Gluten Free Sourdough Bread

Vegan, clean and delicious!

Although there seems to be a lot of steps in this recipe, do not fear, it is easy. Just make sure you read through all the directions first.

You will need to make the starter first, but do not let that deter you. Once you have made it, you can keep it alive a long time and have sour dough bread at the ready.

Also, you will need a stand mixer. If you donʼt already have one, borrow one from a friend. Or if in Toronto you can borrow one from The Kitchen Library! Or maybe there is one in your city?

STEP 1: Ingredients for the Starter:

• 1/4 cup x 10 organic Brown rice flour – you will need to use 1/4 cup about 10 different times
• 1/4 cup filtered water x 10
• clean Jar x 1
• cheese cloth x 1
• small wooden spoon

Directions for the Starter

1. In a clean glass jar, combine the water and flour.

2. Stir until very well with the wooden spoon until combined.

3. Cover with cheese cloth and fasten with a rubber band.

4. Leave on the counter and repeat procedure once in the morning and once at night for 5 days, or until a fermented beer like aroma develops and mixture get bubbly.

5. The length of fermentation time depends on many factors including temperature and time of year re: light etc.. If you suspect mixture may have turned rancid, discard and begin again; this is possible, but not common.

Once you’ve started…keep it going!

Once your starter is established, you can keep it in the fridge and feed it once a week. This means, adding water and flour until a humus like consistency is achieved.

Yes I know…another mouth to feed, but this one feeds you back at least:) Of course feeding it after every usage goes without saying… Always make sure there is 1/2 cup of starter left in the jar after using it to make sure there is enough yeast to repopulate the new addition of flour and water. Never fill the jar to the top because the yeast will expand and a mess will result.

STEP 2 Ingredients for the Bread

• 1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds. Use golden flax if you want a lighter coloured bread. Grind in Coffee Grinder.
• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 3 cups brown rice sour dough starter (Feed your starter the night before you are going to make bread to make sure it is very active and happy! And of course make sure you are going to have enough starter for the bread by adding equal parts flour and water until desired volume is achieved!)
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey melted in 1 cup of slightly warmed filtered water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil plus more to brush on the top.

Directions for the Bread

1. Place the brown rice four, sorghum flour, ground flax seed and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix until well combined. You made need to employ a rubber spatula at some point to make sure the flours are mixed well under the paddle.

2. Add the sour dough starter and mix on low until combined. Mixture will seem dry.

3. Run the machine on low speed and drizzle in the water and agave mixture about 1/4 cup at a time, giving about 30 second to one minute between each addition to give the flours time to absorb the liquid. The consistency you are looking for is that of a cake mix. It shouldnʼt be too wet, but should be able to fall off the paddle by itself.

4. Once the desired mix is achieved, add the olive oil and mix on high for 3 minutes. Mixture will smooth out a little.

5. Line a 9 X 3 loaf pan with parchment paper. You may want to brush it with a little olive oil to help it stay down. A little tough love will be needed here. Show it whoʼs boss!

6. Scrape the dough into the prepared loaf pan and bush the top lightly with olive oil. You can add some seeds or nuts on top at this point if desired and cover with an oiled piece of parchment paper and cover with a tea towel. Let rise in warm area of kitchen until doubled in size, anywhere from 4 to 7 hours depending on room temp etc.

7. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place a pan filled with water on the the bottom rack.

8. Place bread in the middle of preheated oven and spray with water bottle every 10 minutes. If top seems to be getting very brown very quickly, make a tent out of tinfoil to place on the bread in the oven.

9. Bread should take 1 hour to 1 hour and a half.  Top will be very brown and  bottom should sound hollow when knocked. Let cool on rack 1 hour before cutting. If not consuming with the first 3 days, slice and freeze.

Enjoy your delicious bread!

Variations

After Step 4 you can can mix in:

Onions – Thinly sliced for the top and diced for the inside.

Seeds – A mixture of sesame, sunflower and pumpkin or what ever kinds you like.  Total volume should be no more that a cup.  Save some for the garnish on the top!

Cinnamon Raison Maple:    Mix 1/2 cup of thompson raisons in with the batter and scrap into your loaf pan.  Make a separate mixture of 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.  Drizzle it over the length  of the dough in the middle.  Carefully fold it in to the dough.  Let rise as normal.

Herbed:  Add any dried or fresh herbs of choice.  If using powdered, keep it to around 1 teaspoon or 1 table spoon of dried herbs or  1/4 cup of fresh chopped.

Focaccia Bread:  spread the dough into a lined 9X9 cake pan, pop some herbs or kalamata olives on the top and or make finger indentations in the top.  Get creative!  Try Sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, capers, etc…