Recipes - Fermented Buckwheat Bread (gluten and grain free)

This is a fantastic wholesome gluten free and grain free bread! The long fermentation makes this low glycemic and very easy to digest.

Buckwheat is in the rhubarb family and is a seed, not grain.

Ingredients

You will need the following for this recipe:

Glass bowl or large Pyrex measuring cup
Dish towel, cheese cloth, or paper towel
Loaf pan (I used a 1.5 quart glass loaf pan 8 3/4 x 5 1/4 x 3 inches.
Parchment paper for lining the loaf pan to give higher sides and make it easy to remove after baking.

Ingredients
450 g raw buckwheat groats not toasted (2 1/2 cups)
3 cups of water for soaking the groats
330 g water for the batter (1 1/3 cups)
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup pumpkin and/or sunflower seeds
3 Tbsp of toasted flax seeds (optional)
Optional: 1/3 cup of dried fruit is also very nice in this bread (raisin, currants, figs, chopped dates, cranberries or blueberries)
Several handfuls of pumpkin seeds and toasted flax seeds for decorating the top of loaf

Instructions

Soak the buckwheat groats in water for 5-6 hours or overnight.

Drain the groats in a colander but DO NOT rinse. The run-off will be very mucilaginous.

In a blender or food processor, scoop the gouts in and add the fresh 330g of water. Blend the groats and water until it looks a rustic smooth, don't over puree' as this can make the bread not rise as well, so leave it a little bit chunky.

Depending on blender or processor size you may need to do this in two parts.

Pour into a glass bowl or large measuring Pyrex, and cover with a towel. This will be about 5 cups of batter.

Set aside for approximately 12-24 hrs at 67-70 F. Fermentation time is significantly shorter at warmer house temps or in the oven with the light on in a dehydrator at 70-80F. Batter expansion is roughly from 5 cups to 6.5 cups and will have visible air bubbles in the batter. Do not stir during fermentation time.

At the end of the fermentation, very gently mix in the salt and any seeds or dried fruit you wish to add.

Pour the batter into a parchment paper-lined loaf pan, and decorate the top of the loaf with more seeds if you like. You want the parchment to be about 2" above your loaf pan

Let the batter rise for another 30 minutes to an hour in your lit oven.
Preheat the oven to 350 F with pan in the oven.

Bake for approximately 80 minutes (less for a long narrow pan) or until the inside temp is about 200 F.

Remove from the oven and lift the parchment paper out of pan onto a cooling rack. Peel it off and let the loaf cool for at least and hour before slicing.

Inspired by Conscious Catering and their recipe called Infinite Buckwheat batter.