Learn to bake Easy Gluten Free Sourdough Bread effortlessly. This is a simple method for a classic and tasty loaf at home. You may have thought sourdough was complicated or intimidating and only for experienced bakers. But this recipe will help you change that! This recipe uses a variety of gf flours, psyllium husk for binding and it is an easy process with minimal hands on time. You will have reliable results and this bread is designed to fit into your real life. Once you begin making easy gluten free sourdough bread you will wonder why you didnt try it sooner. It is such good bread!
This easy gluten-free sourdough bread has a larger amount of levain in it than I usually use.
On day 1 you build the levain by feeding it three times. Dont watch the clock when making this bread. Rather watch the dough, which should be at its highest peak when mixing in the starter each time. Make the last starter feeding later at night (before bed), so as it is not too over proofed by morning. This is also a great time to prepare the dough ingredients for the next day. Making it so easy to mix the dough the next morning, and bake your bread by early afternoon.
Do I need to build the levain by feeding it three times the day before I mix the dough?
This recipe works so much better with 3 starter feeds. Feel free to experiment with your own timeline and feeding schedule. This creates a bread that rises quickly and reaches to a great height in the right size pan or banneton.
Can I bake this East Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread in a loaf pan or as an artisan boule or batard?
For this sourdough recipe you need a deep loaf pan 8 x 5 x 4 inches. To make an artisan loaf use a banneton that is 7 inches round for a boule (round) shaped bread. No banneton! Just use a round bowl lined with a tea towel dusted with flour. Batard or oval artisan bread. I use a banneton that is 11 inches long by 6 inches wide and 3 inches deep.
Do I need to bake the artisan loaves in a Dutch oven?
You do not need a Dutch oven to bake artisan loaves. With that being said, you will find that the oven spring (or rise) from the bread is so much better in one. A Dutch oven is well worth the purchase if you are going to regularly bake gluten free sourdough bread. Here is a link to one of my favourite Martha Stewart Dutch ovens.
A timeline estimate for baking this gluten free sourdough seed bread!
In the recipe I have included a rough timeline. But obviously you would make the sourdough bread around your own days schedule. It is important to work around your life and not let the sourdough process rule.
For many other sourdough recipes and tips, check out my “Gluten Free Sourdough Baking” Cookbook
Easy Gluten Free Sourdough Bread
Equipment
- 7 inch round banneton or bowl with a tea towel
- Dutch oven
Ingredients
Bulk Dough Mix (or use 310 g Anita's AP Gluten Free Flour with no xanthan gum)
- 410 g levain see instructions below
- 95 g sorghum flour
- 60 g oat flour
- 40 g millet flour
- 50 g brown rice flour
- 65 g tapioca starch
- 330 g water
- 17 g whole psyllium husk Or sub 15 g psyllium husk powder
- 12 g ground flax seed
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 15 g olive oil
- 15 g golden syrup, or honey or maple syrup
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp caraway seeds optional
In a blender, grind
- 30 g pumpkin seeds sub brown rice flour
- 15 g sunflower seeds sub brown rice flour
- 1-2 figs optional for natural sweetness
Instructions
Day Before Baking- Build the Levain and schedule (estimate)
- The night before building the levain, take your gluten free starter out of the fridge and feed 10 g of starter with 20 g flour and 20 g or slightly more of water. For a pancake batter consistency.
- Save 25 g for future use to keep your starter going. The other 25 g will be for the morning feed.
Starter feeding Option 1
- 7:30am – 25 g starter /15 g brown rice / 15 g buckwheat / 30 g non-chlorinated water Total weight = 85 g
- 6pm – feed 85 g levain / 25 g brown rice flour / 25 g buckwheat / 55 g warm water Total weight = 190g
- 9:30pm – feed all of the levain from the previous feeding with 70 g brown rice flour / 30 g buckwheat / 120 g water
- For the last evening feed, mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Cover the bowl and leave it on the kitchen counter overnight, at room temperature.
Starter Feeding Option 2 (Shorter)
- Take 25g starter/20 g brown rice flour/20g buckwheat flour. Mix and let rise to a peak. (105 grams)
- Take 105 g starter/152g flour/153g water. Mix and let rise to a peak.
Evening Prep
- In another bowl, weigh out all the flours and water to be used in the morning to make the dough. That way it is quick and easy to throw everything together when you wake up in the morning.
Mix the Dough the next morning
- To a medium bowl add the water, oil and syrup. immediately stir in the whole psyllium husk and the flax seed. If using psyllium husk powder, add this to the flour blend for the easiest mix in without forming lumps.
- Add the 410 grams of levain from the previous night to the wet mix and combine all the ingredients well.
- Stir in the flours and with slightly wet hands, or a stand mixer with a dough hook. Mix everything well until there is no loose flour. There are no stretch and folds.
- Rest the dough for 15-20 minutes and then knead the dough on a floured surface with white rice flour.
- Shape the dough and put it into a banneton to rise, or place the dough into a parchment lined loaf pan.
- Proof the dough for 2-3 hours in a warm place and then place it into the fridge for 30 to 40 minutes before scoring and baking.
- Bake in a preheated, Dutch Oven with the lid on at 450°F (230°C) for 35 minutes, then at 400°F (200°C) 30 – 35 minutes.
- When the bread is fully baked, it will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom and It will be firm to the touch.
- Slice when cool to prevent gumminess and store on the counter for 2-3 days before slicing and freezing the remainder of the bread.
Thanks for this recipe! It was my first ever GF sourdough, and the first bread of any kind I’ve attempted since being diagnosed with celiac disease over 2 years ago. I started my starter one week ago, and baked today.
I followed the recipe exactly, other than I had no pumpkin or sunflower seeds to add. That’s rise was good, and the flavour great (even better toasted)!
One question I have is how to determine doneness. I read somewhere that GF bread should be baked to an internal temp of 210F, however my bread still seems very moist/sticky and hard to cut. Any tips would be appreciated!
Thanks again for the recipe!
Hi Eryn,
My sourdough is all very crispy on the outside if it’s baked in a Dutch oven. In a loaf pan it would just need cooking longer with the high water content.
Also gluten-free sourdough really does need to cool completely before you slice it, otherwise it does go kind of sticky. And you could lower the temperature to 450° F, 10 minutes earlier and then just cook it for an extra 15 to 20 mins.
Thank you! I was still very pleased about how it turned out for my first attempt
That’s awesome.
Is there an alternative to millet flour?
I’m new to sourdough bread making and my all-purpose gf flour does have a gum in it. Wondered if you please had any suggested changes to accommodate this so I don’t have to buy a bunch of new flours. Grateful for any assistance with this new adventure!
Try it without the flax seed because if the gum but keep the psyllium. I think that would work. Let me know
Hi there! Do you put the entire 410grams or starter in the recipe? Just trying to figure out how many grams of stated? Thank you.
Yes entire 410 g but make sure you’ve saved some starter to keep your main starter going
Have you tried this without the oat flour? I tend to react to oat like I do the wheat. I wonder if a heavier grain flour might work, like amaranth?
You could try it with Amaranth .. I honestly don’t know and adjust the water up or down
When do you add the sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds? Or do they just go on top of the bread? Thank you so much for all of your great gf bread recipes!
I like to mix them in with everything else and you can throw some extra on top as well
Is it possible to make this in a boule shape in the Dutch oven as opposed to a loaf?
Yes definitely. I made a boule today
When you add the starter to the other ingredients in the morning, are you looking for it to be at its peak activity? I’ve tried the recipe a couple times, and I’ve had pretty good results, but it hasn’t risen too much and was a bit gummy the second time. (Note that I use the flour combo you use, rather than an all purpose one, and a Dutch oven for baking the boule)
Thanks for your help, and the great recipes!
I try to mix the last levain the day before just before I go to bed so as it does not use up all its energy overnight. Maybe bake a little longer if gummy
Thanks for the recipe! What would you suggest if my GF AP blend contains flaxseed flour? Would I still include it with the psyllium husk or leave out? Thank you! 🙂
I would leave it out for sure
I’d like to try baking a mini half loaf and I was wondering if you had any suggestions about adjusting the baking time.
Thanks for your help, and I love this recipe!!