For years I've struggled with digestive problems and had finally sought out a nutritionist a month ago. During my second appointment, the specialist had informed me that I may have a variation of IBS. From there, she introduced me to the concept of Fodmaps---carbohydrates my small intestine has trouble processing-- and suggested I lowered or outright cut out the foods with these sugars, gluten in particular.

Accustomed to my high-in-fiber-low-in-sugar-bread, I was shocked to find that the limited choices of gluten-free bread available in my local supermarket were higher in sugar and lower in fiber and protein than I was comfortable with (as well as made with ingredients like "rice starch" as opposed to whole grains). As a runner, I take what I put in my body very seriously and thusly took up the task to make my own whole-grain, gluten-free bread.

I know that it will take time for me to develop not only the habit of making my own bread, but to create my own recipe which is why I see this loaf as my first attempt at the many more to come.I plan on documenting each methodology and attempt until I am satisfied with my process and product.

Process:

The start of this journey has been more than just picking up a recipe online and following it mark for mark---I intimately considered my choice of ingredients and methodology for this bread. As a base, I used this recipe from forkandbeans.com for reference. I didn't use this recipe note for note, actually I changed quite a bit, but used it for understanding proportions and basic ingredients needed to make bread.

For this attempt, I decided to use buckwheat flour, specifically Arrowhead's buckwheat flour. With a hundred percent whole grain and 4 grams of protein per serving, it seemed the superior choice to the typical white gluten-free flour (derived from rice). I also added chia seeds for extra texture as well as those helpful omega-3s it harbors. I used unsweetened almond milk for the milk.

Results:

Seeing that I added too much water (about half a cup extra), it makes sense that the bread was about as moist as my mother's chocolate cake---not to mention that it was a tad sweeter than it should've been since I added too much zero calorie sweetener! Regardless, it still went nicely with some brie cheese and blueberries and I enjoyed every last bite that was spread out this past week and a half.