Is tasty artisan bread still possible? (coeliac disease)

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Laura T. on 11 Apr 2013 at 08:14

This year I became very interested in artisan baking. I started making bread and adored every bit. I hadn't previously eaten much bread as it had made me a little bloated. Recently this got much worse and I saw a doctor. Yesterday I found out I have coeliac disease. I have decided that for my health and for purposes of healthy conception/pregnancy in a couple of years time, I need to follow a strictly 100% gluten free diet. As a vegetarian I've never missed meat and when I stopped buying sliced bread a couple of years ago I never missed that. When I switched to gluten free pasta and all purpose flour several months ago for general health that was fine. The one thing I know I will really miss is my home made bread. I just feel so down about the diagnosis.

My question to you guys is this - can I continue with my love of baking? Can gluten free loaves ever live up to expectations? My first few attempts hav not been great but I have not bought as many specialist flours yet as I would like.

I believe she now sells gf bread mixes so perhaps she won't be sharing her secrets so much anymore :(

I did find a great article on her website about mixing my own flour and have ordered the supplies to do so. I wasn't aware that rice flour wasn't too great for making bread, so that's an eye-opener. Hopefully sorghum and millet will provide a better result!

I have been lurking in the gluten-free world just out of curiousity. I have also made wheat based batter breads so your information made complete sense to me. Thank you!

Gosh I am terrible at checking this forum :S

Thanks for the tips all! I'm feeling a lot more confident about gf baking now and am currently attempting a ciabatta (it's proving now - I only seem to post when bread is proving for some reason!). I'm hoping it will turn out well and if so I'll share my recipe.