Simple Mills Bread & Pizza dough mix
on 03/29/2016 By The Gluten Free Centre
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Simple Mills (by Make it Gluten Free)
Artisan Bread mix and Pizza dough mix Review
Simple Mills are a leading US brand based in Chicago. They have a fantastic range of products and part of this range is now sold in the UK exclusively by Make it Gluten Free (visit the site to order)
All Simple Mills mixes are free from wheat and gluten, they are certified non GMO and use mainly organic ingredients. Mixes are sweetened with coconut sugar instead of refined sugar. The products are generally low in carbohydrates and have a low glycaemic index – thanks to using almond flour as a base. This makes the mixes suitable not only for health conscious coeliacs but those following the paleo plan or any low other carb lifestyle.
These mixes are high quality and very convenient, perfect for super busy people who are willing to pay a little extra for the quality. Priced at £4.75 a box, I found them a good value as there are at least 2 portions or more in each box which works out just over £2.30 – which is really not a lot considering what you are getting, so I’m happy with that. I also know the cost of almond flour... We used the pancake mix 3 times (for a family of 3), and the pizza mix fed 3 adults for dinner, it was very filling.
I reviewed the chocolate chip cookie mix and pancake mix a while ago – you can read the review here, but now, onto the bread and pizza mixes.
Artisan Bread Mix
The main ingredient in this mix is almond flour, followed by arrowroot powder, flax meal, baking soda, salt and coconut sugar. That’s it. There are no grains, no soya, no dairy and no yeast. To make the bread I had to add eggs, water, olive oil and apple cider vinegar. The back of the packet gives instructions for Flatbread, Dinner rolls and Sandwich bread but there are more recipes online you can make with this mix. As there is no yeast, there is no need for proofing. All you have to do is mix the ingredients and bake.
I love the instructions, they are visual and so easy to follow. You might like to have a US measuring cup handy though! If you don’t have one you will have to convert and measure the liquid ingredients.
I first made the dinner rolls, one pack will make 12 rolls about the size of a muffin. You would probably have 2 - 3 for one meal, although they were hard to resist! Very tasty rolls indeed with good texture. They don’t have the texture of regular bread of course, but they are tasty, with a lovely crust and light and soft on the inside. You can make them into an open mini sandwich or have them with soup. Not sure how long they would stay fresh as we ate them all within 24 hours!
I also made the sandwich bread (using a second pack for this). This recipe requires 4 eggs and no oil, so slightly different from the dinner rolls (which needed 2 eggs). This was nice too, but not as good as the rolls. It tasted a little “eggy” to me. It did slice nicely and made a lovely open sandwich though and the texture was nice too.
I will definitely buy this in the future, just to have in the cupboard for healthy days when I need bread in less than half an hour (the rolls bake in 25 minutes). Really handy to have and I’d like to try some of the recipes available online such as focaccia, irish soda bread and flatbread.
Pizza Dough mix
Ingredients here include almond flour, arrowroot powder, cauliflower, baking soda, cream of tartar, oregano and garlic. No yeast. I made many gluten free pizza dough in the past but this did not look similar to anything I’ve tried before.
I had to add apple cider vinegar, oil and water to the mix which was enough to make two large pizza bases.
The major difference in making this was time. If you made pizza before, you know it takes ages. This one takes half an hour including the time to chop and add your toppings, so it makes an amazingly quick dinner! Happy me!
The other difference is, that it’s really filling. You can’t eat nowhere near as much as you would from a regular pizza.
The third difference is that the base has an actual taste of its own. It’s delicious! You can eat all the crust too! It has a slightly different texture from regular pizza but all of us have really enjoyed it. In fact, we are bold enough to say that we enjoyed it more than a regular gluten free pizza!
Our fussy toddler, who is a pizza fan (gluten free) was totally fooled and didn’t notice that this pizza was different – so top marks all around!
As it turns out we are not alone. The product was shortlisted to the Free From Food Awards 2016! We are keeping our fingers crossed for it to win its category, it would be very well deserved.
I can highly recommend this product to save time and keep pizza nights as healthy as possible – and still enjoying a delicious pizza!