Making gluten-free sourdough bread is possible and way easier than you think. Once you have your gluten-free starter ready to go, this bread comes together in minutes and tastes like you've been baking it all day. Finally, a gluten-free sourdough bread recipe that has a doughy center, crusty outside, and takes just a few minutes to assemble.
200gramsbrown or white rice flourplus extra for dusting surfaces
200gramstapioca flour
100gramssorghum or oat flour
100gramspotato starch
1tspKosher saltplus extra to sprinkle on top of the bread
30gramssugar
300gramsgluten-free sourdough starter
15gramsolive oilplus extra to brush over bread
1tspdried thymeoptional
Instructions
Combine your warm water and psyllium husk in a small bowl and allow the psyllium husk to gel in the water for 5-10 minutes. Always use warm water. Cold water can affect and slow the ferment.
In a large bowl attached to your standing mixer, combine your rice flour, tapioca flour, oat or sorghum flour, potato starch, sugar and salt. Whisk it together.
Pour the psyllium husk/water mixture into the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Add sourdough starter and olive oil and continue mixing for another minute, scraping down the sides if needed.
Add some flour to your countertop or flat workspace, then add the dough to the workspace and gently incorporate a bit more flour into the dough, kneading it gently until it's only slightly sticky. Kneading it will add air pockets into the dough. Please note most gluten-free breads don't require kneading because there is no gluten to develop.
Gently form the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly floured bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and place it in a warm spot (or on your warming mat, which I use) to rise.
Allow the bread about four hours (or longer if your house is cold) to rise. The dough should bulk up and maybe even double in size. I have seen sourdough bread recipes with much longer rise times, but if you're working with a healthy sourdough starter, and you have a warm place to proof it, four hours will be more than sufficient. Here is what my dough looked like after a four hour rise in a warm place.
Once the dough has risen, it's time to bake it. Place your Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid inside your oven, then set the temperature to 425º F. Allow the Dutch oven to heat up slowly as your oven heats up. *Please note that some Dutch oven manufacturers do not recommend heating an empty Dutch oven due to cracking risk. If this is the case, skip this part or add something inconsequential to the Dutch oven (like leftover bread dough) to heat up.
Once the oven comes to temperature, carefully remove your Dutch oven from your oven using oven mitts. Remove the top and gently place the dough into the Dutch oven. I usually have to use a flat spatula to free the edges of the dough from my bowl, then flip over the dough into the Dutch oven. The bottom side is now the top side.
Score the bread with a fun design. This will create fun ridges in the dough and allow the dough to expand. I put an "S" in the top of my sourdough bread so everyone will know its sourdough (the S is for sourdough).
Bake it for 35 minutes, then carefully remove the lid, brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt and thyme (optional), and bake for another 15 minutes.
Video
Notes
If you don't have a sourdough starter, you can make one from scratch, or simply use yeast. It won't be a sourdough bread, per se, but it will be a delicious artisan bread no doubt. Here is my gluten-free artisan bread recipe made with yeast.If the bread doesn't rise, it might mean that your sourdough starter isn't alive/active, or that your house is too cold. Give it more time (another 2-4 hours) to rise in a warm spot. If it doesn't rise, you may not have a healthy sourdough starter.Eat the bread shortly after making it or the same day. It's best warm and most doughy when it's fresh. Store leftover bread in a zip top bag and warm in your toaster or microwave before eating.See full article for additional tips to making this artisan gluten-free sourdough bread.