Homemade Gluten‑Free Sourdough Bread

A cozy, slow‑magic loaf that proves gluten‑free baking can be amazing. After years of searching for the perfect loaf, we finally found one ... ours! Honestly, though, even once we had a good starter, it took a couple months of trial and error with the starter/flour/water ratio to make a loaf that wasn't gummy.

Gluten‑free sourdough sounds like something only professional bakers or people with way too much free time would attempt, but honestly, it’s way more doable than it looks. The hardest part is just being patient. But there’s something really calming about feeding a starter, watching it bubble up, and then turning it into a loaf that smells like a bakery and tastes like actual bread, not the crumbly store‑bought stuff that falls apart if you even look at it wrong. There’s something really satisfying about pulling a homemade gluten‑free sourdough loaf out of the oven. It feels like you beat the system — like, yes, you can have delicious bread without gluten, and no, it doesn’t have to taste like cardboard. The crust gets perfectly crisp, the inside stays soft, and the sourdough flavor makes it feel like something you’d get from a fancy bakery. If you ever want to experiment, I can help you try variations like rosemary, green olives, sea salt, cranberries, orange zest, cinnamon, raisins ... anything!

Equipment needed

• Enameled shallow cast iron dutch oven pot with lid. We used Edging Casting Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven Pot with Lid, Round Bread Oven

• Banneton proofing basket. We used Superbaking Banneton Bread Proofing Basket, Sourdough Bread Baking Supplies, Round 9 Inch Sourdough Starter kit

• Two large mouth wide, airtight glass jars

• Food scale

Ingredients

For the Gluten‑Free Sourdough Starter (we used one that was given to us, but this should work)

• ½ cup King Arthur Gluten Free Bread Flour

• ½ cup hot water out of the tap (110 degrees)

(You’ll feed this daily with equal parts flour and water until bubbly and active.)

To feed the starter

• 259 grams of gluten free sour dough starter

• 450 grams of the hot water out of the tap (110 degrees)

• 259 grams of King Arthur Gluten Free Bread Flour

For the Bread Dough

• 1 ½ cups (259 grams) active gluten‑free sourdough starter

• 1 3/4 cups (412 grams) King Arthur Gluten Free Bread Flour

• 1 3/4 cups (412 grams) 110 degree water (we use tap water)

• 1 3/4 (10 grams) teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon sugar

Directions

Build Your Starter

• In a jar, mix ½ cup gluten‑free flour with ½ cup water.

• Cover loosely and leave at room temperature.

• Feed it every day with another ¼ cup flour and ¼ cup water.

• After about 5–7 days, it should be bubbly, smell pleasantly tangy, then it's ready to feed (This is when you feel like a proud parent.)

Feed the starter

• Before your starter is fed, it's "inactive" and should be stored in the refrigerator if you are not making bread.

• When you are ready to make bread, remove the starter from the jar and place in a bowl

• Thoroughly wash the jar and place 259 grams of the starter into the jar (the remaining starter is your discard)

• Add 259 grams of King Arthur Gluten Free Bread Flour into the jar

• Add 450 grams of the hot water out of the tap (110 degrees) into the jar

• Mix thoroughly in the jar, and close the jar (airtight)

• Let rest at room temperature for 12 -16 hours. It should more than double in size

Make the Dough

• Remove 259 grams of the fed starter and place into a bowl. The remainder of the fed starter should be resealed in the jar and placed in the refrigerator until you are ready to feed again.

• In a large bowl, combine the active starter, gluten‑free flour blend, salt, sugar

• Add warm water slowly, mixing until you get a thick, sticky dough.

• Mix in a mixer or by hand until the dough is well blended

• Let the dough sit on the counter for 20 minutes to hydrate the dough

• Then perform 7-8 stretch and folds in the bowl. Scrape the sides down, rotate the dough 90 degrees while pulling it up and over the dough (folding).

• Scrape down the sides and cover the bowl on the counter with plastic wrap and a towel and let it rise for 3–4 hours, or until it looks puffed and airy.

Shape & Second Rise

• Remove the dough from the bowl, scraping the sides.

• Place on a lightly floured surface and shape the dough

• Place in the banneton and cover with plastic wrap or a shower cap, and a towel

• Place in the refrigerator for 12 -16 hours

Bake the bread

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees with the Dutch oven for the entire time

• Carefully line the Dutch oven with parchment paper

• Quickly place 1/2 cup ice cubes under the parchment in the pan

• Place the dough in the pan, and cover to contain the steam

• Reduce the temperature to 450 degrees

• Bake the loaf covered for 45 minutes

• Remove the cover and bake for another 15 minutes, until the top is golden and the center sounds hollow when tapped.

• Remove from the Dutch oven, place on a cooling rack and let rest for 4-6 hours before serving