Schar White Bread

She made the casserole with Schar white bread and also gave me the remainder of the loaf to take home as well. So I thought I would write a review of the bread being used in the following ways: in the casserole, as regular untoasted sandwich bread, a slice of toast, and as a grilled cheese sandwich. 

      In the casserole, the bread seemed to work well,  especially the morning that it was baked. My sister-in-law actually made 2 casseroles, one GF and one not GF, and the others in attendance for Christmas "brunch" ate the non-gf casserole primarily. My husband ate mine because it also had turkey bacon, and he is allergic to pork. So, the majority of the casserole remained and we placed it in our cooler and transported it  much later in the day back to our home in Flint, an hour from Lansing where we received it. The casserole was okay the next couple of days, but the bread seemed to be soggier and just wasn't as satisfying as the first day. Then again, I've never had a casserole made with bread before, gf or not, so this may be an issue regardless of using gluten free bread. 

       A couple days later, knowing that I had eaten more than I needed to over the holidays, I decided to skip lunch. May not have been my smartest idea. So, when we returned home from shopping, I decided to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich WITHOUT  toasting the bread first. I wanted to taste the bread in it's "natural" state. It wasn't bad, but as most pre made gluten free breads are, it was a bit dry. But then again, I was pretty hungry, plus it had my friend's homemade strawberry jam on it, so it was still pretty good. 

      Last night I ate some of the leftover gnocchi from our Christmas dinner, this time using pasta sauce as we had eaten it plain originally. As an aside, I should have left the pasta sauce off- it was better plain.  Anyway, I had leftover sauce on my plate, and what does one do with extra sauce? Garlic bread of course. So I toasted a slice of the Schar bread, slathered on a pat of butter, and sprinkled on some garlic powder. It tasted like----toast. It was good at "soaking" up the sauce. My biggest complaint--is that there wasn't more. The slices are on the smallish side. 

     Tonight was the ultimate test. Grilled cheese. My husband lovingly made my sandwich first, so as to not contaminate the pan with gluteny bread crumbs. With plenty of cheese between the slices, he set to work, making sure each side cooked to a golden brown. I took a bite and thought-  "This tastes like a grilled cheese sandwich." To take it a step further, I had my husband take a bite- he agreed, that it tasted like a grilled cheese sandwich, he said "even more so than mine" - because his was on whole wheat bread. So I would say that the Schar bread succeeds in the grilled cheese test. 

     So, at between 5 and 6 dollars a loaf, I'm not sure it would be a regular purchase, but it's nice to know that there is a quality bread on the market if it's needed in a pinch. This is especially to know for when I am away from home. Also, Schar is a company originally started in Europe, that has recently opened a plant in the United States, so if you find yourself travelling along the Champs-Elysees or punting along the Thames River, you can rest assured their there is gluten free bread out there for you.