Gluten Free Sourdough Bread

|Gluten Free Sourdough Bread|

Some of you may know this and some of you may not but I spent the better part of 3 years perfecting my craft of baking sourdough bread.

It was a long journey of ups and downs, flat, hard loaves, over proofed loaves, loaves sticking to things, lots and lots of messes…

And just when I was coming into myself, had found my groove, made really good loaf after really good loaf and really upped my level as a baker…I decided I’d be better off gluten free.

please note there may be affiliate links, when you decide to purchase anything through these links I get a small commissions at NO extra cost to you, it helps me to keep running this blog

The hardest part of deciding whether to be gluten free or not was not so much that I loved bread but more so that I felt like I was throwing away all that experience and knowledge and skill I had gained.

Plus I just reallllyy love baking. It seriously gives me enjoyment and makes me happy. It’s my “thing”.

I’d like to say that I could still bake regular sourdough and not eat it but I simply don’t think I have the willpower, yet.

Not gluten free? Check out this post and this post!

I do occasionally make regular sourdough still if I am making it for someone else. I just can’t have it left in the house. And I can only gift so many loaves before it becomes an awful expensive way to be able to enjoy baking.

But then I decided to change my mindset.

What if going gluten free wasn’t the end of my baking? What if it wasn’t throwing away all that I had learned? What if it was meant to further challenge me and have me keep learning? And I could still use that knowledge of gluten sourdough combined with my research of gluten free baking to create recipes for the gluten free community to enjoy!

And so I have set out to do just that.

This recipe is the first gluten free bread recipe that I can say truly makes me happy.  It is the real deal. Those who have been gluten free for a while would never guess that this is gluten free. Those who aren’t gluten free wouldn’t guess that this was gluten free sourdough bread.

It has a thin crispy crust and a soft spongy crumb. It can be toasted, fried, or left as is.  It can make the sandwich of your dream. It can make french toast. It can do all the things normal bread can do!

It is sourdough, therefore it does take time. Approximately 12-14 hours to be exact. But don’t fret, most of it is hands off.

You will need an active sourdough starter for this recipe. So remember to feed it about 4 hours before you want to mix your bread dough.

Then it’s as simple as weighing out the ingredients and mixing it up. Leave it at room temp for an hour, shape it into a loaf, then put it in the fridge until the next morning!

You do have to bake this bread in a covered dish, like a dutch oven, or you can use what I use which is this. You will also need something to proof the bread in.  This can be a towel lined bowl or loaf dish, or you can purchase bannetons. I use bannetons now but when I first started I used a bowl lined with a flour sack towel. You may also find a bench scraper helpful with moving the dough, but it isn’t essential.

The reason for the covered dish is that the steam the bread creates is essential to the rising of the bread.  With a cover, the steam gets trapped and stays to make the bread lift.

The glorious thing about gluten free sourdough bread is there is no gluten to wrestle with. See, gluten can be underworked or overworked rather easily and severely alter your end product.

Without the gluten, as long as you follow the recipe as written there shouldn’t be too many hiccups. This recipe makes one large loaf or two smaller (simply divide the dough in two and form two loaves).

Gluten Free Sourdough Bread

Ingredients

540g water

10g psyllium husk powder

2 tbsp ground flax seed

2 tbsp ground chia seed

12g salt

2 tsp sugar or honey

150g active gluten free sourdough starter

456g gluten free bread flour mix

2 tbsp avocado oil (or other liquid oil)

Instructions

1. Combine the first four ingredients in a large bowl and mix quickly until a thick jelly forms.
2. Add salt and sugar and mix again.
3. Add the gluten free sourdough starter and combine thoroughly.
4. Next add the gluten free bread flour mix and stir until all the flour is combined with the liquid. It will be a very thick batter more than a bread dough.
5. Add the oil and again mix to combine. Cover and leave at room temp for 1-1.5 hours.
6. Next you will shape the dough into loaves.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured or wet counter and shape into a round boule or long batard.
7. Place in a proofing container upside down. Place the proofing container with the dough in it, in a large plastic bag or cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight (10-12 hours).
8. After the fridge time is up, preheat oven to 500*F with the baking vessel in it.
9. When the oven is preheated take the bread out of the fridge and invert onto a floured counter or a piece of parchment paper. Slash the top with a sharp knife or lame. Take the preheated baking vessel out of the oven and flour the bottom. Carefully place bread in the baking dish, cover and place back in the oven. Turn oven down to 450*F.
10. After 30 minutes of baking with the lid on, take the lid off and bake uncovered an additional 30 minutes or until brown and fragrant.
11. Let cool completely before slicing. It will be gummy if you slice it before cooling.

 Do you love sourdough?? Have you ever made your own? If not, what is the biggest thing holding you back? I’d love to hear it!