Brioche has always seemed to be a rather highfalutin bread to me; spring strawberries, on the other hand, are a simple treat for the senses. I set out to combine the fancy French loaf and the unpretentious fruit into a snack that takes just minutes to whip up with minimal ingredients.
This is a great recipe to experiment with. Just make sure to stick to light, finely ground, gluten-free flours. Brown sugar or Sucanat (dried cane sugar) are perfect substitutes for the coconut crystals and any chopped, seasonal fruit will suffice.
Strawberry Brioche
12 slices
¼ cup olive oil, plus more for pan
1/3 cup amaranth flour
3 eggs
1½ cup sorghum flour
2 Tbsp. coconut crystals*
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. almond or vanilla extract
1 cup sliced strawberries
• Preheat the oven to 415 degrees. Lightly coat a bread pan with olive oil.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, amaranth flour and eggs until well blended.
• Add the sorghum flour and baking powder and mix well, then add the coconut crystals and almond extract and mix again until well combined. Gently fold in the strawberries.
• Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35 minutes.
• Slide a knife around the edge of the pan and turn the loaf onto a wire rack. Let cool, then slice and serve with jam or butter.
 *Coconut crystals are available at Golden Grocer.
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This article appears in Readers’ Choice 2014.