Bake It Best Bread Flour

One of the blessings of having celiac disease is that you get to meet the people, the faces and stories behind the owners of local gluten free companies. These persons make the food and products because they understand the needs that we have. They've been there and they care.

And that's what they put in to their products.

I had received Linda and Stan Fedewa's Bake It Best All Purpose Flour as Christmas gift. I've reviewed it on this blog and my family and friends have been the lucky recipients of her hard work.

When Linda reached out to me to see if I would be interested in trying her bread flour, of course I said yes! Not only that, but she gave me a copy of their cookbook so that I could use her flour as it was intended, to show my readers just how to use them. It took me a while to get around to using it, due to busyness and the Lenten season.

I decided to use it at first to make breadsticks for our Easter dinner. My family thought that they were wonderful. They tasted great, but didn't rise as much as I had hoped. In some ways I was not surprised, as yeast breads have always been my nemesis.

Making breadsticks with Michigan Made Bake It Best gluten-free flour

First time I've ever made breadsticks in my life!

So I contacted Linda. Again, what a blessing it is that we can personally know the people who make our products! She and Stan gave me some suggestions, such as making sure to buy new yeast in a jar, not in the little packets, and to place it in the refrigerator after opening. So armed with my new found knowledge and guidance, it was time to make the bread. And not just any bread- two loaves of gluten-free, dairy-free, and rice free homemade bread.

Ingredients needed to make gluten free breadsticks

I started by measuring out my water and using my thermometer to make sure my water was 110 degrees,. The directions in the cookbook said to mix the water, sugar and yeast in glass measuring cup. I don't have one, so I used one of my small bowls. The yeast rose beautifully in the bowl.

Next I mixed the egg whites, oil and cider vinegar. Then I mixed that into the flour, and when those were combined I added the yeast. Once I beat it for the required time, I left it on top of the stove to rise for 15 minutes.

The reason there are two bowls in the top left picture, is Linda says to always aerate your flour and
scoop it out of a large container. I learned this on her pie crust video.

And nothing happened.

So I followed Stan's advice and warmed the oven to 190 degrees, turned it off and placed the bowl of batter inside. And it rose beautifully. It was a (happy) sight to behold.

After it doubled I beat it again as directed, separated it into the pans, and then let it rise again in the 190 degree oven until it doubled. Once it doubled, I removed the pans from the oven, heated the oven to 350 degrees, placed the pans back in the oven and then set the timer for 45-50 minutes.

Then I left the house to exercise.

When I came back in 40 minutes, the smell of warm baked bread greeted me as I walked through the door. The aroma was heaven sent. (Or should that be scent? )

And when I opened the door to the oven, this is the sight that greeted me.

Gluten-free Bake It Best bread fresh out of the oven

I made a few errors that I won't be making again - 1) I failed to grease my pans thoroughly and 2) I should have allowed the bread to cool in the pans for 10 minutes prior to trying to take them out of the pans. Linda suggested I use parchment paper next time. I would have know this if I would have taken the time to watch her bread making video. Click here to watch it!

The tops of the bread was crusty, and made a great sound when tapped. I gave a piece of the finished bread to my husband. He said that "he had never had a gluten free bread that had the same texture and softness as regular bread." The bread really is that fantastic!

Photo Credit- Margaret Clegg

I think between my husband and I we've managed to eat half of the first loaf.

I placed the loaves in a Ziploc bag to prevent drying out. I went back to have another slice late at night, and the tops were now nice and soft. Score!

I will be the first to admit that I use all sorts of different flour mixes, for all different sorts of reasons. But I'm am so glad that I can buy a local certified gluten-free flour blend created by someone who has been baking for years. If you haven't tried her products, I highly suggest doing so!

My friend Linda Fedewa and her lovely husband Stan.

Labels: Michigan made, product review