…this gluten free bread! 🍞
Gluten free bread gets a bad rap. And historically that’s been for good reason: it has a reputation for being crumbly and dry, and it’s well known amongst people who don’t eat gluten that gluten free bread is almost always better toasted. I have childhood memories of preferring the frozen state of some breads to the defrosted product, because at least it had moisture when it was frozen.
Luckily, bread is no longer the source of gluten free laments. Hundreds of talented recipe developers and food creators have cracked the code to create beautiful gluten free bread with fluffy, moist crumb and great crust. They’ve also figured out how to do it without needing 8 million different kinds of starches and flowers, which seriously reduces the complexity and cost. For many of them, the key is adding psyllium husk, which is exceedingly high in fibre and mimics the chemical and textural effects of gluten when mixed with water and added to the bread dough. Here are some of my favourite individual gluten free recipe creators in case you’re interested in checking them out:
Nicole Hunn — Gluten Free on a Shoestring
Katarina Cermelj — The Loopy Whisk
Melanie Persson — The Very Hungry Coeliac
There have also been serious improvements in the commercial gluten free bread game, especially in the last 10-15 years. Different countries have accelerated at different speeds, with Canada lagging only slightly behind the UK, the US, and Australia in terms of product availability. In Canada (the author’s locale), there are several leading gluten free bread brands that are easily accessible in grocery stores across the country. Here are my favourites, listed in order of how enjoyable they are to eat un-toasted (1 = most enjoyable, higher numbers require a bit of toasting/maintenance):
- Promise Gluten Free
- Little Northern Bakehouse
- Schär
- Udi’s
- Glutino, especially for specialty baked goods like English muffins
- Care Bakery
Put it on Toast! 