Week 6: Going Against the Grain

Because of course I can't make things too easy for myself, I dove into the world of gluten free bread baking this week after reading an article on Bon Appetit. They made the-very valid- point that gluten free products tend to taste, well, awful. As someone with both family members and friends who eat gluten free, usually for health reasons, I recognize how frustrating this is. It also doesn't seem fair that I have spent this whole Genius Hour making a variety of delicious, complex tasting breads, when the options in the gluten free world typically have the texture of an old sponge and the flavour of... well nothing really. Yes, there are some options that do taste decent, but they have to be sourced out from specialty bakeries, and often are quite expensive.

My goal for this Genius Hour, was to become a better baker, specifically with bread, obviously. I wanted to become more confident, and more comfortable working with bread, as this is a skill I would like to continue to develop once this genius hour is over. With that in mind, looking down the road I know that I will be baking for friends and family, as, as I've stated before, bread is a very communal food, and I maintain that it tastes better when shared. I want all of my friends and family members to be able to eat the fruits of my labour, so adding a good wheat free recipe to my repertoire was on my "to-do" list.

I was so pleased with how this recipe turned out. I was completely out of my comfort zone with this bread, as the signs I would usually look for in a typical loaf (ie. gluten strands forming, elasticity of the dough after rising, etc.) did not apply. Instead, I had to follow the directions and hope for the best. Thankfully, it turned out almost perfectly! The flavour was outstanding, the texture was much better than expected, and other than needing to have some pretty wacky ingredients on hand, I see no reason why this bread couldn't be in someone's weekly repertoire.

Bon Appetit's Healthy-ish "Super Seedy Gluten-Free Bread"
Flavour: nutty, rich
Crust: lightly crisp, perfect
Crumb: very dense
Chewiness: Dense, but satisfying
Great for: just eating, toasted
Overall rating: 9.5/10