Artisan bread is one of the things I miss most of all. In fact, I find gluten free bread to taste so terrible, that I hardly ever eat it (although my dad’s English Muffin Bread is quite alright). I think it tastes funny. I am not sure how to say it, but it just tastes off. The texture is dense and chewy. The bread frequently only tastes good warm. And, for the most part, I am really OK with not eating it.

But, I really do miss biting into a slice of bread with the right mouthfeel. You know the one – the insides are tender and moist but there is air in there to lighten things up. The outside is crusty and takes a good bite. I lost all those things when I lost wheat. And I stopped trying to find it.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that a twitter follower had a blog with the most amazing looking loaves of bread. I was hooked and had to bake one. I tried GF Boulangerie’s Artisan French Loaf. oh em gee. I made 2 loaves. I will be baking more. This girl is a gluten free bread savant. She explains why you do certain things, and how her bread differs from the gluten-y type.

Now, I couldn’t find expandex (which the recipe calls for) and my dad has a severe bean allergy, so I had to avoid the bean flour. But, since the recipe was by weight and not my volume, I used regular tapioca starch in place of the expandex and brown rice (because that is what was here) in place of the bean flour. If you need a guide, see my flour substitution chart.

I made this bread and thankfully made 2 batches at once. The first loaf was gone as soon as it was cool enough to eat. My parents (both gluten free) adored it. I couldn’t eat enough and it was 10pm. Now, go bake some bread and take back the dinner roll!