-French bread that will elicite a sign of contentment from any GF eater

I found this fantastic recipe on food.com in a fit of craving. Italian was the ONLY thing in the entire universe that sounded wonderful and delicious and pasta just simply cannot be had without a cushioney piece of warm french bread. The hunt was on. I haven't tried any other recipe, but I'm certain there cannot be one out there that is as delicious and fail proof as this one! I've take a couple things out that seemed unnecessarily added and added a few things that are VERY necessary in order to achieve deliciousness in it's purest form (as pure as GF can get, of course:) Here's the deal:

1 C white rice flour

1 C brown rice flour (gives it a more whole-grainy taste - if you like the simplicity of white bread use 2 C of white rice flour instead of using 1 c brown rice flour)

1 C Tapioca flour

1-3 tbls milled flax (adds some seriously delicious flavor and makes the loaves look really official - not to mention the protein and fiber benefits)

3 tsp Xanthum gum

1 1/2 tsp salt (I use a bit more to ensure a complete lack of blandness)

2 tbls sugar (last time I added a couple extra tbls of brown sugar just because - very delicious!)

1 1/2 C warm water

2 tbls quick rise yeast

2 tbls butter or margarine melted (or olive oil - it worked well)

3 egg WHITES, beaten slightly

1 tsp cider vinegar

In a stand mixer blend together dry ingredients (MINUS THE SUGAR) until sifted well

Dissolve sugar in warm water and add yeast - proof until foamy

Blend yeast mixture into dry ingredients for 30 seconds or so

Add in butter (oil), egg WHITES and vinegar - beat on high for 3 minutes or however long it takes for the dough to become well blended

-Now for the tricky part - you GF people know that GF batters and dough don't make themselves easy to work with - this is no exception, though it's not one of the worst I've come across - SPOON the mixture on to greased and corn meal dusted baking sheets - Thats right, you use a SPOON to deal with the bread dough - strange, yes. You have to fiddle with it a while to get it in to the loaf shape you want - I usually end up spraying my hands with a liberal amount of baking spray (or olive oil) and shaping the loaves that way. Once you have them looking loafish cut 3 VERY slight slits in the top of them (beware - these cuts get HUGE when the loaves bake - they really aren't all that necessary-they just add to the overall officiality of the loaf - but remember that we added the milled flax to help with that -so slit or don't slit. The choice is yours.)

Brush with melted butter (or oil) and cover dough to rise in 150 degree (or other very warm area) oven until loaves have doubled in girth - mine usually take 30-45 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees and bake loaves for 40 or so minutes. Watch them carefully - if they bake too long the outside gets crustier than one would like and make create challenges for consumption

This loaf is pretty dang delicious. I've gotten very adventurous with it and added (not any extra liquid of course - I'm not nearly versed enough in GF baking to know how to counterbalance more liquid) DRIED minced garlic, italian spices - it is easily adapted to whatever taste you are looking for. My next try with it is to make a cinnamon swirl bread. I'll let you know how that goes - it should be to die for! One of the best parts about the bread is that it keeps quite well. It will STILL be moist the NEXT DAY! For GF, this is something to throw a party over! It can be frozen easily and used later.