We made it! The week of publication of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread is complete! *Phew* You came to the Live Facebook Q&A (fun, right?). You've posted photos of the new book in your beautiful hands. Then you even posted photos of the perfectly-shaped, perfectly amazing gluten free bread you made, in your own kitchens and with your own hands. Every one of those photos has a permanent place in my memory. It feels like it took forever to get here, but now that we're here, it feels like a dream!
In these early days and weeks, I've had the help of some wonderful websites in getting out the word about the Gluten Free Bread Revolution. They've helped to show you … that (with a little help from you all) gluten free bread baking will NEVER be the same. Gone are the days of weepy, cookie-dough-style gluten free bread dough. Traditional yeast bread baking will always have some very soft, high-hydration bread doughs (see below for the English Muffin Bread situation), but if the dough is not super soft by nature, it's not super soft in gluten free. At least not any more! Refinery29.com reprinted the recipe for Gluten Free Cheese Bread from the new book. Parents Magazine shared some of my holiday tips, plus my recipe for Gluten Free Soft Olive Garden-Style Garlic Butter Breadsticks (and so did Yahoo! Shine). Mel of Mel's Kitchen Cafe shared my recipe for Gluten Free Hawaiian Rolls (and then I went and shared it again here on the blog, so I could show you step-by-step photos). Mel is an amazing, expert yeast bread-baker, but had never made gluten free yeast bread before. And she loved it! She is just … the very, very best. Look for more websites and news outlets talking about our brand new bread in the coming weeks. I will keep you posted!
Not only did these amazing websites help to get the word out about Bakes Bread, for which I am super grateful. They shared the recipes before the book was even published, which was really wonderful, since that meant that you could get a jump on things! The waiting was killing me, you know? Without further ado, here are 4 gluten free breads from the new book. Aren't they beautiful?
[If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know the drill with the clickable collage, but just in case—hover over each photo for the recipe title, then click the picture to open a new window with that post and the entire recipe]
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Here's the 10¢ tour of these 4 amazing gluten free bread revolution recipes, and what I love about each and every one of them (remember – all the links are above in the clickable collage):
Gluten Free Cheese Bread: This bread is, simply stated, a showstopper. Tender but toothsome, and loaded with cheddar cheese, this loaf makes the best grilled cheese sandwich you've ever had. It also makes a fabulous appetizer, just cut into simple chunks. Imagine this on your holiday table? I just got chills (quite literally).
Gluten Free English Muffin Bread: This is a recipe from the new book that hasn't been shared anywhere else. Yet.Watch for it to appear on the blog early next week. I chose it as the next preview recipe to share with you for a few reasons. First, it is one of the few yeast bread recipes in the book that don't call for an extended first rise in the refrigerator, so you can conceive of it and slice into it a couple of hours later. Second, since English Muffin Bread, by its very nature, is very, very wet (even when it has gluten in it), it isn't the sort of loaf of bread that you shape. So no worries there if you're concerned about shaping. Finally, it is just so, so good. It's incredibly tender and springy, and truly makes some of the best sandwiches I've ever had. It's a really, really simple list of ingredients, too (no eggs, no butter, just some milk as an ‘enrichment'), which doesn't hurt. I can't wait to share it with you next week (including tons of step-by-step photos)! I think maybe I'll post the recipe on Tuesday, and then we'll do another Live Q&A on Facebook on Tuesday night, December 17, 2013, at 8:30 pm EST.
*ETA: The English Muffin Bread recipe is now LIVE on the blog!*
Gluten Free Soft Olive Garden-Style Garlic Butter Breadsticks: Another simple recipe, these soft breadsticks are a dead-ringer for the ones you thought you'd never have again from The Olive Garden. They have only one rise, since the flavor comes from generous brushings of garlic butter, not from yeast development. They do require some shaping moxie, so you might want to watch my video of the scrape and fold technique to help get you comfortable working with the dough. But you'll do great! Just remember, bread-baking takes practice. And even when it doesn'tlook perfect, it'll usually taste great. Just keep going!
Gluten Free Hawaiian Rolls: You already know how I feel about these. If you don't go ahead and make some, my head just might explode! I mean, just look at them. Make them as directed in the book as dinner rolls, or make them into sandwich buns. With ham and cheese …. mmmm….. Wondering how to shape round rolls? See me do it first here!I'm there with you. Always.
Love,
Me
P.S. THANK YOU. Thank you for supporting the work I do here on the blog and in my books. Thank you for your willingness to try something brand new. Thank you for trusting me to show you the way. Thank you for all of it. And cheers to a brand new way! *mwah*
