In Morocco, bread is cheap – really cheap. Just today I got 2 big loaves of French bread for about 15 cents. Granted, the average income here is much lower this is still a very affordable staple. Moroccan bread is on the table for every meal and every snack. Try telling someone in Morocco you don’t eat bread – they’ll look at you like a six-headed alien.
This has created a big problem for us.
Gluten allergies are largely unheard of here, and MarocBaba’s family is still struggling with understanding all of the things that have gluten in them. I haven’t been able to find all of the flours I usually use so the bread I’ve made didn’t work out too good. Before we left I worked on this recipe to create a round, gluten-free bread similar to the traditional Moroccan loaves.
We were really happy with how these turned out. Now if I can just procure the right ingredients here…or else it’s back to the drawing board to figure out a new recipe with the things we have. A note of interest – if you’re in Morocco, we’ve found that going to the dry good store, you can ask to have things ground for you. We had rice ground into flour. They might look at you odd because it’s largely unheard of, but it is possible.
An easy to make gluten-free bread recipe to replicate Moroccan round khobz bread.
Ingredients
- 1 cup white rice flour
- 3/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 3/4 cup gluten free oat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 1/2 tsp yeast
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp milk
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- olive oil
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer, add white rice flour, cornstarch, oat flour, xanthan gum, and salt. Mix well.
- In a smaller bowl, mix together yeast, sugar, and 1/2 cup warm water. Leave yeast to activate 5-10 minutes (will have a frothy appearance).
- Once yeast has activated, add to the dry ingredients along with 1 egg, milk, and the remaining warm water.
- Mix well to combine everything. The dough will remain wet and sticky.
- Pour enough olive oil into your hands to make them slick.
- Coat the dough with olive oil, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and leave to rise 30-45 minutes (note if your kitchen is cold, it may take longer).
- When the dough has doubled (or almost) in size, divide into 2-3 equal sized balls.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Coat your hands again in olive oil, and place the rounds one by one onto a peel floured with white rice flour or oat flour.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes.
- The bread is ready when it makes a hollow sound when tapped.
- Flatten each round and transfer to a pizza stone or floured cookie sheet.
