Wholegrain Gluten Free Sourdough Bread for Beginners
It’s finally here! I have been wanting to make a simple, gluten free sourdough recipe for my Elly’s Everyday Wholegrain Sourdough YouTube channel for so long. I started sharing some of my test bakes on Facebook and Instagram recently, and after receiving so many requests for the recipe, I thought I’d better get organised and share it!
This is an easy, well rounded gluten free sourdough recipe that’s perfect for beginners. I used 70% freshly milled whole grain for the flour portion of the recipe, but in future I’d like to experiment more with a higher proportion of whole grains. Note that you can absolutely use store bought gluten free flours if you don’t have a grain mill.
Make sure you tune in to the YouTube video for all the tips and crucial things to watch out for. Gluten free sourdough baking is easy once you know what to look for! The written recipe and discussion about ingredients and variations are below.
Enjoy :)
A couple of points to note about this recipe, and gluten free sourdough bread in general:
This is a 100% gluten free sourdough recipe, but technically speaking, my bread is not gluten free!
On paper, my recipe is perfectly gluten free, however I mill my gluten free grains using a benchtop grain mill that I also use to mill wheat, spelt, rye and other gluten containing flours. I bake ‘gluten free’ breads for the pure joy of baking with a wide variety of whole grains that are accessible to me. I also bake what I call ‘hybrid’ loaves, that have a combination of gluten and non-gluten grains (here’s a great example). I am happy to share my so-called gluten free bread with people who understand how it is made and enjoy it for what it is, but I am very careful not to share with anyone who has coeliac disease or a severe gluten intolerance or allergy. You can find more information about that topic here. Having said that, if you need to eat a strictly gluten-free diet, this recipe will be perfect for you, as long as you bake it in a gluten free kitchen and use a dedicated gluten free mill if you want freshly milled flours.You will need a gluten free sourdough starter to make this bread.
Everything about that topic, including a video and written instructions for how to easily make a gluten free sourdough starter, you can find HERE.You can vary the flour types if needed.
I used brown rice, millet and buckwheat for my loaf, but feel free to experiment with other grains/flours if you don’t have these available to you. Just note that not all grain flours absorb the same amounts of water, so you may need to use more or less water in your version (probably less if you don’t use brown rice flour - it takes up a lot of water!). Experiment with white rice, sorghum, other types of millet, amaranth, teff, quinoa or gluten free oat flour if you can’t get brown rice, millet or buckwheat flours. Generally speaking, gluten free breads seem to do better with a combination of flours instead of one single type.Gluten free breads benefit from the addition of other binding ingredients in the absence of gluten.
You will notice a few ingredients in this bread that you wouldn’t normally find in my regular whole grain sourdough recipes. There are many additions that can be used to help bind a gluten free bread dough, but in this recipe I chose to use a combination of whole psyllium husk, ground linseeds/flaxseed and some tapioca (cassava) and potato starches. Other binding ingredients that some gluten free bakers use include xanthan gum and guar gum. I chose not to use gums for this recipe. I have a few other ideas about how I can more naturally bind my gluten free loaves using only whole grain flours - a topic for future exploration!Measuring ingredients by weight really makes a difference.
Not everyone has, or wants to use a kitchen scale, but I encourage you to measure the ingredients for this recipe by weight if you can. It is very difficult to measure bread recipe ingredients accurately with volume measures due to individual differences in technique, and the quality of flours that can settle in transport and storage. I have provided approximate volume measurements below, but please watch the video so you can see how this dough should look and feel - in case your flours or measurements turn out to be vastly different to mine.Gluten free breads that use psyllium husk/linseed, flax or chia seeds require a lot of water.
You will notice that this recipe has a lot of water compared to my regular whole grain sourdough loaves. This is quite common and necessary for recipes that use highly absorbent binding ingredients. Feel free to adjust hydration levels in your dough if you think it’s too dry or too wet. Not all flours or binders absorb water at the same rate.Don’t look for a dramatic rise or ‘proof’ before baking.
Looks can be very deceiving when you’re making gluten free sourdough breads, and your dough may not look ready to bake when it is in fact perfectly proofed! Until you get used to gluten free baking, I suggest baking your loaves in a tin or bread pan so you can easily see how much the dough has risen. Ideally you want to bake the dough when it has risen about 1-2 centimeters (half to one inch), and no more. I experienced many annoying ‘flying crusts’ before I figured this out! Trust me, this knowledge is a game changer.
And without further ado, here’s the recipe!
Wholegrain Gluten Free Sourdough Bread for Beginners
My cups are Australian metric, 1 cup = 250ml
Australian tablespoons = 20ml
USA/Imperial tablespoons = 15ml
Teaspoon = 5ml
The liquid gel mixture:
20g whole psyllium husk (3 Australian tbsp, 4 US tbsp)
10g ground linseeds/flaxseeds (1 Australian tbsp, 1 heaped US tbsp)
550g water (2.2 metric cups)
150-200g gluten free sourdough starter (About half a metric cup. Mine is a brown rice starter, instructions here)
Note: More or less psyllium husk can be used in this recipe. Feel free to adjust, but be aware that it gives a lot of structure to the dough and helps it to rise well. Some GF sourdough recipes use a lot more psyllium than I have suggested, but I think it makes the bread too gummy. Ground linseeds/flax are wonderful (and loaded with healthy Omega 3 fatty acids) but their gelling power is not as robust as psyllium. Ground chia seeds can also be used but I’m not a fan of their grey colour, and they are harder to find Australian grown. I have made lovely versions of this bread with 15g each of psyllium and ground linseeds/flax. Aim for about 30g in total for the binders.
The dry ingredients:
100g brown rice flour (3/4 cup)
All my flours were freshly milled, but store bought is fine too. Just make sure they are fresh!150g millet flour (scant 1 and 1/4 cup)
My millet is hulled ‘white French millet’ grown here in Australia. Any yellow/pale type will work.100g hulled buckwheat flour (generous 3/4 cup)
75g tapioca starch (2/3 cup)
75g potato starch (scant 1/2 cup)
9g salt (1.5 tsp)
Method:
Add psyllium husk, ground linseeds/flaxseed, water and gluten free sourdough starter to a bowl or jug and mix well with a whisk. Set aside for 10-15 minutes to allow the mixture to gel while you prepare the dry ingredients.
Weigh flours, starches and salt into a separate large mixing bowl and stir thoroughly with a whisk to remove any lumps from the starches.
When the liquid mixture has thickened into a gel consistency, pour it into the dry ingredients and mix until a dough is formed. The dough may feel dry when you start to mix it, but keep mixing/kneading (use a dough scraper or an electric mixer if you don’t want sticky dough all over your hands) until the dough has a uniform structure.
Using wet hands to assist you, shape your dough into a loaf shape and place into a well-greased baking tin or loaf pan (this homemade DIY pan release mixture is great). Smooth out the top with a spatula if it looks jagged and lumpy.
Place the tinned dough inside a container with a lid or a re-usable plastic bag to prevent it from drying out, and leave it at room temperature (around 20-25°C / 68-77°F is perfect if you can manage it) to rise. The warmer your dough and the surrounding environment are, the faster your dough will ferment and rise. But don’t leave it anywhere too warm or it may ferment too rapidly or too far, causing dough collapse during/after baking.
Read the notes section above the recipe on the topic of proofing gluten free sourdough. Looks can be deceiving with these doughs! Always err on the side of caution and look for a minimal rise. About half to one inch (1-2cm approximately) is all you need.
When your dough is nearly ready for baking, preheat your oven to 220°C / 428°F. I like to bake all of my breads in a covered environment, to trap steam in around the loaf which helps give a greater rise and a thinner, more crispy crust. You can put your whole loaf pan inside another, larger roasting pot with a lid (preheat this too), or try using two tins one on top of the other as a lid, with bulldog clips holding them together (see photo below).
Bake the bread for about 50 minutes covered or 40-45 uncovered (depending on your oven). The bread should be a dark golden brown and should sound hollow when tapped. Handle the cooked loaf gently.
Carefully remove the dough from the pan and place on a cooling rack for at least a few hours before slicing.
Store the bread wrapped in a light cloth or inside a bread bin at room temperature. This bread can also be sliced and frozen for a later time.
Enjoy your first homemade gluten free sourdough bread!
The ‘two tin trick’ if you don’t have a large roasting pot for your bread tin.
Add a couple of bulldog clips to hold it together and you’ve got a wonderful steam enclosure for your bread!
Looking for more?
Learn how to make and maintain a sourdough starter (including gluten free!)
Find out about my Mockmill 200 and where you can purchase one from just about anywhere in the world!
(There are discounts available in some locations).If you would like to support my work you can ‘buy me a coffee’ here (big thanks to all of you who have 🌼)
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