Buckwheat Brown Bread

Sundays seem to be my bread-making day, so here's a recipe for my Buckwheat Brown Bread! Buckwheat is a nutritious gluten-free grain high in protein and fiber, and it adds a great texture to breads as well as a delicious nutty flavor. This bread has a nice crunchy crust while being moist and chewy on the inside. It's the perfect bread to toast and top with hummus or avocado. You could easily make a sandwich with this bread, or serve it on the side with soup. The possibilities are endless!

Makes 1 loaf (8 x 4 pan)

You will need:

• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (~110 degrees)
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar (or sugar of choice)
• 1 1/4 cup Buckwheat Flour
• 3/4 cup Sorghum Flour
• 1 cup Potato Starch
• 1/2 cup Tapioca Starch
• 2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp Himalayan Pink Sea Salt (or regular sea salt)
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Begin by activating your yeast. Place the warm water in a bowl, then add the sugar and yeast. Whisk together for 30 seconds and allow to sit for about 10 minutes, until the top becomes foamy. It should look something like this:

Grease your bread pan and set aside. Warm your oven to 180 degrees, then shut it off. This will be a warm, draft-free place to let your dough rise.

In a large bowl, add the buckwheat flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, and salt, mixing until well combined. 

Add the olive oil to the yeast mixture and whisk until combined, then pour slowly into the flour bowl. The dough will be very clumpy and thick, so I ended up having to wet my hands and knead the dough until it combined, which seemed to work well. 

Spread the dough in the bread pan with wet hands and place in the warmed oven for about 40 minutes, or until the dough has risen a bit. Take the bread out and pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the bread on the middle rack and bake for 15 minutes. At that point, decrease the heat to 385 degrees, and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the bread makes a hollow thumping noise when you tap the top.

Remove from the oven and let sit in the pan for about 10 minutes. Let the loaf cool completely on a rack, then slice with a serrated knife and enjoy!