Best gluten-free bread book?

[sarahjay]

I'm looking for a book for an avid bread baker who is now gluten-free. Any gluten-free bakers with advice?

[eperdu]

I absolutely love Jeanne Sauvage. She's a friend of mine but she's also got a fantastic GF flour mix. I've used it for quite a bit of baking and it's flawless.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1452107017/r
http://www.artofglutenfreebaking.com

I'm also a huge fan of Lisa Stander-Horel.

http://www.amazon.com/Gluten-Free-Canteens-Book-Nosh/dp/1478107928
http://glutenfreecanteen.com

Both books are great for baking and the holidays. I love it. They have fantastic websites with recipes as well.

My brother owns a GF bakery in CA and his bread mix is similar to Jeanne's mix. It's just a good blend.

[chefathome]

These appear to be more for baking goods other than breads (though I could be wrong). Do you have recommendations for bread? Though I've got myself some excellent books, I am always open to learn about others' books! :)

[eperdu]

GF Nosh has Challah in it. I know the websites for both have bread recipes as well. The trick is finding a GOOD GF flour mix and then baking bread as normal. It really isn't that much different once you've got the right flour mix.

[chefathome]

I've made tons and tons of blends and do the same thing usually but you really must know how each flour or starch works (its character, attributes, etc.). As I have 20+ flours I am doing a lot of experimenting! Many times it is not possible just to use one to one in recipes - believe me, I've tried - but as you mention it can be done. Just not always. Regardless, the breads are never similar to their gluten counterparts but so far in that is just not possible. Hopefully one day! So far I've been very successful with buns, cinnamon rolls, bagels, English muffins, challah - croissants are elusive, however.

[eperdu]

The blog, gluten free on a shoestring is also really good. She does mix comparisons and often will talk about why things work. Her baked goods always look amazing.

I think one thing that a GF baker does is forget what foods tastes like. If you've been GF for a long time you forget what a real pizza tastes like or you forget what real challah tastes like. You try to recreate them and think you'd done a great job until a real challah eater comes along and completely disagrees. But, a good baker will continue working to make sure non-GF eaters agree the challah is good. Jeanne is one such baker. I haven't tried her challah yet but I really should ....

[chefathome]

So far I don't forget what baked goods smell and taste like but have only been gluten free for 1.5 years. Our house is gluten free but my husband eats gluten out the odd time. He loves my pizza crusts and bread sticks but the cinnamon buns? Not so wonderful.

[eperdu]

Gluten-Free Baking for the Holidays also has breads .. I had to double-check it! :)

$3.99 for the Kindle version of that one. Well worth it.

[chefathome]

Excellent. I do have a Kobo, though, because it does not make sense for those in Canada to buy a Kindle as we have very, very limited access to material on Amazon compared to the U.S.

[sarahjay]

Thanks! I think what my aunt (the bread fan) needs is a good flour blend. After reading reviews it seems Jeanne Sauvage has a great one!

[chefathome]

As I have celiac I have about 30 gluten-free baking books. My most recent favourite is "Gluten-Free and Vegan Bread" by Jennifer Katzinger. I really like the breadsticks and country boule bread. She mostly avoids white and tapioca flours, opting to use healthier grains such as amaranth, sorghum, etc. And her breads are nicely shaped into rustic artisan loaves (i.e. boule) rather than spreading them into baking tins. I love being able to roll dough!! Last week I made the cinnamon rolls which were good but tasted too healthy - they are cinnamon rolls, after all, so I made them goopier.

My other favourite is "Gluten-Free Baking with the Culinary Institute of America". Their breads, doughnuts, English muffins and bagels are good.

If interested I have many books on baking goods other than breads, too, such as the Blackbird Cafe book that are great.

[Luca94]

Hey where do you buy all your gluten free products at the health food store such as tau? or do u purchase your own flour like millet ,amaranth, buckwheat ect.. and make them yourself.

[chefathome]

I live in Alberta, Canada, and purchase most of my specialty flours from specialty shops (some ethnic ones sell chestnut and hazelnut flours, for example) and Nutters which is essentially a health foods store. The first Tuesday of the month is 20% off the entire store so we celiacs in town shop then to stock up as these flours are very expensive generally.