When I published a Recipe for a Soft Wholewheat Bread made in a Crockpot, a few people asked me if there was a crockpot recipe for vegan, gluten-free bread?  Well, the short answer is, there ARE a few such recipes on the Interweb... so hurrah!  But, of course, I want to have a recipe that I can make right away, and made some adaptations to various of the recipes I came across to fit my particular old crockpot that doesn't accommodate a breadpan like some of the long, oval slow-cookers do (I'm using the word "crockpot" to also refer to slow-cookers, and electronic pots like Instant Pot that have a slow-cook program on their menu). This is my old slow-cooker, or crockpot. It's pretty basic-- on/off, high, low-- no way to set a timer, no pre-programmed recipes, etc. I bought it for our older son who was off to University far away. After he married, the crockpot returned to me. For years it just sat in a cupboard, because, you know, InstantPot. But when the IP broke down (they do, and I do miss it), I went back to using this little workhorse. Made by Corning. It has a good size corningware pot insert, and an airtight, heavy glass lid.

Besides accommodating the size of my cooker, I also like to have a recipe that uses what I most often have around the pantry and in the fridge. I do a fair amount of inventive cookery and baking and do have bits and pieces of a lot of ingredients, but I also have a stock of stuff I use more frequently. Sooo, I have a big bag of brown rice Flour and almost as much tapioca flour. I need to use them. I don't remember what the original rationale for procurement was, but they won't live healthy forever, right?

So, no surprise, my recipe includes Brown Rice Flour and tapioca flour, as well as ground flaxseed, millet flour, and oat flour. Each of these three last items was ground up in my Vitamix. I had the other bread-making ingredients on-hand as well, so this is a recipe I can use, myself, in future forays with the crockpot style.

You, on the other hand, may want to use a flour mix that you enjoy or find reliable to bake with, and that is okay too. The idea is to make up a small boule (ball) of dough to put in the crockpot to cook. Here is my recipe-- you can use my ingredients, or your reliable favorite flour mix, and just follow the method described below for the "baking". 

TOOLS TO MAKE THIS RECIPE:

*Small mixing bowl for the yeast, water, and sugar mix

*fork or whisk for above

*high-speed blender or coffee bean grinder to make flours from seeds or grains

*stand mixer, bread-making bowl, whisk, and hook attachments (or just the whisk)

*scraper or spatula

*crock pot, Instant Pot or slow-cooker, with a lid and a toothpick for steam release

*lightly oiled parchment paper to make a nest to hold the boule while it 'bakes'

*heat-resistant gloves

*toaster oven (or regular oven) to broil the top of the bread for a golden finish

*measuring spoons, cups, and a liquid measuring cup

INGREDIENTS TO MEASURE OUT FOR THE RECIPE (1 "FLATBREAD" OR "BOULE")

2 teaspoons + 2 tablespoons of sugar (divided)

1 1/4 cup warm water + 2 tablespoons (all together)

2 teaspoons of active, fast-acting yeast

3 cups of Gluten-Free Flours below (or 3 cups of your regular Gluten Free flour Mix):

--2 cups brown rice flour

--1/4 cup millet flour (I ground dry millet in Vitamix)

--1/4 cup tapioca flour (also called starch- same thing)

--1/4 cup oatmeal flour (I ground rolled oats in Vitmix)

--1/4 cup flax seed (I ground flax seed  in Vitamix)

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons of oil (I used olive oil)

METHOD:

    1. Put lightly oiled parchment into crock pot. DO NOT PREHEAT THE CROCKPOT.

    2. Add yeast, warm water, and 2 teaspoons of sugar to the smaller bowl. 

         Whisk to activate the yeast, and set aside.

    3. In the mixing bowl with the stand mixer, add all the flours, the salt, the remaining 2 tablespoons of          flour and xanthan gum. Whisk on low speed until well blended, and then add yeast mixture and             oil, and attach the dough hook and turn to high speed for 2 minutes. Stop and scrape as needed. 

    4.  Wet hands slightly (or wear plastic gloves) and quickly collect the dough, shape into a boule                (ball) and place it in the centre of the parchment nest. The dough will not be smooth and nice as              wheat dough, but somewhat sticky and lumpy looking. No worries. Using a sharp knife or the edge        of the scraper, slice three (quite shallow) parallel lines or an X in the boule. This will help in the             baking process and the expansion.

    5. Put a toothpick between the lid and the rim of the crockpot to allow steam to release as the bread           cooks.

    6. Do something else for two hours. DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO PEEK UNDER THE LID. 

    7. At 2 hours return to the crock pot, unplug it and carefully, using anti-heat-protective gloves,                 remove the bread to a cooling rack or into your broiler (toaster oven or regular oven) and broil for a       few minutes (3-5) until golden brown on top (the bottom will already be crusty golden.

    8. Continue to cool for about an hour. Slice. Store on counter in plastic wrap or bags for up to 4 days.