Sharon Lachendro - The Gluten-Free Quick Breads Cookbook: 75 Easy Homemade Loaves in Half the Time

creator of What the Fork

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TO ADAM You are my North Star. My heart will always point to you.

TO KELSEY AND MACKENZIEYou can achieve anything you set your minds to. I love you to the sun, the moon and the stars.

_________

May the sun bring you new energy by day,

May the moon softly restore you by night,

May the rain wash away your worries,

May the breeze blow new strength into your being.

May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.

Apache Blessing

Ive had my heart set on writing a baking cookbook for years. And here we are.

Some of the very first recipes that became popular on my blog were for my quick breads. I worked hard to create my own base recipes for gluten-free and dairy-free quick breads that could be tweaked here and there with different flavor combinations to create some stellar loaves for people with food intolerances. So, as you can imagine, I was pretty stoked to write an entire cookbook dedicated to that very subject.

This cookbook contains 75 amazing quick bread recipes that are all gluten-free and dairy-free and are quick and easy to make. Almost all of the recipes require little more than a couple of mixing bowls, a whisk and a spoon, and they use ingredients that are widely available. And since theyre quick breads, theres no yeast or kneading involved!

If youve been missing breads and baked goods with the gluten-and-dairy-filled taste and texture that you remember, you need these recipes. Theyll restore your faith in gluten-free baking and prove that gluten-free bread can be as good, if not better, than bread made with wheat flour.

Baking has always been a part of my life, long before this cookbook came to be. Some of my first memories are of watching my grandmother baking and kneading dough in her kitchen. To this day, the smell of yeast, dough and flour make me think of her and her Parker House Rolls.

I vividly remember watching my mom baking cookies, cakes and pies for family parties and holidays. Id watch in amazement as she made perfectly flaky homemade pie crusts without even reading a recipe. It was all based on feel, and they were perfect every time.

They say the kitchen is where the heart is, and for me, that statement couldnt be truer. Its a gathering place; its where the magic happens. The magic of combining the same ingredients with a few tweaks and different amounts of leavening agents and getting endless delicious results.

I started cooking and baking gluten-free in 2012 when my husband, Adam, discovered that he was gluten intolerant. As somebody who loved to cook and was already known among family and friends as the baker, I looked at this new and unexpected challenge as a huge obstacle, not knowing even where to start. You see, this was before I was familiar with food blogs, when gluten-free baking was still fairly uncommon (at least I thought so) and Pinterest was still relatively new, so recipe ideas were usually limited to over-the-top cheesy party foods, how to cook corn on the cob in a cooler, hedgehog cakes and a thousand ways to cook chicken breast.

Lucky for me, I wasnt alone in facing this challenge. My mom, the amazing baker, had already been eating gluten-free for years. She was instrumental in helping me figure out what gluten-free flours worked, making sure I knew to avoid using bean flours in baked goods, foods where we might find hidden sources of gluten, simple gluten-free swaps like using starch in place of flour to make gravy, and more. All of the basic things you need to know but might overlook because theres just so much to think about.

Over the years, Ive taught myself even more about baking in general and experimented with different gluten-free flours and binding agents. Ive gone through more gluten-free flour, sugar, avocado oil, eggs and sprinkles than I care to admit.

Im someone who doesnt have to eat gluten-free, but I bake and cook for someone who does. I want everything that I make to have amazing taste and texture. I will not, and have not, settled for just ok. I want my gluten-free quick breads and baked goods to be as good, if not better, than the original recipes that are made with gluten-filled flour. And that is exactly what these quick breads are.

Being able to eat gluten gives me a distinct advantage. Im able to taste and compare my gluten-free baked goods and breads with ones made with regular wheat flour. I can assure you that the taste and textures are what theyre meant to be without having to rely on what I think I remembered it to be ten years ago.

These gluten-free quick breads are good enough for gluten eaters. And if you dont tell them theyre gluten-free and dairy-free, they probably wont even know. People might even tell you these are the best breads theyve ever had and then you can knock their socks off and tell them your secret as you introduce them to the wonderful world of amazing gluten-free baking.

I hope you enjoy these quick bread recipes as much as my friends, family and I do. Ive put everything I have and more into them.

Peace + Sweet Eats

xoxo,

Shay

Theres nothing better than having a fresh-baked banana bread cooling on top of the oven. Banana breads are a staple in my house because theyre so quick and easy to make, theyre crazy delicious and we seem to always have overripe bananas hanging out on the counter. Honestly, I think I often buy extra just to have an excuse to bake with them.

My gluten-free banana bread has always been a popular recipe on my blog and I just had to include it here. Its try it and youll see why! Its the foundation for all of the other banana breads in this chapter. They all showcase the banana flavor and really take it to the next level.

Feel free to experiment with some additional flavor combinations; I could have gone on and on but there are only so many recipes I can fit into one chapter! I recommend starting with the original banana bread recipe first, so you can see just how bangarang it is on its own. Then, work your way through the chapter. Your taste buds will thank you!