Tips & Tricks: "Blond" Psyllium Husk

[runpunkrun]

Psyllium husk can add great structure and chew to GF breads, turning bread batter into an actual bread dough that you can knead and shape, but it can also turn your baked goods a sad purple. I discovered this the hard way the first time I used psyllium husk when the Yerba Prima I bought because it was a local company turned my hamburger buns a dismal purple grey. They weren't purple in the cookbook, so obviously this could be avoided, but how? A mystery.

Then, literal years later, A CLUE: I read about "blond" psyllium husk at The Loopy Whisk (UK), but I can't find anything for sale in the US labeled that way.

A few weeks after that I'm scrolling through a recipe for a GF flour blend without rice flour and, through sheer luck, find A LEAD. Based on a recommendation from Fearless Dining, I buy a bag of Anthony's Whole Psyllium Husks, use them in a loaf of sandwich bread and tears, tears (metaphorical) on the side of my face because my bread comes out a lovely yellow color with not a shade of grey to be seen. It looks just like normal bread. Praise the husk!

Anthony's Whole Psyllium Husks are organic, batch tested, and verified gluten free. I bought mine at Amazon.

Do you use psyllium husk in your baking? Do you have a favorite brand that doesn't turn your bread grey? Please share in the comments!

Late Breaking News!

Sources at Wikipedia report:

Seed produced from Plantago ovata is known in trading circles as white or blonde psyllium, Indian plantago, or isabgol.

Which is what Anthony's contains while my Yerba Prima just says it contains "Psyllium." I've cracked the code!

Comments

[runpunkrun]

Banana cheesecake cake! I've never heard of using psyllium like that, but I'm guessing it works like chia seeds in a pudding, creating a jelly-like thickening, so it totally makes sense.