“Gluten-Free Bread”
For some, this term evokes some negative reactions, like:
“Brick”
“Hard to find”
“Too hard to make”
“Expensive”
“Tasteless”
“Only good if you toast it”
Now hold it right there, sister (or brother). I’m here to tell you that bread does not have to be sacrificed on a gluten-free diet. There are some very respectable, even good, gluten-free bread options out there now. Udi’s, Rudi’s and Canyon Bakehouse are some of the newest players in the gluten-free market and have put out breads, bagels, and hamburger buns that have good taste and texture.
I like these breads, and I buy them, but sometimes I want that homemade-bread taste and feel, and I love the smell of bread baking in my kitchen. You can have that too! If you are new to making your own gluten-free bread, I recommend using mixes first. Think about it — someone has done all the hard work for you by blending flours and testing recipes over and over again. Just because a bread mix is on the market doesn’t necessarily mean it’s great, but there are many that are. To read the basics of making gluten-free bread from a mix, read my article on How to make GF bread (I wrote this article in 2007, so the brands might be outdated, but the directions are all generally the same).
For those of you who are ready to go beyond the standard bread loaf, get creative by turning your bread into different shapes! It’s amazing what a difference in texture changing the pan can make. For example, you can fill a muffin tin with the bread dough and make rolls. You can fill English muffin rings or mini springform pans to make hamburger buns. Use a baking sheet with sides to make focaccia.
Do you miss baguettes? You can purchase a french bread pan and make your own long skinny loaf, like my mom did in the pictures below — no, it’s not going to magically taste like it came straight from Paris, but it’s fun. And then, you can slice it to make rounds and toast if you want to use for hors d’oeuvres. Any bread mix should work!
So go for it! You might just discover the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Kirstan says
Help! I need help finding GOOD gluten free bread recipes for my daughter to make sandwich bread. But it has to be an egg-free, soy-free, dairy-free recipe too (works with some sort of egg replacer). Ideas?!
Mrs. Q says
Yum!
Alison says
Kirstan,
I have to make the same kind of bread for my daughter — no gluten, no egg, no dairy, no soy. I use Pamela’s Bread Mix with egg replacer — it works really well. I have tried other bread recipes but none turn out as good. As a backup bread, when I haven’t baked, I use the Food for Life rice bread. Not the greatest, but toasted it’s okay. Other than that, it is difficult to find gluten-free bread with no eggs!
Hope that helps!
Jodi says
My daughter has the say issues- no eggs or dairy with the addition of no potatoes (ie no potato starch). The best store bough bread I have found (including no yeast) is Deland Backery’s Millet Special. It is even good enough to use untoasted for PB&J!
Kirstan says
Jodi, fabulous tip! Thank you! I will be hunting for that immediately! Do you have any other hints for me?
Trish says
Hi, I’ve tried many bread mixes on the market and find that Dr. Schar bread mix from Italy is the best and closest to the real thing for both bread and pizza dough. You get the best price I have seen anywhere right on http://www.amazon.com for 5 boxes at a time and it is well worth it.
Kirstan says
Trish, it’s amazing to me how many products are out there that I haven’t heard of. Never heard of Dr. Schar’s! Love it! Can you tell me, do you know if those mixes include soy at all? Is there only one bread mix? If there are several, which are your favorites? I get a new Zoj breadmaker this month for my bday, and I would love to order some good stuff to bake for my litle girl.
liZ says
My son loved the Pamela’s bread I was baking until we found out that he is also allergic to yeast and eggs (as well as many other things including soy and safflower) Baking without eggs AND yeast was quite a challenge, as you can imagine. Baking powder and baking soda didn’t quite do the trick, nor did egg replacer. When I learned that many people allergic to chicken eggs can tolerate duck eggs I started experimenting with the bread again using the duck eggs and the results were wonderful.I now use “Breads from Anna Bread Mix” (www.breadsfromanna.com)which is GF, yeast, corn, dairy, soy, nut and rice free and tastes DELICIOUS. Unfortunately it is not available in stores in my area so I have to order it from the company….so worth it though.
Alison says
Liz,
I forgot that Breads from Anna makes a yeast free bread mix. I think their products are great! Do you use egg replacer with it?
liZ says
No, I use 2 duck eggs(they are considerably larger) instead of the 3 chicken eggs that it calls for. I found that the bread rises much higher than with egg replacer.