Full of seeds, fruit and buckwheat flour this Gluten Free Bread is so easy to make but doesn’t compromise on flavour!

Historically I’ve had some ‘issues’ making things gluten free.  Namely cake.  I cannot seem to get the fu damn things to rise.  They’re flat, sad and make me sad.  But the lovely people at Hodmedods sent me a bag of their British Buckwheat Flour to try and after having some delicious success with these Summer Fruit Galettes I thought I’d tackle gluten free bread next.

Happy to say I had way more success with wheat free bread than with cake.

You may be wondering what buckwheat is and why it’s gluten free if it’s called ‘wheat’.

Buckwheat is the seeds of a flowering plant rather than a grain and because it’s been cultivated for more than 8000 years it’s often referred to as an ‘ancient grain’.  It’s related to rhubarb and sorrel and the groats can be cooked much like rice, made into porridge or ground into flour.  It’s also a reasonable source of fibre and protein and may contribute to blood sugar control.

What is gluten?

The dictionary definition says gluten is “a mixture of two proteins present in cereal grains, especially wheat, which is responsible for the elastic texture of dough”.

As a (former) pastry chef I’ve become very familiar with gluten and its properties over the years.  It’s present in all wheat flours and its elastic property is what makes pastry short and crisp and bread stretchy with all those lovely little air pockets.  For pastry you want to NOT work the gluten.  Doing so results in tough, chewy pastry rather than delicate and crisp.  You use a light touch and as little handling as possible.  The exact opposite is needed for bread where the gluten in the dough is stretched and torn.  This allows the moisture to expand the dough and form air pockets that gives bread that open texture rather than the close, solid texture of pastry.

For this gluten free bread I’ve gone for an easy, no yeast loaf.  Just mix the ingredients together, pour into your tin and bake.  It’s a little more dense in texture than a yeast loaf but I think that’s quite delicious.  The buckwheat flour gives it an incredible malty flavour and it makes amazing sandwiches and toast!

I’ve also crammed in dried apricots and seeds because whilst I love a good old fashioned plain white loaf from time to time I also love finding ‘bits’ in my bread too!

And whilst neither Phil nor I have gluten intolerance I love experimenting with ingredients and textures in food.  Ingredients you might not normally use can end up being a complete revelation.

Looking for more gluten free recipes?  Look no further – we’ve got sweet, savoury and everything in between 😉

However if you’re looking for a non-gluten-free loaf we also have you covered:

• Oat and Honey Loaf
• Rye Bread
• Herbed Beer Bread
• Kombucha Bread
• Asparagus and Sun Dried Tomato Bread (a MUST try loaf when asparagus is in season)

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