Recipe Step By Step Directions:
We are finally ready to make a loaf of this gluten free sourdough bread! Are you as excited as I am?
You will need ½ cup of your gluten free starter. Make sure it is bubbling and room temperature! I typically take my starter out of the refrigerator the night before I make bread. I feed it by adding some gluten free flour and water, and I let it sit on the counter overnight.
Put the dry sourdough bread dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk together. Add water and the sourdough starter as described in the recipe card below. Mix well.
You want a dough that is wet like a pancake batter. Let the dough rise for 12-24 hours at room temperature.
After rising, feed the dough a little more gluten free flour and water, mix, then rise for an hour.
Easy Gluten Free Sourdough Bread Recipe
This easy gluten free sourdough bread recipe is made from my sourdough starter recipe and it is so easy to make, you will be surprised it is gluten free! It is a bit of work to make your first gluten free sourdough starter…but it is well worth the effort!
This sourdough bread is also egg-free, dairy-free, and so it is perfect for those with food allergies!
There is nothing better than the taste of fresh sourdough bread! It is seriously is the most incredible comfort food! I have streamlined Sadie’s recipe quite a bit since she first shared her recipe with me back in 2014. Sadie used a combination of millet, sorghum, brown, and white rice flours in her original recipe.
Unfortunately, many of us don’t have a lot of individual flours on-hand…especially given how hard ingredients have been to find lately.
This is the second installment in my how-to-make gluten free sourdough bread series. The very first thing you need before making this gluten free sourdough bread is to make your gluten free sourdough starter. This will take you to the tutorial to get started.
This gluten free homemade sourdough bread recipe is yeast-free and absolutely worth the effort. You can enjoy homemade sourdough bread with very few ingredients! Feel free to comment or send me an email if you have questions, or read the comments below for more inspiration.
When Youre Ready To Bake
An hour before your gluten-free sourdough bread is ready to go into the oven, preheat your oven to 425°F/218°C. If youll be baking in a Dutch Oven, allow it to heat inside of the oven. This will help you get a good oven spring with your loaf.
You can also bake on a preheated baking sheet, if you dont have a Dutch oven, or if youre doing a bread shape that doesnt fit into your Dutch oven.
TIP: If youre a slow mover when getting your bread into the oven, preheat to 450°F so you dont lose too much heat with the open oven, and once your bread is in, lower to 425°.
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A Note On Gluten Free Flour Blends:
I have tested several different gluten free blends. I talk a lot about King Arthur Measure for Measure, which is a standard blend. I also used a very starch-heavy gluten free flour blend by GF Jules. Both performed very well.
The main difference is the texture of the bread. GF Jules was a lot lighter and fluffier while the King Arthur flour blend loaf was a little more hearty like regular sourdough bread. Both baked with a nice crust. I brushed melted butter on both halfway through the baking process so they would brown.
Many of my readers have chimed in with different individual flours they have tried down in the comments so I encourage you to keep reading through everyone’s comments. Dana loved Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Blend with this recipe.
Dont Feel Like Baking Sourdough
If you dont feel like baking sourdough, and going through the trouble of creating a gluten-free sourdough starter and then gathering all these crazy ingredients, you can simply order gluten-free sourdough from this company. Its delicious and will definitely scratch that itch for delicious sourdough bread!
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Getting The Dough Ready To Bake
When you are getting close to being ready to bake the dough, you should preheat your oven to 450°F with an oven-safe baking dish like a Dutch oven or Pyrex glass bowl for about 30 minutes.
5. Next, dust a sheet of parchment paper with some gf flour and turn the dough onto it.
6. Dust the dough with a little flour to make it easier to gently shape and press it into a ball with your hands. Optionally, score the top with a sharp knife or lame.
Making Gluten Free Sourdough Starter
Youll first need to make the gluten free starter.
ONE QUICK NOTE: while most dry yeast is gluten-free, some are not. There is a new Platinum Sourdough Yeast out from Red Star which is made with both rye and wheat. DO NOT USE THIS YEAST to create your gluten free starter!
The premise behind any sourdough is that it starts with you got it, starter.
Youll need to be sure you have a non-reactive container to store your starter in: glass, glazed pottery, stainless steel, or food-grade plastic will work. Make sure the container is large enough to hold your starter for the duration it will grow!
I found that transferring my starter to a bowl to mix in more gluten free flour and water and then transferring it back to jars worked for me, but you may find another method that you prefer.
Youll also want to have some cheesecloth or muslin to cover your starter for the first week or two when its on the counter. The porous material will allow yeast in the air to settle on the starter and help to feed it.
Gluten Free Sourdough Starter Recipe
(Note: while I have only made the gluten free sourdough starter in the measurements given below, I have discussed this with other readers and using the same proportions but halving or quartering the recipe does appear to yield the same results. Meaning you may make the starter with 1/2 or 1/4 of the below recipe.
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What Flour Is Best For Gluten Free Sourdough Bread
There are so many flours to choose from when it comes to baking gluten free! Of course, the easiest one is white rice flour as it is the most budget-friendly and accessible one, but depending on your taste you might want to experiment with other types like whole grain brown rice flour, buckwheat flour, mixes of other types like sorghum, quinoa, and other types.
For this recipe I used a mix of white rice and corn flours. Whatever flour your choose, it is not recommended to use premade mixes that contain starches. You will be better off by creating your own GF flour mix for this recipe.
For more info on GF flour types check out this source.
The First Step: Make The Preferment
Any bread starts with a preferment. The preferment, at least in our case, is made the same way as if you would feed the starter. Please consider feeding your starter first and make sure you know which one it is . Only after you fed your starter can you proceed to make the preferment.
You will make one preferment for each loaf you are planning to bake.
Usually, if you feed your starter twice a day, in the morning and evening, you will make the preferment in the evening, when you also feed your starter.
Once you get used to making bread and want to experiment more, you can try to feed your starter three times that day and make the preferment in the evening. The reason this could be helpful is that the starter takes about 5 hours to reach its peak of activity, and if you make a preferment with a starter that was fed about 5 hours ago, you will probably get a more active preferment. I would not worry about this at the start though. Most of the time I do it the usual way and I have no problems with the bread.
To make the preferment for a loaf of bread, use the following quantities:
- 10 grams active starter
- 30 grams filtered / spring water
- 35 grams of flour
The difference between feeding the starter and the preferment:
MY BAKING SCHEDULE :
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First Feed Your Starter
Understand that your starter must have been fed according to the recipe instructions within the previous 12 hours for it to work in this recipe.
If your starter hasnt been fed, please resist the urge to proceed with an active starter that hasnt been fed recently. The yeast will have consumed its available food and simply wont be active enough to give a proper rise to a whole loaf of bread.
Different People Different Methods
Understand that most people will probably use different methods to make a starter. Just like no two people will ever make pizza the same way. Below are my tips on how to prepare a simple active Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter.
Ive tested everything from adding kombucha, grapes, water kefir and apples to create pleasant smelling starters. Each method has different outcomes. Ive even placed fruit beside my starter to see if the bacteria from the fruit would magically fly into my starter to make it sweeter.
My friend Melissa Torio makes her starter with kombucha yeast.
Start with a simple method. As you get better at experimenting you can test different ingredients to achieve a lively bubbly starter that you will love to bake with.
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Need A Plan B To Bake Your Gluten
This method will work well if you feel that your dough might be too wet to hold up as a free-form loaf. Or maybe its because you like a different shape for your bread slices.
I recommend baking your gluten-free sourdough in an 8.2 x 4.7-in bread pan. Its smaller than an average bread pan. You could use a 9 x 5-inch pan, but your loaf wont bake as high.
Once your dough is mixed, transfer it to your parchment-lined bread pan and cover it. Let it rise for 3 to 5 hours, then follow the baking instructions: 40 mins covered, 40 mins uncovered. Same as the free-from version. Also, keep the 425° F oven temperature.
If you have a baking stone, you can preheat it and place it under the bread pan when baking.
What Is An Active Fed & Bubbly Starter
Active means that the starter has been fed with gluten-free flour and water and had time to transform into wild yeast. A GF sourdough starter will display many happy bubbles throughout when its at its peak of activity.
The photo above is a great example of a starter that I would call ready to use in a bread recipe. Using the starter when its lively will help to create the best rise at the proofing and baking stage. Note that a gluten-free sourdough starter doesnt necessarily double in size.
Whether you use brown rice, sorghum or a different GF flour, the look of your starter could vary. If it separates a little, at the top or bottom, thats ok too! It doesnt mean its bad.
The clearest sign of a starter gone bad is the smell and if you see mold. Otherwise, its probably fine and will revive after one or a few feedings.
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Can I Use Other Gluten Free Flours In This Recipe
You can certainly give it a go! Ive tried subbing buckwheat and amaranth flour for millet in this recipe but the bread wasnt as tender and light. Ive found thorough trial and error that millet helps give loft to gluten free bread without adding more starch. Also, amaranth was a little too strong for my taste.
Gluten Free Sourdough Bread Ingredients & Tools
The ingredients and tools needed for the recipe are few and simple. The bread is made of just active gluten free starter, filtered water, gluten free flour blend, and salt.
Youll also need a bowl for mixing and fermenting the dough in. As well as a spatula, some parchment paper, an oven-safe glass bowl with lid or aluminum foil cover or a Dutch oven for baking the bread in.
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What Is A Gel
Unfortunately, it is the gluten proteins in regular sourdough that bind the ingredients together. Since our gluten free flours dont contain gluten, we need to figure out another way to bind the ingredients. Using some very healthy binders found in nature we can do just that!
I also add some enrichment to this dough by increasing the fat content slightly with olive oil. If you dont like this you can try omitting the oil and substituting more water.
Adding a few key ingredients: apple cider vinegar, pure maple syrup, and aquafaba, help to rise the dough and bind it together. See below for more!
What Does This Gluten Free Sourdough Bread Taste Like
In a word, earthy in such a good way! This gf sourdough bread is texture rich due to the seeds/grains, has a mild oaty flavor, and a chewy interior thanks in part to the binding power of psyllium husk powder, with a nice crisp crust .
Because this bread is gluten free, egg and dairy free , mostly whole grain, free of fillers and large quantities of starches, youll notice the interior is moist/tacky to the touch. So, it needs to be toasted to bring out its best texture. Sometimes Ill double toast for breakfast toast, aka, avocado with egg toast.
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I Made A Dough But Will Not Have Enough Time To Bake It Before It Over
Yes you can. Leave the dough in the fridge until you are ready. Then take it out, split it into 8 balls, then flatten each one using your hands, a rolling pin and a lot of flour, until you get a very thin sheet of dough. Brush it with olive oil and herbs, sprinkle with sea salt flakes and make flatbread . Or, use it to make a pizza crust, but dont roll it so thin.
Dont Have A Gluten Free Sourdough Starter Yet
Are you hoping to make a gluten free sourdough starter culture? Then youve come to the right place! My follow-along video series will take you through the process from start to baking your 1st loaf and everything in between! I share with you my intuitive approach to creating & maintaining your gluten free sourdough starter in order to take away the mystery of sourdough baking! Join mehere!
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What Is Sourdough Starter
Sourdough bread starter is an ingredient needed to create sourdough bread. Think of it as a naturally occurring yeast that replaces packaged yeast and creates the rise. It is a naturally fermented element that, because it releases gaseslike bubbles in beerit expands your bread and makes air pockets characteristic of sourdough. The tangy taste of sourdough is a result of the fermented sourdough starter.
Once you create the starter, you can add it to flour and other ingredients to make your own home baked gluten-free sourdough bread. It doesnt require anything other than gluten-free flour, water and salt. Other ingredients may be added to create a flavor you like.
To get started, youll need to spend a few minutes a day for seven days. Then youll be able to maintain it by feeding it more flour and water as necessary.
What Is Sourdough Bread Anyway
If you dont already know what sourdough bread is, you may be surprised to learn that it is made by fermenting the naturally occurring yeast and bacteria in flour. Traditional recipes for sourdough bread typically include some kind of sourdough starter along with salt and flour. This type of bread doesnt require any milk, oil, or sweetener.
So, how exactly does sourdough bread work?
Sourdough bread is known for its tangy taste. The signature tartness that makes sourdough unique comes from the live yeast cultures. The fact that it is made with live rather than dried yeast not only affects the flavor, but also increases the shelf-life of the baked bread. Sourdough is made by fermenting lactobacillus cultures, the same probiotic bacteria you find in yogurt and other fermented foods.
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Why Is My Starter Not Doubling In Size
Your kitchen might be too cold or you dont feed your starter often enough. If you are using white rice flour, try adding some whole grain brown rice flour to help the process. You can also add some honey to the starter to help it rise. Some people even add apples or cabbage to the starter in the very first stage to help develop the natural yeast.
Why Bake Sourdough In A Dutch Oven Or Combo Cooker
Using a Dutch oven or combo cooker creates a lovely little steamy cocoon for the bread. An oven inside the oven if you will where the doughs moisture isnt lost to the larger surrounding. Instead, it steams itself with its own moisture, giving way to an awesome crust and more moist loaf. I heard professional bakers say that this is the closest you can get to a commercial oven at home.
We use this Lodge cast iron combo cooker. It is basically a dutch oven that can be used upside down! The flat lid becomes the bottom, and the dome body sits on top. This makes it incredibly easy to guide a loaf in and out of it without burning yourself. An added perk of the combo cooker is that its multi-purpose! You could use just the skillet side, the pot portion only, or both.
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