The sourdough rye bread I had grown so fond of had very different characteristics than commercial bread and that’s why I liked it. This old world bread was dense, aromatic, nutritious and highly digestible because of the long fermentation and rise times. It was tasty and extremely satisfying with a bowl of soup. Because I came to gluten-free baking from this perspective I did not have the expectation of developing light fluffy bread. My hope was to create nutritious bread that would simply rise. Not too terribly much to ask for, I thought. Sourdough Bread #1 had enough sponginess to please many people, but when I began using quinoa I moved to a whole new and unexpected place. These muffins were lighter and spongier than any of my breads yet still were well within my nutrition parameters: no xanthan or guar gums, baking powder, baking soda, or yeast. I was on to something important!
After creating many interesting and tasty variations of the basic recipe using fruit, spices and herbs, I began to work out the measurements for making a new type of loaf bread recipe, which eventually became Sourdough Bread #2. Compared to Sourdough Bread #1 it had much more sponginess and rose nearly twice as high! It had a nice taste and a long shelf life and lent itself to many interesting variations such as onion bread, banana bread and herb & spice breads.
Chia – Sourdough Bread #3
I was asked by a mother of a child with food sensitivities to develop a bread recipe that did not use quinoa. Around that same time I had read about the healthful properties of chia seed as well as chia’s ability to increase the shelf life of bread products. Chia seed has highly absorbent properties, much like quinoa, and when chia seed is mixed with water it becomes a thick viscous gel.
First I experimented with chia gel to see how it affected Sourdough Bread #2. It seemed to make it a bit more moist but usually I finished eating the loaf well before I could be sure if the shelf life had increased. Then I had a travel experience where I packed some frozen Sourdough Bread #2 made with chia gel. This particular loaf was left to thaw, then forgotten about, then repacked and brought home. Expecting it to have passed its prime I toasted a slice of it just to see how much it had deteriorated only to be happily surprised by its still excellent structure and flavor! It appeared that the added chia gel did help the bread retain its moisture, taste and freshness even after many, many days.
I promptly got to work on the chia-based, quinoa-free bread for the child with the quinoa sensitivity and was able to create another excellent bread, Sourdough Bread #3. It did not rise as much as quinoa-containing Sourdough Bread #2 nor was it as spongy but it still was a fine, nutritious bread that, like Sourdough Bread #2, lent itself to many variations.
My experience is that chia gel gives bread stability, sponginess and an unusually long shelf life.
One of my favorite chia-based recipes is Brown Rice-Chia-Teff Bread. The teff flour gives it a good rise with extra height and, when toasted, reminds me of old fashioned dark pumpernickel bread from my childhood. I’ve recently added ground caraway seeds to it and renamed it “Mock Rye Bread.”
Buckwheat Sorghum – Sourdough Bread #4
I received a request for a rice-free sourdough bread recipe as many people are sensitive to rice as well as gluten. Since I initially began with rice as a starter I needed to find a flour that would provide a strong and neutral base but would easily take on the qualities of other flours that might be added to it. I decided to begin with sorghum, native to Africa and Asia.
Sorghum does not have a lot of natural sponginess or structure to it so I combined it with buckwheat flour because buckwheat has the ability to create sponginess as well as structure. This starter became the base for the Multigrain and Tapioca breads. These breads have wonderful sponginess plus complex tastes because of the variety of flours used. This starter became my first rice-free starter. A wonderful rice-free mock rye bread can be made with Multigrain Bread #4.
Rice-Free Teff – Sourdough Bread #5
I had already successfully been using teff flour in one of the Sourdough Bread #3 chia-rice variations. Teff is said to have originated in Ethiopia. It is a high protein grain that has a lot of natural sponginess to it. I eat this potent whole grain soaked and simmered for breakfast.
When I needed a small amount of teff flour for baking I ground it myself in a small coffee mill. I was ready to try some large scale experiments with teff and made an online purchase of what I thought was 25 pounds of whole teff grain. When it arrived I found 25 pounds of teff flour!! I checked my invoice and original order form and saw that I had, indeed, ordered 25 pounds of teff flour rather than teff whole grain.
I looked at this enormous sack of flour, wondering how many years it would take to use it up. Meanwhile, I still needed whole teff grain for breakfast so I ordered another 10 pounds. Lo and behold, I had clicked on the wrong option again and found myself with another 10 pounds of teff flour. Note to self: Slow Down!
With this newly arrived abundance of teff flour (35 pounds worth) I began experimenting with 100% teff starters. This was the birth of Sourdough Bread #5 – Teff. Its natural sponginess meant less flour combining. The darkness of it reminded me of chocolate cake, something I haven’t eaten in a very long time. I tried a piece of experimental teff bread and was disappointed it did not taste like chocolate cake and why would it?
I wondered how I could add some sweetness to these teff breads without using any conventional sweeteners, as I cannot tolerate them. I needed something that would have no impact on blood sugar or candida. I also needed something that would not kick start another cycle of sugar addiction.
I had heard that maca root powder is naturally sweet. Maca root, from South America, is used there as a hot breakfast drink. I also thought about carob, that poor denigrated ingredient from the Mediterranean and Middle East, commonly used as a substitute for chocolate that no one really appreciates for its own natural sweet and mellow taste. I combined the maca and carob along with some stevia and created what I was looking for: mildly sweet, dark, rich and comforting with no sugary side effects.
This experiment so far, has produced Teff Carob Bread and Teff Carob Coconut Bread. Their sweetness almost makes them dessert breads but they are still neutral enough to eat with a meal.
It took about 6 months to use up my 35 pounds of teff flour and during that time I made countless Teff Carob Coconut breads, now one of my favorite breads. When I recently got to the “bottom of the barrel” I was a bit sad to have finished this unusual source of abundance. Meanwhile, I have successfully ordered whole teff grain once again and will grind it into teff flour as I need it.
Quinoa 100 – Sourdough Bread #6
A man with a highly sensitive system contacted me about making a single-flour bread for him and his son. He wanted to know if a sourdough bread could be made solely from quinoa flour. Given the importance of flour combining in gluten-free recipes, I wasn’t sure if it could be done. I gave it a try, creating first a quinoa-only starter and then a quinoa-only bread. The natural sponginess of quinoa made it possible.
Since quinoa has a natural bitterness and sourdough has a natural sourness the first loaf was extra bitter and extra sour. It took a few batches to eliminate the heavy bitterness and minimize the excessive sourness. The resulting loaf is fairly mild and very satisfying. This simple bread uses only 4 ingredients: quinoa flour, water, salt and olive oil. It has a light and spongy texture.
Coconut Flour Breads
I had heard a lot about coconut flour for baked products and finally got around to trying it. One of coconut’s beneficial properties is that it does not spike blood sugar. Since coconut flour is a high protein flour and absorbs a large amount of moisture it took some time to figure out how to use it with sourdough starter. Some wonderful products have been the