Sourdough Buckwheat Bread Recipe

When our family first made the switch to gluten-free, there was not a single gluten free vegan bread I could find that was pleasant to eat.  So I set about trying to come up with something that was made from whole grains, and had no added sugar or oil.  I found that a combination of Buckwheat flour (no relation to wheat) garbanzo bean flour, and flax seeds was my ticket to success.  I used red grape skins (you just buy grapes, wash them gently and then carefully peel 2-3 of them) to create a sourdough starter and wallah -- SUCCESS.  The first time you make this, you will have to plan ahead.  It takes a couple of days to make the starter.  But after that, as long as you "feed" the starter (by stirring in a tsp of buckwheat flour and a teaspoon of water every 2-3 days) it will last indefinitely in the refrigerator.

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First make your starter...

Ingredients:

3 large dark red grapes preferably organic
1/4  cup of buckwheat flour 
1/4 cup of water
additional buckwheat flour and water as needed.

Directions:

1. Gently rinse the grapes with water. (Be careful that you don't wash the naturally occurring yeasts off of them.) Then peel the skins and set aside. (You can eat the inside.) 
2. Place the 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of water into a small bowl and mix well, breaking up all lumps. 
3. Add the grape skins to the flour and water mixture and mix a little more.
4. Cover the bowl with a cloth napkin and set on the counter, out of sun for two days.  Every 4-8 hours (or when you think about it) -- stir in a tsp more of the flour and a tsp more of the water.
5. After two days, stir in a 1/4 cup more of water, stir well -- and then pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the grape skins, (discard them) and then add another 1/4 cup of buckwheat flour to the mixture.  Now you have your starter.  You can either proceed to make bread, or store it in a small jar labeled, "Starter" your refrigerator until you are ready to use it.​​ 

Here's how to make the bread...(Makes THREE loaves)

Here is what the bread looks like after rising -- but before baking.

Ingredients:

1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup water
¼ cup sourdough starter (from above recipe)
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4 cups buckwheat flour
2 cup garbanzo flour
5 & 3/4 cups water
1 cup ground golden flax seeds
2 tsp salt
1 TBS xanthan gum or guar gum
2 tsp baking soda

Directions:

1. Mix 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water and add your entire jar of starter (about ¼ cup). Cover bowl with wet cloth. Let sit about 8-12 hours to get the starter activated. 


2. When bubbly, with rich “sour” smell, remove about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the starter. (refill the same amount back into your starter jar) and put it back into the refrigerator for use next time. The rest of this starter will be used in step 5 below.


3. Place the remaining buckwheat flour, garbanzo flour, and baking soda in a large bowl and mix well with a wire whisk. 


4. Place 5 ¾ cups water and the flax seeds in blender and blend until thick and creamy. Add the salt and xanthan gum and blend well. 


5. Pour the wet into the dry, add the starter and mix well a hand held electric beater makes this easier, but you can do it by hand too. This will be more of a thick batter, then a dough. 


6. Cut 3 pieces of parchment paper about 12 x 14 inches and set each in a loaf pan. Spoon the sourdough into the pan.


7. Set undisturbed for 3-8 hours (depends on temperature) – until it increases in size, nearly overflowing pan. The time will be less if you can keep temperature at about 100 degrees. (I warm my oven by turning it on for 1 minute and then turning it off -- THEN I put the loaves in on a lower rack and place a wet cloth napkin on the rack just above them to create high humidity.  
   
8. Bake it in a preheated oven at 360 degrees for about 60 minutes. Remove from oven and remove from parchment paper and let cool.  After it cools, store in the refrigerator. If you want very thin slices – wait until it is completely cool to cut it. 

Additionally we have found after storing it in the refrigerator, it tastes MUCH better if we pop the slices in the toaster oven before serving them. Interestingly -- even when toasting -- the slices don't really brown up much -- but they will got hot and fragrant and really yummy. If you really want to impress people (and fat is not an issue) -- serve it with a nice pesto or garlic --olive oil spread (that recipe is in my book too.)

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