This gluten free and vegan sourdough bread is amazingly good. It is moist, flavourful and chewy. Perfect for sandwiches and toast.
The best evidence of this bread’s exceptional flavour and texture probably comes from the wheat-eaters in my life, who have all gobbled up copious amounts of my bread, describing it as “the best gluten free bread they have ever eaten.”
A lower carb, keto-inspired bread
To be honest, I have been working on a good gluten free and vegan sourdough bread for at least 4 years. I didn’t really hit on anything that worked until my mom introduced me to her favourite keto bread.
The result is this vegan sourdough loaf. It is practically a keto and paleo bread, however, the sourdough starter does require gluten free grain. The trick is have a really long ferment, which develops the flavour and loft of the bread.
Variations
Variety is the spice of life, or at least in this case the flavour in the loaf of bread. The structure of this bread is strong enough to support added flavours. And the rich sourdough compliments other flavours.
Here are a five of my favourite additions:
- Kalamata Olives: Add in 1/2 cup of chopped kalamata olives.
- Multigrain: Stir in 2 tbsp of millet, 2 tbsp amaranth flour and 1 tbsp of poppy seeds. Then brush the top of the loaf with water before baking, and sprinkle on some sesame seeds
- Walnut: Adding in a 1/4 cup of walnuts gives the bread a naturally purple hue.
- Rosemary: 2 tbsp of finely chopped rosemary gives the loaf a burst of flavour. It makes the perfect garlic bread.
- Sweet Cinnamon: Mix in 1 tbsp of cinnamon and 1/4 cup of finely chopped dried fruit for a sweetly-inspired breakfast bread. I recommend using currents because they are already nice and small.
- Spreads: This bread is delicious served with a rich and flavourful spread. I love Minimalist Baker’s tapenade or miso cultured hummus.
Gluten Free and Vegan Sourdough Bread
Looking for the perfect loaf of bread? This bread is gluten free, vegan and healthy. It only contains about 1/2 cup of flour, which is used to give the bread a delicious sourdough flavour. The structure is provided by high fiber psyllium husk and flax.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 50
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 1 small loaf 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Sourdough
- Cuisine: Vegan
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten free sourdough starter
- 1 cup water (chlorine free)
- 1/4 cup wholegrain gluten free flour (to feed the starter, see notes)
- 6 tbsp ground flax
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 5 tbsp ground psyllium husk (affiliate link)
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup of additional flavours (see section above for suggestions)
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch
Instructions
- Mix the sourdough starter with the water and the gluten free flour. It’s really easy to make a GF sourdough starter. See the notes if you are new to sourdough starter.
- Then mix in the flax, psyllium husk, sea salt and any flavour additions. It will start out quite liquidy. Leave it for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Form the bread once the dough has thickened. Sprinkle the tapioca starch on the counter. Using a spatula scrape the dough from the bowl to the counter. Coat your hands in tapioca starch, then roll the dough in the starch to form a loaf. See the picture above for an example of the sticky dough transformed into a loaf.
- I recommend baking in a cast-iron dutch oven. See the notes below for instructions on baking in a loaf pan.
- Leave the loaf on the counter, covered with a damp tea towel at least 2 hours. However, leave it for 12-18 hours for a well-fermented sourdough loaf.
- Preheat to 500F with the cast-iron dutch oven already in the oven.
- When the oven is ready, gently place the loaf in the dutch oven with the lid on.
- Bake for 30 minutes, then turn down the heat to 400 F, remove the lid from the dutch oven and bake for another 30 minutes.
- Since this is an egg-free recipe, this loaf uses a firm crust for the structure. The loaf is done when the crust is firm. Remove from the dutch oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
Notes
- If you are new to GF sourdough, I recommend making a starter with buckwheat or teff since they only take 24 hours for a very vigorous GF starter.
- The sourdough starter is what really gives this bread its unique flavour. Use whatever flour you’ve been feeding to your sourdough starter for the flour in this recipe since the goal is to feed the sourdough.
- I’m certain this recipe would work with a wheat-based sourdough starter, however, I haven’t personally tried it.
- This recipe doesn’t involve added ingredients (eggs, starch, xanthan gum) to give it loft and support the structure. So the loaves are quite small to ensure good a good rise structure. Feel free to double the recipe and make 2 small loaves.
- To bake in a loaf tin, rise the loaf on the counter, then place in a greased tin before baking. Bake at 400 F for 1 hour, until the crust is firm.
Keywords: gluten free, keto, paleo, sandwich, toast, olive, rosemary, raisin, walnut, multigrain, dinner, holiday
Perfectly delicious! Thanks Emillie.
★★★★★
What is the finished loaf dusted with? Thanks!!
It’s formed with tapioca flour (or another starch) which is what gives it that white dusting.
Hi, can I use a rye-wheat starter and then gluten free flour? thank you!
I haven’t tried this bread with a gluten flour, however, I think it should work. Just use rye flour in the recipe because you want to feed your starter. Starter tends to work best being fed the same kind of flour. 🙂 If you bake it with rye, can you let me know how it turns out? I’m curious! Thanks.
Hi!
I followed this recipe exactly and it looked really great coming out of the oven, however, once I cut into it it collapsed and was very gummy in the middle. I put it back in the oven to bake for another 20 minutes and it got really hard on the outside and still gummy inside. What do you think I did wrong? I have another loaf really to bake and now I’m not sure what to do. The first batch was in a loaf pan but this one I’m doing free form in a Dutch oven because I thought that might have been the issue?
Thanks!!!!
Try the dutch oven, which will keep the outside from crusting early. Then take the lid off and allow it to form a crust.
Maybe turn down the oven temperature for a longer slower bake when you use the loaf pan. Then the inside will cook before it crusts. I haven’t had that problem, but if your oven is really hot, I could see it crusting early. Regardless, it is moist in the inside (just a fact of using psyllium husk) but it shouldn’t be gummy. Since there’s no eggs, the crust is what helps it to hold its shape.
Hope the next loaf comes out well! It really is our favourite bread recipe.
I have tried this recipe twice. Both times it collapsed within minutes of taking it out of the oven. First time I cooked at a lower temperature in a tin pan. Second time I used a Dutch oven as recipe states. Both times very gummy. I’m not sure whetting failing the recipe.
Hi Joy, Sorry to hear that it collapsed for you twice! I will admit that I had it collapse on me as well. However, once I got used to making sure that it had a firm crust and was cooked inside, then it worked out.
You can test it with a toothpick. It won’t be as dry as other bread, but it shouldn’t be a sticky mess.
In the meantime, I’ll play around with the recipe and see if I can provide more reliable cooking instructions. It’s a new recipe, so I haven’t had time to test what happens if someone has a warmer or cooler oven. I’ll bake this weekend and adjust the instructions ASAP. Cheers, Emillie
Hi Joy, Edited the recipe for a longer, slower cook time. I think there is an issue with not everyone’s oven being able to accurately get to 500F. I tested it this weekend and it worked great. Hopefully, it works for you!
Hi there!
If I dont not have tapioca starch, would potato starch work??
Oh also! if i dont have psyllium husk- can I use more flax??
Potato starch definitely works. However, I’m not sure that more flax would work because the loaf already has a lot of flax. Maybe try one of my other GF recipes instead? Flax would definitely work to replace the psyllium husk in this bread: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/amazing-gluten-free-sourdough-bread/
Hi there!
I just made the bread and it’s delicious!! Such an amazing crust. I have a question- my bread inside felt very dense. I used buckwheat. Is that just because of the flour I used or maybe I didn’t let the starter sit long enough?
Thank you!
This is quite a dense bread. There’s no egg or additional leavening to give it loft. In that sense, it’s the most traditional GF sourdough bread on my site. You could let it rise for longer or add a bit of commercial yeast to give it loft. If you wanted to add commercial yeast only use 1/4 tsp. If you’d like to try a similar bread with egg in it, try my gf sourdough bun recipe, which is a variation on this recipe. Currently working on a pizza dough version, which I’ll post as soon as I’ve perfected it. Cheers!
Hi Emilie,
I tried this recipe with oats, It was an epic fail. Have you done it with oats before?
I haven’t made it with oatmeal, however, I have made it with oat flour. It is a tricky recipe, and really requires the exact right amount of heat and cooking time. The crust of the bread is what gives it shape. If the bread is undercooked, or the crust is too soft, then it collapses. This is because it doesn’t contain any eggs. I have been trying to make a vegan GF bread for years, that either wasn’t dense nor filled with starches. Good luck!
Hi, should the starter be at the peak of activity when you use it to bake or is it okay if it has risen and fallen already? Thank you!
It’s best to be at the peak, however, it should still puff up in the oven, as the heat will activate the yeast some more. The long ferment on this loaf is to develop flavour more than the loft. Good luck!