Gluten-Free Sourdough

Paul:  Good questions.  I have used psyllium husk in some GF recipes, but not this one.  I have attached a recipe below with it and have varied results.  The bread is good, but has a tendency to be gummy. Interestingly, Nicole Hunn uses xanthan gum in her recipes.  The thing I found most challenging about her recipes is that you have to make multiple flours: basic gum-free gluten-free flour for the sourdough starter, GF bread flour, High Quality AP GF flour and Whole-grain GF flour.  This is very time consuming, and I feel like I got the quantities wrong because I had to make the different flours from scratch, weighing and measuring all of them. In her GF Bread Flour, she uses unflavored whey protein isolate, and that was new for me.  Her high quality GF flour has brown rice flour, superfine white rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, potato flour, xanthan gum and pure powdered pectin. That's a lot of mixing!

I agree that the bread made with p. husk stays really moist, perhaps too moist.  As I mentioned, it can be a big gummy. Perhaps that is because the recipe (below) has p husk, ground flax seeds and ground chia seeds.

I can say that some of the GF breads I've made with xanthan gum did end up being bricks pretty quick.

I have had really good experiences with sweet GF breads.  I just made cranberry orange walnut and banana chocolate walnut breads and got good reviews from family and friends when I was in the UK last week.

I hope that is helpful and answers your questions.  Best,  Phyllis

Gluten Free Farmhouse Seed Bread

I’ve tried a lot of gluten-free recipes and modified  this one, which I found online by Ali and Tom of Whole Life Nutrition..

Wet Ingredients:

2 ½ cups warm water (105 to 110 degrees F)

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package)

1 tablespoon agave nectar (you can use maple syrup as a substitute)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup ground chia seeds

1/4 cup whole psyllium husks

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup teff flour

1-1/2 cup all purpose gluten-free baking flour (like Bob’s Red Mill—reserve some flour for kneading)

½ cup brown rice flour

1 cup gluten-free oat flour

1 ½ teaspoons sea salt

¼ cup flax seeds

Topping:

Olive oil spray (or olive oil)

Toasted sesame seeds

Toasted sunflower seeds

Place the warm water in a bowl or 4-cup liquid glass measure. Add the yeast and agave nectar, whisk together. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes to activate the yeast. The mixture should get foamy or bubbly. If not, dump it out and start over.

While the yeast is activating, mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

After the yeast is activated whisk in the olive oil, agave nectar, ground chia seeds, and psyllium husks into the water-yeast mixture. Let stand for 2 to 3 minutes (not any longer) to let the chia and psyllium release their gelatinous substances. Whisk again.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together with a large wooden spoon until thick. Then knead the dough on a floured wooden board to incorporate the flour. Add more teff and all-purpose flours, a little at a time, until the dough holds together and isn’t too sticky (about ¼ to ½ cup total). Don’t add too much flour, otherwise the dough will become very dense; it should still be slightly sticky. Form dough into a ball, place back into the large bowl, and cover with a damp towel. Place in a warm spot to rise until it is doubled in size, about one hour.

After the dough has risen, place a pizza stone in your oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven (the one beneath the pizza stone).

Punch down the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured wooden board. Knead the dough for about a minute. Then form into a round ball. Place on a square of parchment paper and use a sharp knife to cut a shallow “tic-tac-toe” pattern on the top. Spray (or drizzle) with olive oil and sprinkle the seeds on top. Let rise for about 30 minutes in a warm place while the oven and stone are preheating.

Carefully lift the parchment paper with the risen loaf and place it onto the stone in the oven. Bake for about 40-45 minutes; if bottom is soft, bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 30 to 60 minutes before cutting into it. The bread will be very gummy hot out of the oven.