I once read that if you’re buying gluten free food then you should aim to buy the one that has as little ingredients as possible; with 6 or less being the ideal number. But when you look at gluten free bread, you’ll be lucky if you find one that doesn’t have about 20 ingredients, is pumped full of rice and normally contains some form of molasses or another strange addition. The massive amount of random ingredients, combined with the strange candy floss texture which coats your mouth, makes for a loaf that is not very nice!
I’ve tried so many different loaves in my attempt to find a gluten free bread that resembles ‘normal’ bread. I’ve tried most of the big-name brands products, and haven’t really thought much of any of them. It’s been a long search, and at one point I completely gave up. But I think that I’ve finally found a bread that actually tastes like bread!
On a recent shopping trip to Waitrose I saw that they’ve released their own brand of gluten free products. There’s quite a selection! I’ve seen porridge oats, rolls, tea cakes and bread. After trying the teacakes – which are seriously scrummy – I thought that I’d give the bread a go. And take this as my last attempt to find some decent shop-bought bread.
The first test was the texture and overall appearance. For some reason, gluten free bread seems to have massive holes running through it – much more than I’ve ever seen in gluten-containing bread. I have no idea why, but this is something that I’ve noticed as I’ve transitioned to gluten free. This loaf didn’t have any of these craters and felt soft to the touch – but not so soft that it resembled cotton wool! So far, so good.
Next was the taste test. This was tricky as ordinarily I’m a toast kinda girl. I rarely eat bread straight from the packet and am definitely not a sandwich lover! But, in order to give a decent review, I did make an exception and tried this as bread. And honestly, it was surprisingly nice, a lot better than I expected! It was soft, tasty and had a really nice texture. Hooray!
Best of all, it made perfectly crunchy toast! It tastes delicious warm, simply finished off with a slathering of melted butter; or topped with jam or mashed avocado. I’ve also used the ends, or any other leftover slices, to make croutons when it’s gone a bit stale. I love doing this with any stale bread or rolls I have left over as I’m really not a big fan of wasting food and love the texture they add to salads. And, even better, making croutons couldn’t be easier – just cut the bread into chunks and fry them in some oil with a dash of salt until crunchy and golden.
The one negative is this loaf didn’t quite pass the freezer test. As I only really make toast, I usually put the loaf in the freezer, separated into slices. Getting out the slices as and when I need them. As I can’t eat a whole loaf by myself this is the perfect way to help avoid food wastage. Just make sure that you fully seal the bag before placing it back in the freezer or the bread will just end up with freezer burn! Once defrosted, the slices tasted exactly the same when toasted. But I would avoid using this defrosted bread for sandwiches as it felt quite hard, especially around the crust.
I’ve had so many bad experiences with gluten free bread, and at one point I completely gave up on it. Not only did it all taste horrible, but they were all full of so many rubbish ingredients. But I can honestly say that I love this Waitrose own brand GF bread.
If you have to follow a gluten free diet, then I would definitely recommend this bread. Soft, tasty and perfectly crunchy when made into toast. I’ve even taste tested this on people who don’t follow a gluten free diet and they’ve have said themselves that it’s hard to tell the difference between this and ‘regular’ bread. If that’s not a sign of a winner I don’t know what is.
Soft, delicious with a perfect light texture. At last, a gluten free bread that actually tastes nice!
Rosie x
