Udi's Gluten-free Bread

Though I'm only about 50% gluten-tolerant and not even close to as allergic as my friend Janelle, I've still taken an interest in seeking out alternatives to the occasionally gut-churning ingredient that is wheat flour. I can and do enjoy pasta in moderation, but it's the fluffy, doughy stuff that kills me for the most part. If I'm gonna eat pancakes, cinnamon rolls, muffins or any kind of bread, it's pretty much a guaranteed gluten fast afterwards until the stuff it out of my system and my abdomen returns to its normal size.

It's my understanding that my tolerance will start breaking down as I age, gracefully mind you, so I figure I might as well keep an eye out for good products now. My friend Heather recently tipped me off to Udi's gluten-free bread, which I have been trying in various forms over the last couple days. 

      
Udi's website boasts a great bread product that can be eaten right out of the bag, with no need to toast. To that, I'll agree for the most part. It is a softer, airier bread compared to many of the rock hard, foul smelling, only-edible-if-toasted-and-then-just-sorta gluten-free options out there.

I made a cold half-sandwich with the whole grain bread (haven't tried the white sandwich version yet), some raw milk cheddar and dijon mustard and was satisfied. Untoasted, the bread is soft, but dry and disintegrates in your mouth quickly. Toasted and as a vehicle for peanut butter, though, this stuff was awesome. The texture reminded both my cousin and me of the English muffin toasting bread we grew up eating with butter and jam. A light toasting will suffice for texture; if you go too dark, the outer layer will get pretty hard. I have the mouth roof puncture to prove it.

It was also good toasted and topped with an egg and yellow mustard, and it made a great plain grilled cheese sandwich by the standard, skillet-and-butter preparation. I'm pumped to try a hot slice of Udi's toast with fresh hummus, and to grill some up panini-style sandwiches, piled up with spinach, tomato, provolone and spicy brown mustard. Oh! And I bet it makes great French toast.

I haven't bought bread in months, so I'm kind of excited about this find.

I found both varieties of Udi's bread at The Wedge. The product website lists other local stores that carry it, though beware: they do not have it at the Whole Foods on Excelsior Boulevard, so the list could use updating.

Comments

[h georgeson]

thank you so much lady. my lil bro was diagnosed with celiacs this year and there has been a LOT of tinkering around with recipes and brands o' bread in the household. everything always ends up tasting like cake. good with jelly, but terrible with turkey. [there has to be a joke in that last sentence somewhere]

[Alexis]

My pleasure! Tried it lightly toasted last night with hummus and it was great.

My friend CC bought a pack of French Meadow gluten-free tortillas the same day we both picked up the Udi's bread and I don't recommend those. They're hard, chewy and flavorless. CC was thinking that steaming them instead of warming in the toaster oven might produce a more pliable food product, but I don't know. I'll never buy them.

[Marchelle]

I'm making banana bread today, with rice flour, just for you.

Also, I have an awful lot of rice flour.

[Mom]

Hey, did you have any of this bread on hand when I stopped by your place last week?

[Alexis]

Marchelle, that's a disaster waiting to happen. If you want to try gluten-free baking, start with Bob's Gluten-free Flour Mix. I've experimented very lightly, but want to bake cookies with it next.

[Seriousfunmpls]

Alexis, can you find a kind of bread that has bacon in it or any kind of dead animal.