Fermented Buckwheat Bread (1-Ingredient Gluten Free Sourdough)

Step 1

Combine buckwheat, water and whey or yogurt in a medium-large bowl and let soak for a minimum of 5 hours, overnight or up to 1 ½ days. Note: The longer you let the groats soak, the more bubbly and “active” the soaking liquid will become. This bubbly soaking liquid can be used for other recipes like these sprouted oat muffins or these fermented oat muffins.  A longer soak will also shorten the final fermentation time.

Step 2

Strain groats using a mesh strainer over a large bowl. Don’t rinse, but let it drain.⁣⁣⁣⁣ Note: if you would like to also make these gluten free blueberry oat muffins or these gluten free fermented blueberry oat muffins, you should SAVE this active soaking liquid when straining. Simply place strainer on top of  a bowl to catch the bubbly liquid. 

Step 3

Blend strained buckwheat groats with 1 ¼ cups warm water and salt in a high speed blender until combined. Batter should be smooth. No need to over blend. Then, pour the batter back into the bowl you had used to soak the groats⁣.⁣ Cover the bowl with compostable cling wrap or a towel and let sit in on the counter overnight or up to 24 hours. Note: Fermentation time may vary depending on warmth in your kitchen or the amount of time the initial groats soaked. For a warmer environment (kickstarts ferment), place bowl to ferment in the oven with the oven light turned on. Batter is ready when it has risen, looks puffy and has bubbles. It will have a very fermented smell, don’t worry about this!

Step 4

Preheat oven to 375℉. When batter is puffed up and fermented, stir lightly in circles with a soft spatula and listen to the crackling sounds. The ferment may have a strong smell, but don’t worry, this is a good thing! Feel free to add in a handful or two of pumpkin and/or sunflower seeds. Pour batter into a bread pan lined with unbleached parchment paper or butter a bread pan liberally.⁣⁣⁣⁣ Bake for 80-85 minutes.⁣⁣⁣⁣ Bread should be golden and crispy on top.

Step 5

Remove bread from oven. Let cool in the bread pan for a few minutes, then remove bread by pulling the parchment paper with the bread up and out. Transfer to a rack. When it’s cool enough to touch, remove the paper and allow to cool completely before cutting bread. It’s very important to allow bread to fully cool, as bread will continue to cook and set while it cools.

Notes

Buckwheat is naturally gluten free and is a great way to get started on a bread-making journey as no sourdough starter is required. Make sure that you use raw buckwheat groats, as opposed to toasted buckwheat or kashi, or it will not ferment!