A healthy recipe for buckwheat bread made with buckwheat flour and a mix of other gluten free flours. To make this buckwheat flour bread soft and pliable you’ll need yeast,egg and natural plant based thickeners. There is no kneading involved and the hydrated dough offer large air pockets in the crumb. Enjoy your buckwheat bread in a sandwich, toasted or save for later by freezing.
In a 1/4 cup of warm water dissolve a 1/4 oz yeast packet (I used red star) and 1 teaspoon of sugar. I used maple sugar instead of white sugar.
Let it activate (puff up) while you prepare the rest.
Step 2. Soak the psyllium husk and flax seeds in liquid:
To start you need the psyllium husk and ground flax seeds to expand so they could provide the necessary binding properties.
So, in the warm water (1 ¼ cup) add the psyllium and the ground flax seeds. Mix until homogenous. The mixture will transform into a loose gel very quickly.
To that add the rest of liquid ingredients (the oil or melted butter, the apple cider vinegar, honey and the beaten egg), mix to combine. Set aside.
Step 3. Combine all the dry ingredients and mix everything together:
Then add the flours and salt, gently mix until barely incorporated.
Finely add the activated yeast mixture and mix until well combined. You can use a silicon spatula for mixing. The dough should look slightly sticky and soft. Add more water if it feels/ looks too dry (see pictures).
Step 4. Bake the buckwheat bread:
Transfer the dough into a loaf pan. I used a non-stick 8 x 5 inch bread loaf tin with 4 Inch high walls and a 6.5 cup capacity. If yours is not non-stick then line it with parchment paper.
Smooth the top with your spatula and gently press to round the corners and sides.
Sprinkle the surface of the loaf with seeds or crushed nuts if you like.
Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let it rise for up to an hour.
Bake the buckwheat bread at 350F for 50 minutes.
Let the loaf cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan, before removing and cooling fully on a wire rack.
Let it cool completely before slicing with a serrated bread knife.
Notes
Buckwheat Bread Variations and Substitutions
Make vegan buckwheat bread: if you omit the egg. But it might yield a more gummy texture. You might also need to adjust the amount of dry ingredients a bit.
I'm using my own gluten free flour mix, if you use something different it may yield a different result, make sure to adjust the water amount if it feels too dry or too wet. I also used a finer and lighter buckwheat flour, make sure you use the same thing for best results.
Other gluten free flours that might work along with buckwheat: a combination of sorghum flour and oat flour or a combination of arrowroot flour and teff flour (the color is darker than buckwheat).
Not Gluten Free? Use all purpose white flour: use it along with buckwheat flour as a substitute for the gluten free flour mix. As a result you can omit the psyllium husk and use less water.
Add seeds or nuts in the dough: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seed, some buckwheat groats or ground almonds will also work.
No yeast? Unfortunately, you need it. This type of bread doesn’t produce good results with baking powder and baking soda alone. I tried it!
Add dried fruit in the dough: raisins, chopped prunes or cranberries.