Thank you, Aspenglow.
Premium Gold Gluten-Free Ancient Grains and Flax All-Purpose Flour, and it says it can be used 1:1
I really would like to stay away from recipes that require xanthan gum and/or tapioca flour, if at all possible.
~VOW
Yes, I have cornstarch, and thanks for that helpful info. I’ve never heard of that trick, but then I’m not a baker by trade. I used to bake with White Lily Flour, which is from soft winter wheat, low in protein and gluten, but the only source I could find would only sell 20 pounds at a crack, which is both a baking and storage problem. It’s more widely available now, since the company sold out to a larger concern, but I’ve never gone back to it. I really like King Arthur products and Bob’s Red Mill (which is about two miles from my house), and I measure by weight, not by cups.
Here’s the recipe for the bread I made today. Note that the instructions are from quite a long time ago, and adjust accordingly. This used to be called a “patio bread” back in the day. The weight of the flour is from the King Arthur website. Other flours may weigh more or less.
Herb-Parmesan Bread
This is batter bread, so it doesn’t require kneading, just thorough mixing of ingredients.
4 ¼ cups sifted flour (520g)
2 pkg. active dry yeast
2 TBSP sugar
2 TSP salt
1½ TBSP dried oregano leaves
½ cup plus 1 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese (or combine with Romano or Asiago)
2 cups warm water (110 deg.F)
2 TBSP softened butter
In a mixing bowl, place three cups of the flour. Add salt, yeast, sugar, and oregano and mix on low speed or by hand until blended*. Check the temperature of the water with a thermometer. This is critical for the yeast to properly activate. Add the water and softened butter to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add the ½ cup of Parmesan cheese. Continue beating for 2 minutes until the batter is smooth. Add the rest of the flour gradually, either beating in by hand or with mixer at low speed. The batter should not be too wet. If it is, add a bit more sifted flour.
Cover the bowl and let rise in warm place for about 45 minutes until double in bulk. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Beat the dough down for about 30 seconds, then transfer to a well-greased 2-quart casserole dish.
Sprinkle the remaining TBSP of cheese over the top of the bread and bake for about 45 minutes or until nicely browned. Turn out immediately onto a wire rack. It helps to run a table knife around the dish to break the loaf loose before attempting to turn it out onto the rack. Otherwise, part of it may remain in the dish.
*I prefer to activate the yeast separately and then add it into the dry ingredients.
Sorry, VOW. I meant to respond to this sooner.
I don’t blame you for wanting to stay away from the xanthan gum and/or tapioca flour. I have no help on those.
Unfortunately, I don’t have help on Ancient Grains and Flax All-Purpose flour, either. I’ve mostly worked with GF garbanzo bean flour. It’s different, but you can make some good stuff with it.
If your GF flour touts a 1:1 replacement ratio, I’d play with it and see if that claim is accurate. If you can’t get regular flour just now, what have you got to lose? 
Good luck. If I run across any dandy recipes for flax GF flour, I’ll be sure to pass them along. Meantime, if you hit on anything wonderful, please let me know!
Thanks, Aspenglow!
Stay tuned to this station!
I managed to locate a Zojirushi breadmaker, new model, so I’m hoping it has a gluten-free setting. And maybe even recipes! It’s supposed to arrive next week.
And no, I did NOT pay five hundred bucks for it!
~VOW
I’m kind of the opposite: after having made bread/pizza with all-purpose flour for decades, I only recently started using bread flour. It’s amazed me what a difference bread flour makes, and made me feel like kind of a doofus. But dang are my pizza crusts chewy/crispy now!
I have several recipes that use gluten-free flower. I have a great one for jam-filled pastries (you can fill them with anything-- peanut butter, cake icing, cheesecake filling), but it does use xanthan gum, although you could use something else to bind, such as a vegan egg replacer that has nothing objectionable in it, or agar. You could probably even use an egg white, but that I’ve never tried. I use a mix of potato starch and tapioca starch, as well as a little cream of tartar. I also mix my own GF flour, with mostly brown rice flour, and almond flour.
I cook them in a deep fryer (Fry Daddy), but you can cook them in a frying pan with oil.
However, before you start worrying about protein and xanthan gum, check the bag. If you have a bag that is label “Gluten free flour,” instead of something specific, like “rice flour,” “almond flour,” or “oat flour,” then it probably is designed to be used straight out of the bag-- it already has starch ans a binder added. If it says “measure for measure,” or “cup for cup,” any simple, fairly hardy recipe should come off, such as chocolate chip cookies or banana bread. I wouldn’t try angel food cake, sponge cake, or croissants, but pretty much anything else.
My preference as well. My super sekrit squirrel additions are a TB of olive oil and a TB of honey to a 3-cup bread flour (385 grams), 1-cup water recipe. The honey and oil make it magical and enhance that chewy/crispy texture.
See, I prefer the less chewy pizza crusts. I use bread flour sometimes, but actually prefer AP flour when I’m cooking 550 on my pizza stones. The flour used for Neapolitan pies actually is around 12.5% protein, which is closer to American AP flour. Of course, the mill of something like an 00 flour is completely different than an AP flour, though.
I should say that it depends on the brand. Around here, Ceresota AP flour (which is the one I usually use, though not this past week as I ran out of it) is kind of the baseline pizza flour for your Chicago pizzerias, and clocks in at 11.5-12% protein.
I did some research regarding xantan gum, et al. I got the reason behind using xanthan or some additive. And the article suggested flax seed meal instead.
little tiny grin The Daughter has a gallon jug of flax seed meal.
We’re going to be “breading” next week…
~VOW
And, for reference, here is a picture of the crumb from a pizza made on quarry tiles in my oven using Ceresota AP flour.
That looks mighty fine. Doing the low-and-slow ferment was the other thing I’ve been learning: not five days, but even an 8-hour rise on the countertop results in a big improvement.
Oh, yeah, definitely pizza dough needs at least a day, iMHO. There is such a difference in flavor and also the browning seems to improve. At the very least, start with a poolish (a preferment using 100% hydration dough & yeast that is added to the rest.)
What I typically do is aim for a dough 70-75% hyrdration. Lately, I’ve been doing 75%. Typically, what I do on a Monday is weigh out 350g flour, add 260g water, a teaspoon or so of salt, and about 1/4 tsp yeast. Mix that together at room temp so it comes together (I don’t bother kneading) and let it sit for about 4-6 hours or so. Then I chuck it into a Tupperware container and stick it in the fridge for the next few days. That particular dough in the photo was probably ~3 days old. You should see doubling and bubbling in the dough after a couple days in the fridge. I split that for two pizzas and knead it slightly when I’m ready to use and let come to room temp for about two or three hours.
The quarry tiles are the things that made the biggest difference to me. I prefer them to a pizza stone. A cast iron pizza pan works well (and I have one of those), but it’s just easier for me to slide a pizza on pizza stone. I spent $16 for a pack of 28 6"x6" tiles. That’s enough for both my oven and my grill, with some left over.
For an easier pizza, Detroit-style. Here’s one with a 2 1/2 day ferment in the fridge. Just made on an ordinary baking sheet with plenty of oil on it. Also AP flour. No quarry tiles or anything like that–just lowest rack of the oven. Same 75% hydration dough.
Now, I’m not saying don’t use bread flour – it’s just that AP flour is versatile and there’s no reason to avoid making bread or pizza if that’s all you have.
Here’s a good video on hydration.