Description
A less than 10-ingredient artisan-style naturally leavened sourdough recipe that transforms into a perfect little boule. This Buckwheat Sourdough recipe is gluten-free, vegan, allergen-friendly and requires some patience to prepare. No mixers or kneading required. Free of oil, corn, gums, and legumes.
You will need an active gluten-free sourdough starter (wild yeast) before starting.
Recipe and ingredients adapted and inspired by the lovely Heather Crosby. Taking her gluten-free bread baking course in 2017 was so much fun!
Useful Tools:
- large glass bowl
- measuring cups for dry goods and liquids
- measuring spoons
- kitchen scale (if you want to weigh your ingredients)
- large spoon for mixing
- soft spatula
- flour sifter
- unbleached parchment paper
- large soup bowl
- clean tea towel (or lined banneton basket)
- lame or sharp kitchen knife
- Dutch oven (5 to 7-QT)
- baking stone (optional) or baking/cookie sheet
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup buckwheat flour (90g)
- 3/4 cup sunflower seed flour (50g)*
- 1/2 cup arrowroot starch/flour (50g)
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour (50g)
- 1/2 cup oat flour (40g)
- 2 tablespoons psyllium husk, whole (14g)
- 1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar (8g)
- 1–1/2 teaspoon sea salt (6g)
Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup active GF brown rice starter (265g)
- 1–1/4 cups (up to 1–1/2 cups) warm water (295-354g)**
Instructions
Before you begin, please watch this step-by-step video to help you make this Buckwheat Sourdough.
Step 1
Cut a piece of unbleached parchment paper that will fit inside or on your baking vessel of choice, set aside.
Step 2
To a 2-cup measuring cup, add 1 cup of room temperature water with 1/4 cup of hot boiling water, let sit until ready to use. Prepare and measure or weigh all your dry ingredients. Place sifter inside (or on top) a large glass mixing bowl, sift and combine all dry ingredients; flours, psyllium husk, coconut palm sugar, salt. Remove the sifter and mix the dry ingredients well with a large spoon. Add 1 cup of starter and 1 cup of warm water (not hot) and mix well until the liquids are absorbed. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of water and mix it until all the water is incorporated. Make sure there are no dry bits at the bottom. The texture of the dough should be like a thick pancake mix. Let sit for 2-5 minutes. If, after a few minutes, your mixture looks too dry, add an extra 1/4 cup of water*** (for a total of 1-1/2 cups) and mix.
Step 3
Transfer the dough into a large soup bowl (lined with a clean tea towel) and dusted with a little flour. A cloth-lined banneton basket is ok too. Reference video for guidance. Loosely cover (plastic wrap, tea towel, plate), let rise in a warm place for a minimum of 2 hours. Read Step 4 (below) about preheating.
Step 4
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F, at least 30 to 45 minutes before you are ready to bake your loaf. You will also need to preheat your Dutch oven (or baking stone) while the oven is warming up, everything needs to be hot!
Step 5
At the 2-hour mark (or longer if you decide to experiment), uncover the bowl or basket. Your dough should have increased a little in size and, it will rise more while baking. Grab your piece of parchment paper from Step 1 and carefully flip your dough bowl onto the paper. Remove the soup bowl and tea towel (or basket) slowly to help maintain the shape of the dough. You can dust the top with a little flour (buckwheat or brown rice). Scoring your dough boule is optional but, it can create a beautiful artisan-style looking loaf. With a bread lame or sharp knife, cut a 1/4 to 3/8-in deep curved line or pattern. TIP: For your first loaf, start with a simple score line and then try fancier artistic designs for future bakes.
Step 6
Remove Dutch oven (or baking vessel of choice) from the oven. Be careful; it will be hot! Transfer the dough with parchment paper into the Dutch oven, cover and return to oven. Bake for 25 minutes covered, then remove the lid and bake for another 25 minutes. At the 50-minute mark, you can finish baking the loaf placed directly onto the oven rack (without parchment paper) for another 5 to 10 minutes. The buckwheat sourdough should be ready when it sounds hollow and crusty when tapped with a finger.
Step 7
Let your gorgeous loaf cool on a wire rack for a few hours or overnight. Please resist the urge to cut it right away; it needs time to finish setting. Once cooled, slice your loaf, enjoy it fresh, or toasted with your favourite spread or jam. If you have a cast-iron skillet, use it to make the most amazing toasted slices!
The bread will keep on your counter for one day wrapped in a clean tea towel. You can refrigerate the rest for up to 5 to 7 days. Freeze any leftovers, sliced, in a glass container or sealed plastic bag for 1 to 3 months.
Notes
*Always try to use organic raw seeds in bread recipes. Feel free to play around with the seeds you try. Using a combination of both sunflower and pumpkin seeds works very well in this recipe.
**Clean filtered or spring water. Do not use chlorinated tap water.
*** If unsure about adding the extra water, it will be best to try it with the smallest amount of water (1-1/4 cups) to start. A free-form loaf could fall flatter if the dough is too wet.
What To Expect: This loaf will not feel dry inside. It might even feel a bit sticky to touch. The crust will be crispy. After the bread has been refrigerated it will feel hard. Once toasted it will warm up beautifully and taste amazing! If you can, consume it fresh, have a slice (or two) before refrigerating it.
Tools: You will need a large glass bowl, measuring cups for dry goods and liquids, measuring spoons, a kitchen scale if you want to weigh your ingredients, a large spoon for mixing, a soft spatula, a flour sifter, unbleached parchment paper, a large soup bowl, clean tea towel (or lined banneton basket), lame or sharp kitchen knife, Dutch oven (5 to 7-QT), baking stone (optional) or baking/cookie sheet.
Tips: 1) Remember that if you’re avoiding gluten, make sure that all your ingredients are certified gluten-free. and allergen-friendly if necessary. 2) To measure each flour, I suggest scooping it with a spoon from the jar or flour bag into the measuring cup. Never pack it in. Or you can also weigh your dry ingredients for more precision. 3) When using a dutch oven or baking stone, preheating them in the oven at the same time as the oven is warming up is highly recommended. 4) For best results—or just for fun—try milling whole grains or seeds using a clean spice/coffee grinder, small blender or grain mill. Roasting the seeds prior to milling them is another way to enhance all the beautiful flavours of homemade bread.
Substitutions >> Flour: In place of buckwheat flour, you can use sorghum or millet flour (or half of each). Or you could consider using more oat flour to replace one of the flours. Gluten-free baking works best with a combination of grains and seeds. Psyllium husk: You can also use psyllium powder, just use a little less. If you can’t eat or don’t like using psyllium husk, you could try just leaving it out or adding 1 extra tablespoon of arrowroot starch with 1 tablespoon of ground chia seeds or flaxseed meal. Follow the rest of the recipe as listed. Note: I haven’t tested these exact substitutions with this specific loaf recipe. Sugar: Try using maple syrup or honey (not vegan) if you don’t have coconut palm sugar.
Allergen notice: Make sure that all your ingredients are labelled and certified gluten-free, and free of any other top allergens you avoid.
