The Art of Gluten-Free Sourdough Baking. Sharon A. Kane

a recipe for gluten-free sourdough crackers for her children. After a year of no success I stumbled upon an article on baking science and realized I had been going about it the wrong way. My existing technique was fine for breads and muffins but needed to be greatly adjusted for crackers and probably cookies. I learned to use a combination of sourdough starter and sprouted flour to achieve some crispiness while making sure all the flour is properly soaked for optimal digestion.

      Making crackers is a new challenge in my baking and although I have offered only two cracker recipes in this book as of yet, I feel sure that the technique will continue to develop and improve, hopefully with many exciting variations.

      Pizza Dough

      After going gluten-free most people want to be able to continue eating pizza. When I developed my pizza recipe I was still determined to make it without yeast or baking powder. I was able to succeed using the sourdough starter plus the addition of a large amount of arrowroot flour. This is the only recipe that I use such a large proportion of starch flour.

      I would like to be able to say that this pizza dough recipe is fast and easy but it really isn’t. It has a number of steps that take careful planning of one’s time. When one has the time, however, it is well worth it.

      Sweets

      One of my most important goals in my bread making is to use as little sweetener as possible. People regularly ask me how to use my sourdough starter for sweet breads, cakes and other treats. The challenge is balancing the “sour” of the sourdough. The added challenge for me is balancing that sour with something that has no impact on blood sugar or candida.

      Sweet Buns and Sweetheart Bread were my first experiments in trying to lend a hint of sweetness without the use of sugar, honey, maple syrup or agave. Stevia powder, which registers zero on the glycemic index, makes it possible, combined with a small amount of vanilla powder or vanilla extract. Together they “imply” more sweetness than there actually is. What I like most is that I can eat these delicately sweet breads without blood sugar spikes and without the start of another round of the sugar addiction cycle.

      Using mildly sweet ingredients like cinnamon, maca, carob and fennel seed work well with stevia to “sweeten” some of the breads.

      Coconut Nectar

      Some of my readers let me know that they were using Coconut Nectar (coconut sap sugar) in my recipes instead of stevia, with great success. I finally tried it when I was experimenting with gluten-free sourdough crackers. I tried it in a few recipes and found that a very small amount lends a hearty sweetness to the bread product. Coconut sap sugar has a low glycemic index compared with other sweeteners and doesn’t seem to activate the sugar addiction cycle.

      I’m very happy to be able to tolerate small amounts of this very unusual natural sweetener. I know that no one sweetener will be right for everyone so I began to test my breads using other sweeteners. I have compiled a conversion chart to help people make the choice that’s right for them and their families.

      Holiday Treats

      Years ago I tasted an excellent artisanal wheat chocolate bread available only during the winter holiday season. The memory of it lingered in the back of my mind for many years. It was dark and rich but not too sweet. It had bits of fruit, nuts, and dark and white chocolate chips. Because of persistent requests for sweeter treats I decided to try a gluten-free sourdough version of it and enlisted my extended family as “testers” during the holiday season.

      This is the only recipe in this book that calls for sugar for sweetening. I call it “Holiday Chocolate Bread.” It is included for all of us who give ourselves permission to cheat a bit around the holiday season. At this point in my life, I would rather “cheat” with a homemade, gluten-free sourdough, whole grain bread that has a bit of sugar in it rather than a nutrient deficient, high sugar treat that will leave me feeling awful, perhaps for a few days.

      The recipe is based on the highly nutritious and easily digested sourdough starter. Because of the sourdough technique, the whole grains and modest amount of sugar, blood sugar spikes are greatly minimized.

      When I brought the finished bread out to be “tested,” the testers consumed the bread with gusto, proclaimed it “awesome” and promptly became very, very quiet! I know a recipe has succeeded when there is complete silence in the room. Too busy enjoying the food to talk.

      I plan to continue my experiments in the “Dessert Bread” arena, trying to create treats that satisfy without challenging the body in any way.

      Conclusion

      Years after giving up gluten I have achieved what I had hoped. I have successfully created my own nutrient dense, allergen-friendly bread products using a combination of ancient fermenting techniques and gluten-free seed and grain flours. I feel encouraged and comforted that as we move into the future we can utilize the wisdom of the ancients to strengthen and nourish us.