Lately I have been experimenting with different wholegrain flours in my bread-making. I really like the taste and texture that flours such as sorghum, buckwheat, millet and brown rice flour give to gluten free bread. I am finding it interesting getting the right balance between different wholegrain flours, starches and psyllium husk, and sometimes it is hard to decide which combination I like enough to consider it a ‘best’ and write up the recipe to keep. This bread has a fairly high quantity of starch but enough wholegrain flour to give what I would consider a light wholemeal flavour. I have tried substituting the wholegrain flours in this recipe with some success but sometimes need to add extra water or starch, depending on how absorbent the alternative flours I add are – if you come up with an amazingly flavoured or textured bread with a different flour or starch combination, I would love to hear from you!

This recipe makes one loaf in a bread tin measuring 23 cm x 13 cm, but should be fine in slightly different size tins (although you may need to adjust the cooking times). This bread can be stored at room temperature in a sealed plastic bag or airtight container and should still be soft the next day or two, but for use over a longer period, I recommended cutting and freezing it in slices to defrost and use as needed. The cup measurements below are all based on a 250 ml cup as equal to 1 cup, and I recommend using the spoon and level method to measure ingredients (spoon the individual ingredient into the cup measure and then level it off with the back of a butter knife or spoon).

What you need:

1 cup of sorghum flour

1 cup of tapioca starch

¼ cup of buckwheat flour

¼ cup of potato starch

5 tablespoons of psyllium husk (not powder!)

2 teaspoons of instant dried yeast (also called dried active yeast in some countries)

1 tablespooon of brown sugar

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of vinegar (I use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar)

2 tablespoons of mild oil (I usually use mild olive oil or sunflower oil)

1 ¾ cups of warm water

Seeds for decorating the top of the loaf (optional)

What to do:

1. Line a loaf tin with baking paper.

2. Place all the ingredients except the optional seeds together in a large bowl (put the salt and vinegar in the opposite side of the bowl to the yeast, so that they don’t kill the yeast before everything is mixed together).

3. Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly until well combined and then tip the dough into the lined loaf tin. Level the top of the dough using a damp hand and sprinkle seeds across the top, if using. I forgot to take a picture of the dough with the seeds on top before it had risen…

4. Cover the dough and then leave to rise somewhere warm until the dough has risen to the top of the loaf pan. I usually cover my dough with a clean, damp cloth or a piece of clingfilm under a clean cloth. If the weather is cold when I am making bread, I will often turn the oven on low while making the dough and then turn it off, check it isn’t too hot, and then leave my dough to rise in the oven with the door closed. My dough takes about 30 to 40 minutes to rise, but the time will vary depending on how warm the temperature is wherever your dough is rising.

5. Once the dough has risen, turn the oven on to 180°C to preheat (remove the dough from the oven first if it is rising in the oven!). Once the oven has preheated, remove the cover from your dough and place in the middle of the preheated oven to bake for about 30 minutes or until done. When done, the bread will look browned and baked and will sound hollow when tapped.

6. Once the bread has baked, remove it from the oven and take it out of the loaf pan. Leave to cool completely on a cooling rack before cutting the loaf. I hope you enjoy this if you make it!