When I first learned that my body wanted to be a gluten-free zone, I threw myself into the life-style. I bought a lot of “gluten-free” items, only to take a step back, look at the items (and the long list of ingredients) only to decide that those products probably wouldn’t be much better for my body than gluten itself.

Today, while rearranging the kitchen cupboards, I found a bag of Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free bread mix (which you can buy here or at your neighborhood grocery store). I was a a little skeptical (I was a bread-making aficionado before I went away to college), but ultimately decided that I might as well try it– after all, if it was awful, I’m sure I could have turned it into a rocking bread pudding.

Here’s the scoop.

The Good

• The bread was easy to make. The instructions were simple, and while it assumed I had a stand mixer, I was easily able to substitute my own upper arm strength.
• It didn’t take all day. Including prep-work, this bread probably took about ninety minutes to cook.
• It tastes more-or-less like bread. Now, don’t get me wrong— no one is going to mistake this for a delicious baguette or even regular white bread, but it has a nice crust and the overall consistency is bread-like.

The Bad

• It’s ugly. We don’t own a bread maker, so I baked this one in my oven. Despite wrapping the top with aluminum foil, it still browned more than I would like.
• It needs extra stuff to taste good. With a great spread this bread could be your best friend, but without it you’ll have to settle for the strange neighbor with a cat obsession.

Regardless, I’m now aware of a very functional bread mix that is relatively cheap (I see it at Big Lots for $1.50 pretty often). Next time, I think I’ll try adapting it to a raisin bread or a banana bread (because I miss french toast y’all).

What about you? What’s your favorite gluten-free snack? How have you overcome the bread loss?