Gluten free French-Italian Ciabatta Bread

I made this french-italian bread from a cookbook that I love. It is called Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalisa Roberts. I highly recommend that you buy and add it to your collection. Though called french-italian, because of the way I shaped the bread before baking, it really almost looks and acts like a ciabatta bread. It was hot and crisp and great for dunking into salad dressing!

French Italian Bread
From Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalisa Roberts

2 cups Bread Flour Mix A
1 ¼ tsp. xanthan gum
¾ - 1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. sugar
1 packet active dry yeast (not quick-rise)
2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup water, heated to 110° F

*Lightly spray or grease a 2 ½ wide French bread loaf pan and dust lightly with white rice flour (spray and dust it over a paper towel if the pan has little holes in it).

Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl of electric mixer. Quickly add olive oil and warm water (110° F) to the bowl; mix until just blended. Scrape bowl and beaters, and then beat at high speed for 3 minutes. Spoon dough into prepared pan; cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place (80°F is ideal) for 40 – 50 minutes or until dough has slightly more than doubled in size.

Place rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 400°F while bread is rising (do not use a convection oven because it will brown the bread too quickly).

Bake bread in center of preheated oven for 40 – 50 minutes (35 – 45 minutes for two smaller loaves). When done, bread should have a hollow sound when tapped on the sides. Instant read thermometer should register 205-215°F. You can bake it longer to make a thicker crust; the color will deepen and the internal temperature will continue to rise. Remove bread from pan and cool on a rack at least 15 minutes before slicing. The crust will soften a bit after the bread cools, but you can easily recrisp it in the oven.

Bread Flour Mix A (makes 6 cups):
Millet flour 2 cups
Sorghum flour 1 cup
Cornstarch 1 cup
Potato starch 1 cup
Tapioca flour 1 cup

*Regarding the French bread loaf pan – I did not use this type of pan. I simply free shaped the loaf and put it on a baking sheet. It came out sort of like a wide foccacia instead of a long French or Italian loaf.