Life Breads Gluten-Free Bakery

I stopped here on my drive home from the West Coast to Illinois. I was looking for the perfect "something" for my gluten free/ dairy free daughter. This little shop hit the spot perfectly. I got there mid afternoon and there wasn't a lot to choose from, but I was able to buy her a few different things to try. Meg, who waited on me was friendly and very helpful. We chatted for a while and then I headed home. My daughter loved all the baked goods and was thrilled that I was able to find a place where I could bring her some goodies. Thanks Meg....wish your store was 200 miles closer.

Having been diagnosed with celiac this summer, I was excited that Davenport has an all gluten free bakery! I hesitated writing this review because I don’t want to lose a GF bakery, however…I was extremely disappointed! First…$15 for 1 pie crust, just the crust and the tin foil container it’s baked in is ridiculous! Then for that pie crust to literally be inedible…ruined our pies for thanksgiving. I even mentioned my concern with it being baked when getting it and he said that would be just fine. Both my pumpkin pie and pecan pie was inedible. Nothing changed with my tried and true recipes that everyone loves EXCEPT the pie crust. We had to take the pie out of the tin foil container and cut with a butcher knife and even that was very difficult to do. There was no eating that. My husband asked if it was made of drywall mud! So if you are looking for a great gluten free crust that is flakey and delicious, Natural Grocers has an amazing crust in their freezer aisle that is delicious…and you get 2 for about $6…not $30!! Now to the bread…I tried the dinner rolls and they were mostly falling apart when I opened the bag. I tried a nibble and they were flavorless and very dense. So I cut them up in cubes and used them as stuffing cubes, along with the stuffing cubes I bought from this bakery. I baked them for 25 minutes in a 300 degree oven. Baked like this it was better than eating as a dinner roll. Made into stuffing it was okay…nothing exciting. The chocolate mini loaf bread was very dry. The only reason I have given 2 stars instead of 1 is because their snickerdoodle and sugar cookies are delicious! Chewy and fairly soft, these are the only winners in the bakery. Worth the drive for me? No. But dear God, do NOT get the pie crust!! Everyone said it was the worst pie crust they had ever had…because you couldn’t eat it. To everyone at Life Breads Bakery, I really want to support you and am happy you have a GF bakery but please please PLEASE try new recipes for your bread and pie crust. Sadly I will not recommend or be back until, if ever, that happens. You all are so kind and very nice and the bakery smells amazing when walking in, but the quality just isn’t there. I’m sorry.