Store Bought Gluten-free Bread Recommendations?

[chestnut]

Can anyone rec a store bought brand of gluten-free bread that isn't stone heavy?

I bought my first loaf today of FOOD FOR LIFE WHEAT AND GLUTEN FREE BREAD at While Foods and while it's fantastic to make a guilt-free sandwich, the stuff's a little far from tasty.

Do they make a gluten-free bread that's lighter and more "traditional"?

I'm fortunate to not be allergic to the many other things a lot of people are so I'm fine with nuts, soy, and dairy stuff.

Any recs or is this the way it is?

(I'm not a baker so no recipes please!)

Thanks!

[jerseyangel]

The Whole Foods near me has their own line called The Gluten Free Bakeshop. They have a sandwich bread that is very good. I don't think all Whole Foods have this yet. Where are you? I know the stores on the east coast have it, not sure which others.

[VegasCeliacBuckeye]

Which Food for Life product did you buy?

White Rice

Brown Rice

Millet

Almond?

[Jnkmnky]

Open Original Shared Link

We like the white sandwich bread. All of their products are great. Pizza crusts, donuts, bagels, *not the cinnamon raisin, inmyopinion.... the K-Toos are so much like an oreo that I actually looked for the words, "Gluten free" just to be sure. OOh! and the Chocolate chip muffins are to die for.

Believe me, this bread is good. Worth ordering... the donuts are my kids favorite. Kinnkinnick has a favorable rep. with Celiacs.

[chestnut]

Which Food for Life product did you buy?

Brown Rice.

Open Original Shared Link

We like the white sandwich bread. All of their products are great. Pizza crusts, donuts, bagels, *not the cinnamon raisin, inmyopinion.... the K-Toos are so much like an oreo that I actually looked for the words, "Gluten free" just to be sure. OOh! and the Chocolate chip muffins are to die for.

Believe me, this bread is good. Worth ordering... the donuts are my kids favorite. Kinnkinnick has a favorable rep. with Celiacs.

Thanks for the advice and rec, Jnkmnky but I'm not sure I'm ready for "ordering food" yet.

I'm brand new to the diet (less than a week) and not yet ready to order stuff on-line that I've been buying in a store my whole life. (Yeah, I know, that's my problem, not yours!)

At this point I'm looking for easy to find stuff in the stores.

But I'll most likely end up ordering as soon as I get used to this new way of life.

Thanks for the tips! Your descriptions almost make me want to order something now!

[Guest nini]

I got my local Health Food Store to start carrying the Kinnickinick products... talk to your local HFS, they may be able to get it in for you if they see there is a demand for it. The store I shop at now has a very large gluten-free section and it keeps growing! Do not be afraid to talk to managers in your local stores and see if they can't carry some of the more popular gluten-free items like Kinnickinick products and Tinkyada pastas.

If they can't get it in, you may seriously want to rethink your aversion to ordering foods online. A lot of the local stores are still only carrying EnerG and Foods For Life brands and most of those breads are pretty blech... there are ways of doctoring them up to make em more palatable, but why do that when you can oreder delish foods from Kinnickinick? I keep my bread in the fridge and pop a few pieces in the microwave for about 30 seconds to soften them up or in the toaster... I even make a pretty mean grilled cheese sandwich with them (mix one egg with 1 tsp milk in bowl and dip one side of bread in it, fry in pan with butter egg mixture side OUT and cheese in the middle)

[key]

If you have a WHole foods in your area, You should have another health foodstore that probably carries Kinnikinnick products. We have several in our area, so you wouldn't have to order online. It is in the freezer section.

THey have a great english muffin and personal pizza crusts. EAt them all the time. THey are a lifesaver for us. Their sandwich bread is good too, but the other two products are as good as the wheat versions to me. THey do have other good stuff too.

THe gluten-free pasta's by Tinkyada are great too. My husband ate some of the spaghetti lastnight and he didn't know it was gluten-free. HE thought it was the regular thing.

Good luck.

Monica

[jessika393]

I really dig the kinninnick White Sandwich Bread. It's lighter and it's the only one I'll eat. I think it is a bit sweet too!

[Suzie]

I haven't begun baking yet and I haven't ordered anything either, but I have tried three kinds of gluten-free bread. I, personally, don't think any are a really good substitute for wheat bread, but I have finally settled on a Fiber Bread by Glutino that is rather decent. The slices are small but the taste isn't disgusting like some others. I wouldn't call it fantastic though. I am able to buy the Glutino at a Dierbergs in the St. Louis metro east area. This may be of no help to you since I don't know where you are, but if you can find it, you might want to try a loaf.

Good luck.

Sue

Can anyone rec a store bought brand of gluten-free bread that isn't stone heavy?

I bought my first loaf today of FOOD FOR LIFE WHEAT AND GLUTEN FREE BREAD at While Foods and while it's fantastic to make a guilt-free sandwich, the stuff's a little far from tasty.

Do they make a gluten-free bread that's lighter and more "traditional"?

I'm fortunate to not be allergic to the many other things a lot of people are so I'm fine with nuts, soy, and dairy stuff.

Any recs or is this the way it is?

(I'm not a baker so no recipes please!)

Thanks!

[Guest CD_Surviver]

i like sterks white italian, brown italian breads

raelly good toasted

Lauren

[kevsmom]

I like to make french toast with the Food For Life Rice Almond Bread or the Whole Foods Cinnamon Raisin Bread. It's a real treat.

If you wrap a couple of slices of the Food For Life bread in paper towel and nuke it for about 30 seconds, it makes a great peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Cindy

[chestnut]

Wow! You're all incredibly generous with your ideas and suggestions. Thanks!

Fortunately I live in the Los Angeles area where Health Food stores are pretty common so it's not as difficult as it must be for those living elsewhere in the country.

What it all comes down to is FRUSTRATION at having to actually make some effort. (You take it for granted when you've been able to shop at any number of grocery stores for so long only to see that ability suddenly disappear!)

I should consider myself lucky. I'm sure a lot of you out there have to travel many miles to find options.

What's funny (and I'm sure many of you will laugh at me!) is discovering the price differences. I spent my whole life buying loaves of bread for next to nothing only to discover that the stuff I have to eat now costs $3.70 a loaf on the cheap end (and contains slices that are about the size of large postage stamps and taste like balsa wood!)

But what're you gonna do? Just finding out that there ARE bread options made my day.

Gotta see the sunny-side, right?

What I've been noticing lately is that SOME food makers actually list on their labels "the items within this bag are processed on the same equipment that processes wheat, milk, nuts & soy based products..." etc.

It's kind of cool.

Thanks again for all your suggestions!

[jenvan]

chestnut-way to think positive!

my fav gluten-free bread: kinnikinnick's italian white tapioca. i think manna from anna (mix you bake) has a great soft texture too.

[eeyor-fan]

Can anyone rec a store bought brand of gluten-free bread that isn't stone heavy?

I bought my first loaf today of FOOD FOR LIFE WHEAT AND GLUTEN FREE BREAD at While Foods and while it's fantastic to make a guilt-free sandwich, the stuff's a little far from tasty.

Do they make a gluten-free bread that's lighter and more "traditional"?

I'm fortunate to not be allergic to the many other things a lot of people are so I'm fine with nuts, soy, and dairy stuff.

Any recs or is this the way it is?

(I'm not a baker so no recipes please!)

Thanks!

I like the glitano fiber bread toasted...the best gluten-free bread I've found so far.

[traveljunkie]

Our favorite is Glutino flax seed bread. I love it toasted, but my son makes sandwiches with it. I'm not a big bread eater, but this is one of my breakfast staples.

Charlene

[Jnkmnky]

Brown Rice.

Thanks for the advice and rec, Jnkmnky but I'm not sure I'm ready for "ordering food" yet.I'm brand new to the diet (less than a week) and not yet ready to order stuff on-line that I've been buying in a store my whole life. (Yeah, I know, that's my problem, not yours!)

At this point I'm looking for easy to find stuff in the stores.

But I'll most likely end up ordering as soon as I get used to this new way of life.

Thanks for the tips! Your descriptions almost make me want to order something now!

Oh. BIG mistake. You can have delicious, normal bread, donuts, pizza, bagels, Ktoos cookies, chocolate chip muffins, montana chocolate chip cookies.....NOW. You are doing yourself a disservice by holding back. You dx is real even if you do not begin ordering online NOW. Let me know when you place your first order. ..... You're punishing yourself for no reason, you know? You could enter a pretty decent world of gluten free living by taking the plunge.

[Kelly Langenfeld]

I love Food For Life Brown Rice Bread. It's sweet and dense, but really good!

--Kelly Langenfeld

[lpellegr]

Whole Food's gluten-free bakery Prairie Bread is great - seeds and nuts all over it. It doesn't fall apart before I finish my sandwich, which my homemade breads inevitably do. Their pizza crusts are good enough to serve to non-celiacs too (but at that price they can buy their own).

[CeliaCruz]

I've tried a lot of the gluten-free breads out there -- including the ones recommended by posters on this forum -- and I have to say that I've come to the conclusion that gluten is what makes bread "bread". The best thing I could ever say about a loaf of gluten-free bread is when I was eating the Whole Foods "Prarie Bread" and I thought, "oh, this isn't THAT bad!"

Gluten is the stuff that makes bread light and fluffy -- yet prevents it from breaking when you put together a big sandwich. Xantham gum just doesn't suffice as a substitute. Eating "gluten-free bread" is like eating a "cherry-free cherry pie" or a "kosher bacon cheeseburger." There's just no point. I've had to resign myself to the fact that I'm going to go "breadless" if I want to beat this disease. I get my starches from rice, potatoes, corn tortillas etc. I don't eat sandwiches anymore.

[lonewolf]

Gluten free bread isn't the same, that's for sure. I know that a lot of people here like Kinnikinnick breads, and maybe the ones that contain eggs, dairy and soy are good, but their "Robins" brown rice bread is yucky. I've had the best luck with Ener-G Brown Rice Loaf. It's gross unless you toast it, and then it's not too bad. Not like real bread, but since I haven't had any real bread for 10 years, I'm not as picky as some. I toast it in the morning and take a sandwich to work sometimes even. It's best as "fresh" toast or made into grilled cheese sandwiches (don't toast it first) or spread with garlic butter and toasted on a pancake griddle. I also cube it and dry it in the oven to use as croutons or stuffing in a turkey. I'll be making the Christmas Eve turkey and everyone will have stuffing made from Ener-G and my homemade cornbread. On Thanksgiving I had more compliments on the stuffing than for anything and I was the only one who had to be gluten-free.

You can't expect gluten-free bread to be the same. It's one of those things that you'll have to get used to. And really, bread is such a small part of life. (I say this with a sigh - I used to make homemade bread constantly, starting from age 15, and was "famous" in our family for making the best breads of all kinds. It really was the hardest thing to let go of.)

Liz

[Jnkmnky]

Gluten free bread isn't the same, that's for sure. I know that a lot of people here like Kinnikinnick breads, and maybe the ones that contain eggs, dairy and soy are good, but their "Robins" brown rice bread is yucky. I've had the best luck with Ener-G Brown Rice Loaf. It's gross unless you toast it, and then it's not too bad. Not like real bread, but since I haven't had any real bread for 10 years, I'm not as picky as some. I toast it in the morning and take a sandwich to work sometimes even. It's best as "fresh" toast or made into grilled cheese sandwiches (don't toast it first) or spread with garlic butter and toasted on a pancake griddle. I also cube it and dry it in the oven to use as croutons or stuffing in a turkey. I'll be making the Christmas Eve turkey and everyone will have stuffing made from Ener-G and my homemade cornbread. On Thanksgiving I had more compliments on the stuffing than for anything and I was the only one who had to be gluten-free.

You can't expect gluten-free bread to be the same. It's one of those things that you'll have to get used to. And really, bread is such a small part of life. (I say this with a sigh - I used to make homemade bread constantly, starting from age 15, and was "famous" in our family for making the best breads of all kinds. It really was the hardest thing to let go of.)

Liz

Well, I've found breads that are really quite good. I think the problem for you is the elimination of eggs along with the rest. Gluten free breads have come a long way. I'm really happy with the Kinnikinnick breads, and I'm not making sacrifices in flavor, texture and size. It's got to be the other restrictions your allergies present that leave you less that thrilled I've had a great dialogue with the reps at Kinninnick over some things. I would suggest you email them and ask them to try to work out the problem with that Robin's brown bread. You will not get back a form letter. Someone will actually listen to you, want to know what's lacking and they may even be working on it now. I'm almost positive you will have a good feeling after talking to them.

[teebs in WV]

Maybe it's because I have only been attempting the gluten-free diet for 2 months, but I have not found any bread products - including pizza crusts - that I think are "OK". I have decided for now that I would rather go without. I have not reached the point that I cannot compare it to good old regular breads. Maybe one day, but I am not there yet.

The reason I say that I have been attempting the gluten-free diet, is because I think I am being so careful, but I find something new almost everyday that I thought was safe, and turned out not to be. I have been reading everything I can get my hands on, surfing the internet, and reading every label. I get so mad when I realize that I have eaten gluten unintentionally. I think "what a waste; if I was going to eat gluten, I sure wouldn't have wasted it on that"!

Food has always been a very important part of my life. After each meal, I began planning and looking forward to my next. I always thought how I lucky I was that I could eat pretty much anything and as much as I wanted, and stayed so slim. I guess now I know why..... Food is not as important to some people as it is to others. That is why some people think the gluten-free breads are good, and others cannot stand them. For now, I am choosing to go without.

[lonewolf]

Well, I've found breads that are really quite good. I think the problem for you is the elimination of eggs along with the rest. Gluten free breads have come a long way. I'm really happy with the Kinnikinnick breads, and I'm not making sacrifices in flavor, texture and size. It's got to be the other restrictions your allergies present that leave you less that thrilled I've had a great dialogue with the reps at Kinninnick over some things. I would suggest you email them and ask them to try to work out the problem with that Robin's brown bread. You will not get back a form letter. Someone will actually listen to you, want to know what's lacking and they may even be working on it now. I'm almost positive you will have a good feeling after talking to them.

I'm sure you're right about all my restrictions making it harder to find a good bread. I think I'm pretty much stuck for now. I am hoping that some day I can "get back" the eggs, milk and soy. That would open up a whole new world of eating. If I "only" had to eliminate gluten, life would be so easy ! That said, there are lots of others in the same boat as I am - with further restrictions that just gluten. And it makes it much harder to find a decent bread. I'm wondering if anyone has had better luck than I have?

Liz

[Anya78]

I love Enjoy Life Foods' Ryeless Rye Bread. I think it is the most "real" tasting of all the gluten-free breads I've tried (and there have been quite a few other loaves that I tried that ended up in the garbage!) I ordered it online but they may carry it at a store near you. Their website lists the locations the products are available. The cookies are good also.

If you do buy the bread, be sure to thaw it completely (I do it in the micro) and then toast it on a dark setting, otherwise it's mushy.

[jerseyangel]

I love Enjoy Life Foods' Ryeless Rye Bread. I think it is the most "real" tasting of all the gluten-free breads I've tried (and there have been quite a few other loaves that I tried that ended up in the garbage!) I ordered it online but they may carry it at a store near you. Their website lists the locations the products are available. The cookies are good also.

I like the Enjoy Life brand, also. I've never had the bread, but the cookies, especially the Gingerbread Spice, are really good.