hollow when you tap them.
8. If you used a loaf pan, remove the loaves from their pans immediately to prevent condensation, then allow all the loaves to cool before cutting.

I have additional instructions for freezing and refrigerating this dough, which I’ll share when I have more time.  In the meantime, enjoy!

Please leave a comment if you have any questions, or anything isn’t clear.  I’d also love to hear how your bread turns out.

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