Artisan Gluten Free Sourdough Bread Recipe (2024)

Sourdough is known for its tangy flavor, chewy texture, and rustic appearance. Just because you are gluten-free doesn’t mean you have to give up this incredible homemade bread. My crusty gluten-free sourdough bread boule tastes like real artisan sourdough! I walk you through every step to make this vegan gluten-free sourdough from scratch!

Ingredient Notes:

A note on using flour blends when making sourdough bread: In my sourdough recipes, 1:1 blends rarely yield the same results as my custom blends. I have four easy-to-make, homemade gluten-free flour blends to choose from, and many are flexible in ingredients if you have other allergens besides gluten.

🔑 Sandi says: If you use my blends to make sourdough, it is important to omit the psyllium husk powder in my flour mix recipes. I use psyllium husks, not powder, in my sourdough recipes. Check out my gluten-free flour blend recipes.

• Gluten Free Flour Blend – I find custom blends easier to use than a 1:1 mix when making my gluten-free artisan sourdough bread. I tested this recipe with my DIY Gluten-Free All Purpose Blend, Gluten-Free Rice Free Flour Blend, Gluten-Free Sorghum-Free Flour Blend, and Gluten-Free Whole Grain Flour Blend.
• Psyllium Husks – Use the husks and not powdered psyllium. I promise you will get a much better texture to your gluten free sourdough using the husk. This means you skip adding the psyllium powder if mixing and using my flour blends!
• Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter – My starter is named Winifred, or “Winnie” for short. If you want to read how to make your own gluten-free starter, read my Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter Tutorial. The nice thing about this tutorial is that I share how to make a starter with single flour blends, 1:1 blends, and using Cultures for Health Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter.(Winnie was made from the gluten-free Cultures For Health Starter, and she took off faster than any homemade starter I have tried.)
• Salt – I use sea salt, but kosher salt is also fine.
• Water – It is important to use purified, filtered water. Tap water has a lot of chemicals and chlorine. These can kill your yeast, affecting the rise of your bread.

Recipe Step-By-Step Directions:

Measure 18 grams of psyllium husks on a digital kitchen scale. Place the husks into a small mixing bowl.

Step 1: Take your sourdough starter. I like to feed mine 3 hours before using it during the winter months, so it is nice and bubbly. I find this need varies by how warm your house is. Take out ¾ cup of sourdough starter from your jar and set it aside.

Step 2: Pour 1 ½ cups of warm, purified water into the bowl of husks. Use a spoon to stir it. It will form a gel in about 2-3 minutes.

Step 3: Measure 488.5 grams of one of my gluten-free flour blends. It is important to note that every flour blend has a different starch-to-grain ratio. I have successfully tested this sourdough boule recipe with all four of my homemade gluten-free flour blends.

Add the flour to a large mixing bowl. Add a teaspoon of salt and use a whisk to blend them together.

Step 4: Add ¾ cup of sourdough, the psyllium gel, and one cup of water to the flour in the bowl.

Step 5: Mix the ingredients together with a large wooden spoon. Once they are mostly mixed, you will have a rough-looking dough, as shown above. Wash your hands and use your hands to further squeeze and mix the dough together until you have a well-hydrated, tacky dough ball. It shouldn’t be too sticky.

The dough consistency is important because if your dough is dry, your bread can turn out dense. The boule can spread too much during baking if the dough is too wet.

Below, I share two ways to rise your dough: in a rattan banneton basket and, for those who don’t have a banneton, using a clean kitchen towel and a bowl.

Step 6: Dust the inside of the banneton with flour. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the banneton and getting stuck in the groves. I use brown rice flour since it is less expensive.

If you don’t have a banneton, no problem because you can rise your bread without one if needed. I share those directions below.

Why I recommend a Banneton

• The banneton helps shape the dough into a round or oval form. It gives the loaf a uniform shape and structure. This is particularly important for gluten-free dough with high hydration levels or delicate structures that might spread too much without support.
• Bannetons are usually made of natural materials like rattan, which absorb excess moisture from the dough’s surface during proofing. This helps form a crisp crust during baking.
• The banneton’s coiled texture leaves a beautiful circular pattern on the bread’s surface, giving it a classic boule design.
• They are eco-friendly, easy to clean, and reusable!

Step 7: Line a mixing bowl with a clean kitchen towel if you don’t have a banneton. Place the dough in the towel.

Step 8: Cover the banneton or bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough sit and rise for 4-8 hours until it is close to doubling in size.

What is proofing?

Proofing is considered a “rest period” after mixing up your bread dough so the yeast ferments. This fermentation creates gases, which is how the bubbles get into your loaf. When you slice your baked bread, you can see the evidence of this fermentation.

How long you proof the dough depends on the season, the temperature in your house, the humidity, and the altitude where you live. I am in the California Bay Area, and our weather really varies. Depending on the time of year, we have a mixture of humid fog, cold, hot, and dry weather here.

Most times, I proof my dough on my counter. You can also proof the dough overnight in the refrigerator. In the cold winter months, I preheat my oven to 175º F and then turn off the oven. This creates a nice, warm environment that encourages the yeast to ferment. I also like to do a cold proofing for about 2 hours in the fridge during the summer.

Step 9: Preheat the oven to 475º F. If you are using a Dutch oven (recommended), place it empty with the lid on into the oven as the oven preheats. You want your Dutch oven to be very hot, so let it sit in the oven for about 10-15 minutes when it is 475º F.

If you will bake your bread on a cookie sheet, see below for the baking directions.

Step 10: If you have used a banneton or bowl, carefully invert it so the dough can fall gently onto a piece of parchment paper. Proper shaping is important so your bread can have good spring and structure. This round shape is called a boule. If you use a banneton, your dough will have a pretty circular pattern on top. Using a bowl, your dough will have a smooth surface like the photo below.

Step 11: Use a bread lame or very sharp knife to make a half-inch deep cut on the top of the bread. You can get fancy and make a pattern if you like. I kept it simple on this loaf, but I will have more sourdough recipes that have different patterns and flavors on the blog soon.

Why do we score the top of the sourdough before baking?

Scoring the top of the bread dough with a bread lame just before baking lets you control how the bread expands during baking. It also gives the bread a pretty look…you can get as artistically creative as you like. Just be sure not to go too deep with your scoring.

Step 12: Dust your boule dough with flour. I used brown rice flour, which is less expensive than a blend with multiple flours.

Dutch Oven or Baking Sheet Directions:

Step 13 Dutch Oven: Put on thick oven mitts and remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Lift the lid and pick up the boule and parchment paper. Gently place it into the Dutch oven. Put the lid on and put the baking dish back in the oven. The Dutch oven will create the needed steam, so you do not need to do anything else.

Step 13 Baking Sheet: If you use a baking sheet, place an empty pan on the bottom rack of the oven and a baking sheet on the middle rack. Let these get hot while the oven preheats. When you are ready to bake, add several ice cubes to the pan on the bottom rack. Close the door. Remove the baking sheet and put the dough on the parchment paper onto the baking sheet. Place it in the oven quickly so too much heat doesn’t escape.

Why is steam important?

Creating steam in the oven during the initial stages of baking helps the sourdough bread rise and develop a crispy outer crust. The Dutch oven traps the steam from the bread as it cooks, and if you use a baking sheet, a pan of ice cubes will give you the steam you need.

Step 14: Start the baking at a high temperature (475º F), then reduce the temperature to 450º F after the first 20 minutes of baking. This will give the bread time to bake through without burning.

Step 15: After the first 20 minutes, put on your oven mitts and carefully remove the Dutch oven lid or the pan of melted ice. Be careful of hot steam. The ice cubes will have melted, and the water in the pan will be very hot. (You only need the steam at the beginning of the bake, so it is important to remove the steam source.)

Step 16: Bake the bread for an additional 40 minutes. When the loaf is finished baking, it should have an internal temperature of 210º F. Use a digital food thermometer to check the temperature.

🔑 Sandi says: If the thermometer has a trace of sticky dough, do not worry. This is normal because the inside of the loaf continues to bake while it cools.

Another helpful way to check to see if the bread is finished baking is to tap the bottom of the loaf; it should sound hollow when fully baked.

Don’t rush to cut the bread!

This wheat-free sourdough is the best sourdough gluten-free bread, and to enjoy it at its best, you must wait until your loaf is fully cooled and rested before slicing it. I know it is hard, and this will test your patience. Yes, your house will smell incredible, but trust me when I say to wait. I recommend waiting 4-5 hours before cutting your bread. Waiting overnight is even better.

Cooling the loaf is so incredibly important. Allow the bread to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. Cooling and resting will help prevent the bread from becoming gummy and allow the sourdough flavors to fully develop. So worth it!!

Storage:

Store your sourdough in an airtight container. It will keep fresh for up to 4 days. Note that in hot summer, storing it in the refrigerator is best so the humidity doesn’t cause the bread to mold quickly.

I prefer to slice and freeze the sourdough. Once fully cooled, place the slices in a freezer-safe zipper bag and freeze in the microwave or toaster.

Recipe FAQ:

More Gluten-Free Sourdough Recipes:

• Gluten-Free Sourdough Pizza Crust
• Gluten-Free Sourdough Bagels
• Easy Gluten-Free Sourdough Discard Crackers
• Flaky Gluten-Free Sourdough Discard Biscuits