It's all about the dough!

Like everyone else, I'm feeling the financial squeeze. Although this month its more like the financial bear hugging crush. So with money on my mind I decided to avoid buying gluten free bread and to perfect my one breadmaking recipe instead. Its a recipe i found on the internet a few years ago for a rice flour bread.
 My first attempt with it, many months ago, left me with a slab of what can only be described as partially edible glutenfree rock. To quote Neil from the Young ones, it was "Heaveeeee man!". But as times weren't quite so tight then I left that recipe at the back of my book and decided to go on a quest to find a decent supermarket loaf that didn't disintegrate when toasted ( I'm still looking!).
I've recently discovered that as well as the usual gluten free bread brands, Warburtons have now jumped on the special diet bandwagon with their own brand of gluten free breads. "Brilliant!" I said to myself, an actual baker that's making Gluten free bread. May be I'll finally be able to have toast and marmite that doesn't turn into cat litter sized pieces the second it leaves the toaster. So the next time I was in Tesco's (or Fiasco's as my friend Jo has renamed it), I made a point of looking for it. Well, I think you can guess the next bit........
I found it...... and I nearly died of indignation. £2.89!!!!! for a 200g loaf. I think the other shoppers in Tesco thought I was a mad person and I'm sure I was heard in the next county when I almost screamed " HOW MUCH?????".
It does beg the question, if the alternative flours they use are cheaper than high grade wheat ( most of them are) then how can they get away with such extortionate prices?
Well, it certainly spurred me on to re-try that recipe I'd left gathering dust on my book shelf. With renewed determination I tried again.
This time, i put in more liquid, added abit of cornmeal to give it abit more of a bread like taste ( it was abit yeasty before) and I mixed it by hand before putting the dough in the bread maker. I switched from the medium crust setting that the recipe suggested and I set it to light crust.And I abandoned the idea of Rice flour all together in favour of Doves Farm G.F Bread Flour.
Then, like a moron, i watched it through the window in the bread maker. Yes I'm mental, but I love toast and marmite, so that kinda says it all.
Success!!! It rose twice as high as before and it felt more like bread than my last attempt. You couldn't make sarnies with it though, its just not that kind of loaf but when you toast it, its the closest thing I've had to traditional bread in a long time :)
Its good base recipe to mess with and tweak to your hearts desire. Its measured in cups  because its an American recipe. i picked up a set of measuring cups from the Pound shop but you could just use the one that comes with your bread maker.

Toasting Bread

1 Large egg

2 cups of milk ( I used cows milk but I expect it would work with any kind)

3 teaspoons of oil

3/4 teaspoon of salt

1 Tablespoon of Honey/Golden syrup/Agave Nectar/Sweet Freedom Syrup

2 cups of Gluten free Bread flour

1/2 Cup of fine Cornmeal

1/4 cup of Hot Tap warm water ( I filled the cup from the hot tap just before it got scorching)

1 sachet of bread making yeast.

1. In a large bowl, beat the egg and milk together then add all of the other ingredients in list order.

2. Mix until it forms a sticky dough adding more warm water if necessary.

3. pour the dough into the bread maker. Set to 1/12lb loaf, light crust , Basic setting.

4.when finished open the lid on the bread maker and let the bread stand for 10 minutes, before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!!