Wanting A Flavorful Bread For My Friend

[STINGER]

OK, HERE IS THE PROBLEM, MY FRIEND BOUGHT THE GLUTEN FREE BREAD AT THE HEALTHFOOD STORE, BUT SHE HATES IT, SHE SAYS IT HAS NO FLAVOR AND HAS THE TEXTURE OF A SPONGE, OK I FIGURED I WOULD MAKE SOME, SO I BOUGHT A MIX....HELLO RATHER EXPENSIVE.....I MADE IT, SHE DIDN'T LIKE THAT ONE EITHER, OK, I HAD ORIGIONALLY INTENDED ON GETTING A BREAD MACHINE, AND MAKING BREAD, BUT I FOUND OUT THAT WOULDN'T WORK. SHE MISSES SANDWICHES SOMETHING AWFUL, AND I'M WANTING TO FIX THIS, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, GLUTEN FREE BAKING FOR HER HAS ME ALL CONFUSED. GETTING THINGS LIGHT AND FLUFFY SEEMS TO BE IMPOSSABLE. HER OTHER MEALS I HAVE MADE SHE IS INCREDABLY PLEASED WITH......I JUST FEEL AWFUL I CAN'T SEEM TO FIND A BREAD THAT'S NOT LIKE CARDBOARD........PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN....YOU ALL HAVE HELPED WITH MY OTHER QUESTIONS AND HAVE MADE THIS TRANSITION RATHER EASY

[Pilgrim South]

OK, HERE IS THE PROBLEM, MY FRIEND BOUGHT THE GLUTEN FREE BREAD AT THE HEALTHFOOD STORE, BUT SHE HATES IT, SHE SAYS IT HAS NO FLAVOR AND HAS THE TEXTURE OF A SPONGE, OK I FIGURED I WOULD MAKE SOME, SO I BOUGHT A MIX....HELLO RATHER EXPENSIVE.....I MADE IT, SHE DIDN'T LIKE THAT ONE EITHER, OK, I HAD ORIGIONALLY INTENDED ON GETTING A BREAD MACHINE, AND MAKING BREAD, BUT I FOUND OUT THAT WOULDN'T WORK. SHE MISSES SANDWICHES SOMETHING AWFUL, AND I'M WANTING TO FIX THIS, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, GLUTEN FREE BAKING FOR HER HAS ME ALL CONFUSED. GETTING THINGS LIGHT AND FLUFFY SEEMS TO BE IMPOSSABLE. HER OTHER MEALS I HAVE MADE SHE IS INCREDABLY PLEASED WITH......I JUST FEEL AWFUL I CAN'T SEEM TO FIND A BREAD THAT'S NOT LIKE CARDBOARD........PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN....YOU ALL HAVE HELPED WITH MY OTHER QUESTIONS AND HAVE MADE THIS TRANSITION RATHER EASY

It's pretty normal to quickly realize that the gluten-free breads purchased at the store are more like a sponge. Although there are new ones all the time that are better i.e. Kinnickknick (sp?), Glutano etc. There are several bread recipes out there in various wonderful Gluten Free cookbooks, Carol Fenster, Betty Hagman etc. I use Bob's Red Mill packaged gluten free bread and use 4 pkgs at a time in my KitchenAid 600 series large bowl mixer. I then bake several loaves of bread, hamburger buns and rolls. They are delicious, make wonderful sandwiches and our 18 year old says they are like "normal" bread. Last night we had bacon lettuce and tomato sandwiches and my husband asked if this was gluten free bread because it sure seemed like regular bread. I used to use a bread machine for my gluten free bread, (2 of the best for gluten-free ones) but found that hand mixing it makes better sandwich bread for some reason. Bob's Red Mill is wonderful and I can get it at a great price at my local grocery store without having to make a trip to the natural food store. Hope this helps and happy baking!

[RiceGuy]

Have you tried adding caraway seed to the recipe? There's nothing quite like rye bread, but that should give a great rye-bread-type flavor to a gluten-free bread. Last I knew, rye bread isn't supposed to be all light and fluffy. If all your friend wants is the kind like cheap white bread, then that might be a bit tougher to pull off. I'd tend to think you'd want to use more tapioca flour to help lighten it up. Maybe start with a gluten-free angel food cake recipe, and substitute a few things to so it's not a sweet cake. That's about the closest gluten-free thing I know to the junky white breads. Even before going gluten-free I ate whole grain breads, except for the occasional loaf of Italian bread, which always seemed to make wonderful garlic toast.

(BTW, please do toggle off the CAPS LOCK before typing. Otherwise it's the Internet equivalent of shouting)

[gfp]

There's nothing quite like rye bread,

Actually its been a long time but I find some of the buckwheat breads actually do a very good dark rye bread subsitute.... perhaps my memory of the real thing is fading but they are very flavorsome and almost taste over-healthy ...

I can't it loads of it at once because it sets like lead on my stomach (these breads are really dense) but its excellent for stuff like finger food or pastrami on rye (IMHO)

[eKatherine]

Actually its been a long time but I find some of the buckwheat breads actually do a very good dark rye bread subsitute.... perhaps my memory of the real thing is fading but they are very flavorsome and almost taste over-healthy ...

I can't it loads of it at once because it sets like lead on my stomach (these breads are really dense) but its excellent for stuff like finger food or pastrami on rye (IMHO)

Open Original Shared Link a recipe for a caraway buckwheat bread I posted on my site. Substitute some other flour if you can't tolerate or find the corn flour.

[RiceGuy]

Open Original Shared Link a recipe for a caraway buckwheat bread I posted on my site. Substitute some other flour if you can't tolerate or find the corn flour.

Great! Now I just need to omit the sugar, and use baking powder instead of yeast. Hope that works. Maybe some sweet rice and/or tapioca flour would help...I can hardly wait to try...

[Nantzie]

Pamela's Wheat Free Bread Mix is the best thing ever. I use it for sandwiches all the time. My husband thought at first that it was regular wheat bread. It even smells like wheat bread when it's baking. We go through at least two loaves a week.

Nancy

[pinkpei77]

i agree with nantzie!

pamelas amazing wheat free bread mix is awesome!!

it super easy adn super yummy!

my husband who isnt gluten-free even asks for it all the time!!

try it!!!

[LKelly8]

I've been gluten-free for a little over a year and I haven't found any product (package or mix) that tastes like bread. It drives me nuts that packaged bread slices are the size of playing cards. I agree the darker the bread the better - they have more flavor.

I did just try Whole Foods cream biscuits and wow! Very good, flaky, buttery, the finish is still a bit powdery but with butter or sopping up gravy you wouldn't even notice. (Can you tell I'm counting the days till Thanksgiving? )

[AndreaB]

I like the enjoy life sandwich bread. It is on the spongy side I suppose but it tastes good IMO.

[eleep]

I'm really fond of the Manna from Anna mixes -- although they're a bit more like a nice whole-grainy bread than a soft white one -- I thin they're excellent for sandwiches, however!

[wolfie]

Another vote for the Pamela's Amazing wheat free bread! YUM!!

[randils]

Another vote for the Pamela's Amazing wheat free bread! YUM!!

I've made a couple of recipes from the Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread and so far they've been really good. Most of the recipes can be done in a bread machine, too.

I've also made hamburger and hotdog rolls using the Authentic Foods Homestyle Bread mix and my son likes these the best out of everything else I've tried. We just need to work on the shape and thickness.

[jkmunchkin]

Order the bread from the Gluten Free Bread Basket.

www.gfbreadbasket.com

It's delicious!!!

[STINGER]

THANK YOU ALL, SHE IS PLANNING, ON GIVING YOUR SUGGESTIONS A TRY, WE DECIDED IF WE BAKE THE BREAD AT HOME, IT WOULD BE BETTER THAN STORE BOUGHT BREAD. SO I THINK SHE WILL PLAN ON TRYING ONE OR TWO MIXES. DO THEY HAVE BANNANA BREAD AND OTHER FLAVORS AS WELL?

[mamaw]

Anna's has a banana bread mix but I just make my own original recipe only changing the flour to gluten-free.... In fact my bb is so moist that I have been selling it for the last six months locally......

mamaw

[jkmunchkin]

THANK YOU ALL, SHE IS PLANNING, ON GIVING YOUR SUGGESTIONS A TRY, WE DECIDED IF WE BAKE THE BREAD AT HOME, IT WOULD BE BETTER THAN STORE BOUGHT BREAD. SO I THINK SHE WILL PLAN ON TRYING ONE OR TWO MIXES. DO THEY HAVE BANNANA BREAD AND OTHER FLAVORS AS WELL?

Whole Foods actually has a banana bread that is pretty good. It's part of their Gluten Free Bakehouse line.