An artisanal Gluten-Free Sourdough Boule made with multigrain flour. This bread has a slightly crusty, charred exterior and a soft crumb. Gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, vegan recipe.
For all of you sourdough lovers out there, I have today a beautiful boule made in a dutch oven. It's a great bread, good for sandwiches or for dunking into soups and stews or throwing on the grill.
And I love the way it looks, so artisanal, with that amazing cracked top.
The combination of flours I use in this bread is very similar to what I used for my multigrain sandwich bread, which is baked in a loaf pan. But there's more sourdough in this boule -- a cup and a half to be exact, and when baked in the dutch oven, you get a slightly crustier bread that's quite amazing.
These are the ingredients you will need to make the perfect Gluten-free Sourdough Boule:
- Gluten-free Sourdough Starter
- Millet Flour
- Buckwheat Flour
- Tapioca Flour
- Rice Flour
- Xanthan Gum
- Salt
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Sugar
- Apple Cider Vinegar
If you're not used to making gf sourdough breads, this may seem like a lot of ingredients, but once you get the flours, you can use them for multiple batches of bread. Also, the grains add amazing flavor, in addition to the great flavor of sourdough.
If you eat gluten-free, you know how expensive sourdough breads are. Making your sourdough bread at home not only saves you a lot of money, it also gives you a bread free of preservatives and all of those other awful things you don't want to put in your stomach.
How to make the perfect Gluten-Free Sourdough Boule
- Make sure your sourdough starter is at least a week old and strong, as in it has a good amount of bubbling and it puffs up a few hours after feeding. If you have a mature starter, feed it at least twice the day before you bake this bread.
- Knead your bread until all the flours are well incorporated. You don't need to knead sourdough breads for too long, but I like to give it at least three or four minutes in the stand mixer to make sure I have the right texture.
- The right texture for your boule dough would be slightly tacky but not so sticky or loose that you can't work with it.
- Your gluten-free bread needs just one rise, unlike bread made with wheat or other flours that have gluten. You will need to preheat your dutch oven inside the oven to get it to the right temperature for your bread.
- You can experiment with other flours, but I find that the mix I used her produces a great, flavorful result, so I would advise sticking with it.
What do you serve the Gluten-Free Sourdough Boule with?
This boule, although slightly crusty, is extremely easy to slice and it has the perfect crumb for a sandwich bread. But you would do just as well grilling it and then slathering it with vegan butter or olive oil, or serving it alongside a soup or stew.
Let's get started with this bread, then. If you make it, be sure to leave a comment below or tag me @holycowegan on Instagram. Happy baking!
More gluten-free breads from the blog:
- Gluten-Free Multigrain Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Vegan Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread
- Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread
More bread recipes from the blog:
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Gluten-Free Sourdough Boule recipe:
Gluten Free Sourdough Boule
Equipment
- Stand mixer or large bowl, 3 to 4 quart dutch oven
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups gluten-free sourdough starter
- 1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar (or maple syrup or any sugar)
- 1 cup warm water (not hot)
- 1 cup nondairy milk (I used almond)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1.5 cups millet flour
- 0.5 cups buckwheat flour
- 0.5 cups tapioca flour
- 0.5 cups rice flour
- 2 tablespoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Whisk the apple cider vinegar into the nondairy milk.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached, or in a large bowl if kneading by hand, place the sourdough starter. Add the sugar, warm water and almond milk mixed with vinegar and mix together on low speed or by hand.
- Add the flours and xanthan gum directly into the bowl, one by one, kneading a little as you go along so they are thoroughly incorporated. Knead for a couple of minutes until everything is well incorporated and you have a tacky, slightly sticky dough. If your dough looks dry, drizzle in a little more water and knead.
- Drizzle in the oil and knead for a couple more minutes until the oil is absorbed.
- Remove the dough to a countertop and knead slightly before shaping into a boule. You might want to oil your hands lightly before handling the dough. It should be slightly tacky but still quite supple.
- Place a parchment paper inside a bowl (I just use my stand mixer bowl for this) and sprinkle it liberally with any of the gluten-free flours (I used the rice flour)
- Place the boule on the parchment, cover loosely with a kitchen towel (or a shower cap), and place overnight or about 10 hours in a warm place, like the oven with the pilot light on.
- About a half hour before baking, preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit with a 3 or 4 quart dutch oven inside it. Carefully, taking all the precautions you need and with oven mitts on, remove the dutch oven to the countertop. It will be screaming hot so be very, very careful handling it and do not touch the surface at any time without your mitts on.
- Carefully, pick your boule up by the parchment paper and roll it quickly into the dutch oven, so the seam side at the bottom is now on top. Cover with the dutch oven lid and place it back in the oven.
- After 30 minutes, remove the lid and turn the heat down to 450 degrees. Bake another 20 minutes.
- Remove the dutch oven to a rack and let it stand until it is completely cool. The bread should unmold quite easily but if it doesn't, run a knife along the sides of the pot to help it along.
Bill F.
Hi Vaishali,
I am an experienced gluten free baker but brand new to sourdough. I've made three loaves now with your wonderful recipe and instruction. I'm getting great flavor and a wonderful crumb but I'm not getting an oven spring or dome (rounded top) to my boule. All the rise comes in the fermenting and my loaves are flat. I've bought a 2 quart dutch oven and that supports the sides better so my last bake was higher but still flat on top. I hope you have some ideas for me? Thanks for your wonderful website.
Sara
I wanted to make this tonight and I'm out of apple cider vinega. Can I white vinegar instead?
Vaishali
Yes!
Debra Hakman
I'd like to make this bread. i have active starter, but I don't have a stand mixer nor do I have a dutch oven. Would mixing by hand work ok? And what do I cook the bread in instead if I don't have a dutch oven? Thank you so much in advance for your help. Can't wait to make this bread!
Tessa
She has a similar recipe she makes in a loaf pan called “Gluten Free Multigrain Sourdough Sandwich Bread.” I believe she has it linked on this page. However, I don’t think you would get the same type of crust.
As far as hand mixing goes, I haven’t done it, but I assume you can as long as everything is properly incorporated.
Priscille
I make this bread twice a week, without fail. I use three cups one to one flour blend (King Arthur or Bobs Redmill usually). I make it in the stand mixer, and let it mix for at least 3 mins. I never take it out of the bowl, I just scrape the sides and smooth it into a round shape using a spatula, then leave it to rise overnight. Never had any trouble and it’s perfect every time. Oh, I cook 35 mins covered and 20 uncovered. Different ovens vary. That’s just what works for me.
Wendy
This is an incredible recipe and so easy. I've made it half a dozen times now with various fours in exchange for the millet (oat and quinoa) all turned out well. I've also made cinnamon raisin bread with this recipe by adding 3 Tbsp cinnamon and 1 1/4 cup of hydrated raisins. Amazing! Thank you.
Tejal
hi! can you tell me how you added the cinnamon raisin to this? I'd love to try it this week.
Nancy
My daughter and I have been using permutations of your sourdough gf recipe for several months now. It’s our quarantine staple. We’ve upped the fiber with psyllium and flax seeds and increased covered cooking tome to 50 minutes to get interior fully cooked. Perfect Boule everytime.
Lindsay
When you use the 1 to 1 mixes, do you still add the 2 T xanthan gum?
Conan
For those experiencing problems, I've made this twice with drastically different results. The first was a super dense vinegar abomination. The second was beautiful, springy and crusty. Disclaimer: in both cases I used a starter fed with all purpose flour.
I suspect variability in almond milks may be a culprit and trying to achieve kneadability as per instruction.
Below are my thoughts on why I believe this - despite making other mistakes the first time. e.g. I used 1 tbsp ACV instead of 1 tsp, I substituted xantham with guar, and when the dough would not form into something kneadable I worried that I might have crippled the starter. To remedy I mixed 1/2 tsp baking soda to de-acidify things and 1/4 more fresh starter hoping it would kickstart things - instead I found myself adding more and more flour to a perpetually goopy mess to no avail.
The second time I followed the recipe exactly, switched to a better almond milk (10% almond and 4 simple ingredients vs 3% and all kinds of oils and thickeners) and resisted the temptation to add more flour. The dough wasn't as sloppy but I definitely wouldn't knead it on a surface with my hands - rather apply a little smoothing with the back of an oiled spoon. The boule didn't char quite like the pictures (neither did the no-knead sourdough boule recipe - maybe due to oven), but it turned out amazing.
Cathy
GREAT recipe! I didn’t have millet so used 1 c cassava and 1/2 c oat flour instead. Mine got pretty brown/burned on the bottom at 500 in my cast iron Dutch oven so next time will lower to 450 and see how it works out. I have baked bread in the parchment paper before and should have done it this time to help with burning Great flavor and texture!
Kerry
I have an active GF sourdough starter which I just fed last night and put in the fridge this morning. Do I need to do anything to the starter once I take it out of the fridge and before using it in the recipe tonight? Thanks!
Kristin
Could you sub out the almond milk with regular milk? Would you still use the ACV??
Vaishali
Yes, that's fine, and yes, use the ACV.