Gluten Free Rice Bread

This year for Lent my daughter gave up gluten. She said she wanted to know how I felt, not being able to eat things with gluten. She's so sweet :) 
She leads a middle-school small group and they are going on their Winter Retreat this weekend. She asked if she could have some of my gluten free bread so she could have something to eat on the trip. Of course they will be eating pizza and fast food all weekend. I decided to make her an entire loaf of gf bread to take on her trip. I had some rice flour and tried this recipe. If you are not allergic to rice and can have dairy, then you might love this bread recipe.

Ingredients:
2 Large Eggs
1-1/4 cups + 1/2 Water
1 Tb Active Dry Yeast
1/4 cup Vegetable Shortening
1 cup Brown Rice Flour
2 cups White Rice Flour
3-1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum
2/3 cup Non-Fat Dry Milk Powder
1-1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/4 cup Sugar + 2 tsp

Directions:
Grease 2 small or 1 large bread pan, set aside.

In a 2-cup bowl, measure 1/2 cup warm tap water (100°-110°F), add 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of dry active yeast. Allow mixture to dissolve and proof (approximately 5-8 minutes). Yeast mixture should foam and almost fill a 2-cup bowl.

In a small saucepan, over medium heat measure 1-1/4 cups water, add vegetable shortening; stir to dissolve. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool to lukewarm.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flours, sugar, xanthan gum, dry milk powder and salt. Blend well. Add yeast mixture to flour mixture. Blend well. Add shortening/water mixture. Blend well.

Using a heavy-duty hand mixer, add 2 large eggs and mix at highest speed for 2 minutes.

Pour dough into a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (approximately 1 to 1-1/2 hours). Return dough to mixing bowl. Beat 3 minutes on high.

Pour dough into prepared bread pan(s). Let rise until dough is slightly above top of pan(s).

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place bread pan(s) in center rack of oven and bake for 10 minutes. Place foil over bread and bake an additional 40 minutes (slightly less if making 2 small loaves).

Note: If you wish use all white rice flour. Measure ingredients very carefully. The dough appears more like cookie batter, rather than bread dough, so don’t be alarmed.

Yield: 2 small loaves or 1 large loaf
Recipe courtesy of GIG Cookbook

Makes 1 loaf (13 slices).

*Thanks to Bob's Red Mill for the recipe.