Amaranth Soda Bread

Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 5 mins

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup water, nut milk or 3/4 cup stevia tea
• 3/4 teaspoon unbuffered vitamin c powder, corn-free
• 2 3/4 cups amaranth flour, divided
• 3/4 cup arrowroot or 3/4 cup tapioca starch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon anise or 1 tablespoon fennel seed, ground (optional)
• 2 -4 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 2 teaspoons baking soda

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 400f.
• 2 combine water and vitamin c crystals; stir and let dissolve.
• 3 in a large mixing bowl, combine 2-1/4 cups of the flour with the starch, salt and ground seeds.
• 4 whisk together lightly.
• 5 when the crystals are dissolved, add the water and the oil to the flour mixture.
• 6 mix batter.
• 7 sprinkle a little of the remaining half cup of flour in a circle, centered on a baking sheet.
• 8 put the rest of the flour on a bread board or a piece of waxed paper.
• 9 combine the boiling water and baking soda.
• 10 stir to dissolve, then add to the dough.
• 11 stir (the dough will be very stiff).
• 12 when the water disappears, beat hard for 10 strokes.
• 13 turn the dough onto the floured board or waxed paper.
• 14 roll the dough to coat it with flour.
• 15 working quickly, roll, pat, fold and punch for 2-3 minutes.
• 16 the dough will absorb enough flour to handle easily, yet it remains soft.
• 17 gather dough into a smooth ball and put it on the floured baking sheet.
• 18 pat into about an 8" round, 1" thick at the edges and mounded slightly in the center.
• 19 use a sharp knife of razor blade to slash a deep"x" in the top of the dough.
• 20 pop into oven at once.
• 21 immediately reduce temperature to 325 degrees.
• 22 bake 55-65 minutes.
• 23 "done"may be a little tricky to determine (the toothpick test isn't enough).
• 24 use a clean oven mitt or paper towels, grab the loaf and crack it open.
• 25 look deep inside- uncooked dough appears darker in color, so it is easily detected.
• 26 if you see that, put the loaf back in for another 10 minutes.
• 27 note cooking time for future reference.
• 28 *although you can make this recipe with as little as 2 tbs of oil, it tastes better when it contains 4 tbs (1/4 cup).
• 29 because there is no fat from egg yolks, the additional oil helps avoid dryness.