I really love a good bread. Right before I started a gluten free diet in 2007, I learned how to make real bread. I had made bread several times in my life before... but this time it was the real deal.
I let it rise. I kneaded the dickens out of it. Let it rise again. Baked it and then we ate. We ate amazing bread. I remember my husband sighing in disbelief. That bread was so good. But I had no idea it was tearing me up inside. I had no idea it was causing the miserable headaches I had experienced since I was a teenager. I had no idea it was causing mood swings, tummy aches, and so many other unhealthy symptoms. I had absolutely no idea that something that tasted so good could cause so much harm.
I remember feeling a sense of loss after starting the gluten free diet. I thought I would never be able to make Hardees biscuits again. I'd never be able to knead bread and feel the cool dough squish through my fingers. When you make bread, you have to be truly present. You know where you. It's a sensory experience. There was such a joy in art & the physical labor that was required to create good bread. I was afraid that it would be an experience I'd never truly have again.
But then I learned.
I experimented.
I got my hands dirty.
I tried 20 different kinds of gluten free flour.
I learned how to make bread again.
Is it the same? Well not exactly. But the experience comes with the same joy. The same wonder of creating something from scratch and knowing it will be eaten, it will taste wonderful, and that you provided the labor to make this lovely loaf of bread.
Gluten free, safe-for-my-tummy, delicious bread.
I don't really have a favorite gluten free bread recipe. I keep trying different ideas. Different methods. Creating new types of recipes. And I really enjoy them all.
But if you miss the old experience of waiting for bread, for really good bread... try this recipe.
Shauna Ahern (our Gluten Free Girl) helped to create the method and technique of this recipe. A crusty boule. A gluten free bread that truly has the texture of a wheat "french" bread.
I love having to wait for this bread. I love letting it rise on the counter. Letting the yeast do it's thing. I love the sense that this bread takes time, as all truly good things do.
Take your time.
Breathe.
Feel the dough in your fingers and start creating real bread.
Shauna's Rosemary & Calamata Gluten Free Bread
Adapted from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë Francois
Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup sorghum flour
1 1/2 cups tapioca flour
1 tablespoon granulated active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon xanthan gum
1 1/3 cups lukewarm water (heated to 110°F)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons canola oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 handfuls kalamata olives, sliced
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, taken off the stem and finely chopped
olive oil
coarse sea salt
For directions on how to make this bread, please visit and enjoy Shauna's wonderful website.
