Sourdough Buckwheat Bread Recipe

I’m very happy to be adding a new one to my gluten-free bread varieties. What excites me about this recipe is not only that the bread is gluten-free, but also that it contains no yeast or any other leavening agent, and is made directly from buckwheat rather than flour. Yes, it takes a bit of time to make, but during that time you don’t need to put in any effort—you simply wait.

The gluten-free bread and gluten-free burger bun recipes I shared before were made using flour and yeast. In this recipe, whole buckwheat is used and it is fermented in a way similar to sourdough.

Preparation Stage

This is quite a fun process. First of all, you must use raw buckwheat—meaning unroasted and completely unprocessed. After washing and draining the buckwheat, you let it soak in water for a while. At this stage, when draining, you should notice that the water has developed a slightly gelatinous texture. This is a sign that you’re on the right track. After draining, do not rinse it again. Add 1 cup of water and blend until you get a smooth, pourable batter consistency.

Fermentation Stage

Then cover it and let it rest. After 24 hours, you won’t believe your eyes—the batter will develop a bubbly, foamy texture as if it has been leavened. Add a bit of salt and sugar to enhance the flavor and mix. Neither is essential. If you are on a salt-free diet, you can skip the salt. I personally prefer adding sugar because it balances the slightly bitter taste of gluten-free flours, but you can omit it as well.

Baking Stage

Pour the prepared batter into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. I sprinkled sesame seeds on top, but that’s optional. You could also use nigella seeds or poppy seeds instead. Then place the pan into a cold oven. In baking, a preheated oven is usually recommended to prevent the dough from softening and spreading as the oven heats up. Preventing spread is especially important for cookies and smaller baked goods, as well as items like poğaça. When dough is placed into a preheated oven, it doesn’t have time to spread and instead rises upward.

However, this doesn’t apply to batters baked in a mold. In fact, cakes don’t strictly need a preheated oven either. When baked in a preheated oven, they form a crust quickly, which causes cracks, and the uncooked batter inside pushes upward through those cracks, creating a more visually appealing rise. Since we don’t need that effect for this bread, there’s no need to preheat the oven. On the contrary, placing it in a cold oven allows gradual heating, which further activates fermentation and helps the bread rise better.

To check if the bread is done, you can use the toothpick test. There’s a common misconception about this test that I want to clarify. If the toothpick comes out completely clean, it doesn’t mean the inside is fully baked—it means it has just started to set but is still moist. If you remove it at this stage, it may collapse and remain doughy inside. What you should see is small pieces of fully baked crumb sticking to the toothpick.

Enjoy...

Enjoy your meal...