Gluten Free Whole Grain Sandwich Bread

JOVIAL BREAD / KERRYGOLD BUTTER / MARIO BATALI CUTTING BOARD

My family loves toast-- under an over-easy egg, with mashed avocado, or dipped in bone broth. In the past, we've purchased various pricey loaves of gluten-free bread only to find the ingredients were usually full of a lot of processed fillers that can wreck digestion. I've been on the hunt for a bread that could save us a few dollars, with a cleaner ingredient list. On Thrive Market, I found Jovial's Gluten Free Bread Flour and had to give it a try. (By the way, if you sign up for Thrive, your first month is free and you get 15% off your order when you click here.)

Full disclosure, I have never baked bread before! The first loaf I made was a bit dense because I added too much flour, thinking it was too sticky, and I killed the yeast. This is my second loaf and I am quite proud of it. I had to snap a photo of it in all it's glory because slices were going missing by the hour! I've subbed a few ingredients, and cooked it on a lower temperature, but feel free to follow the recipe on the box as it was intended. 

JOVIAL SANDWICH BREAD 

1 1/2 CUPS WARM MILK (I SUBBED WARM WATER)

3 LARGE EGGS

4 TABLESPOONS MELTED BUTTER

I TBSP. SUGAR (I SUBBED MAPLE SYRUP) 

2 TSP. ACTIVE DRY YEAST 

3 1/2 CUPS OF JOVIAL BREAD FLOUR

1 1/2 TSP. SALT (I USED PINK HIMALAYAN SEA SALT) 

I let the eggs come to room temperature before whisking them well. In a separate bowl,  I added warm (not hot) water to the yeast with a drop of maple syrup (because the yeast feeds on sugar) and it proofed well. Then I added all of the ingredients together, folding them together with a silicone spatula. Once the dough starts to become more like a thick batter, it's time to let it rise. 

Let the sticky dough proof for one hour on the countertop covered with plastic wrap. It should rise just a little. You may think the dough looks like it needs more flour to thicken it, but as I learned the first time around, it only makes the dough too dense. The stickiness of the dough makes beautiful air pockets like a real sandwich bread. 

Then, heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan (I used coconut oil) and scoop the dough into the pan until even. Then, I drizzled a bit of avocado oil over the top, with an added pinch of Himalayan salt for the crust. Bake the bread for 45 minutes until golden. 

This bread is such a nice treat to our mostly grain-free kitchen. My family just adores it. And my daughter's new favorite way to eat it, other than as a sandwich bread or toast, is drizzled with maple syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon: voila, Lazy Mama French Toast! I can't wait to experiment with different flavors, sweet and savory. 

If you can tolerate organic whole grains, Jovial's flour is made from organic grain grown on a farm in Italy. We also love their pastas, though I'm not able to enjoy them at the moment (no grains for me) because they are so flavorful, cook perfectly al dente, and sop up a sauce like a real thing. You've got to try them! 

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