Dark Paleo Seeded Sourdough

I built this loaf while postpartum and not sleeping, at the point where I could not face another egg or another smoothie.

The hazelnut version was the family favorite until hazelnut flour vanished from every supplier I had. So I rebuilt it out of what I could actually get, and kept going until it was better than the loaf it replaced.

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What is in it, and why

Grain-free bread usually fails in one of two directions. It crumbles, or it sits like a brick. Most of these ingredients are here to solve one of those problems, and a few are here because they are worth eating.

• Tigernut flour. Not a nut at all, but a small root. It carries prebiotic fiber, a little natural sweetness, and the chew that grain-free baking almost never has.
• Cassava sourdough starter. The fermentation lowers antinutrients and makes the whole loaf easier to digest.
• Psyllium husk. Traps moisture and builds the structure that gluten would otherwise be doing.
• Almond and coconut flour. Almond for protein and richness, coconut to stop it going heavy. Neither works alone here.
• Arrowroot. Elasticity, so it holds together under a knife instead of falling apart.
• Chia and hemp. Omega-3s, a little more protein, and texture through the crumb.
• Apple cider vinegar and olive oil. The vinegar helps the rise and adds tang. The oil keeps the crumb tender.
• Egg or gelatin. Egg for lift. Gelatin if you are avoiding eggs, which also makes it AIP-friendly.

It is dense and earthy and makes no attempt to be a light sandwich loaf. Toasted, with butter, is how it gets eaten in this house.

If you need a starter

You need a cassava starter for this one. If you do not have it going yet, my sourdough starter method covers cassava alongside Italian 00 and einkorn, with feeding and maintenance.

Dark Paleo Sourdough

Tigernut, almond and cassava, fermented overnight and seeded through.

Yield1

Prep20 min

Ferment12–24 hr

Bake375°F

Loaves base 1

Units US Metric

Conversions are approximate. Flours vary a great deal by brand.

Nutrition — tigernut, chia and hemp between them carry fiber, magnesium and omega-3s that a standard loaf has none of.

Digestion — the overnight ferment lowers antinutrients, and tigernut fiber is prebiotic. This is bread that feeds the gut rather than only filling it.

Cool it completely before you cut it. Grain-free loaves are gummy sliced warm, and it is the single most common reason this one gets called a failure.

Ingredients

• 1 cup filtered or well water
• 1 tsp maple syrup or raw honey
• 1 tsp dry active yeast
• 3 tbsp psyllium husk
• 0.5 cup cassava sourdough starter
• 2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp pink salt
• 1 tsp baking soda, optional but it helps the rise
• 1.5 cup blanched almond flour
• 1 cup arrowroot
• 1 cup tigernut flour
• 0.33 cup coconut flour
• 0.25 cup chia seeds
• 1 egg, or 1 tbsp beef gelatin
• A quarter to a half cup hemp hearts

Method

1. Put a quarter of the water in a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over it, add the maple syrup or honey, and leave it ten minutes to wake up.
2. In a large bowl, mix the almond flour, arrowroot, coconut flour, tigernut flour, psyllium, chia, hemp, salt and baking soda.
3. Work the olive oil through the dry mix, then make a well in the middle.
4. Add the starter and fold it in gently.
5. Whisk the remaining water with the vinegar and the egg or gelatin. Let it sit two minutes.
6. Pour the wet into the well and mix until it looks like a foamy sponge.
7. Fold to a biscuit consistency and shape into a boule or a baguette.
8. Oil a bowl and ferment 12 to 24 hours, or use a towel-lined pan.
9. Heat a cast iron pan or a pizza stone to 450°F.
10. Transfer the loaf, score the top, shut the door and drop the oven to 375°F. Bake 30 to 45 minutes. Covered for the first 30 then uncovered gives a thicker crust.
11. Cool completely before slicing. This is not optional.

Per slice

6gProtein

14gCarbs

12gFat

Show calories

~180

Most of the women I work with are eating too little rather than too much.

Fiber — 4g a slice, and most of it prebiotic. That is the point of the loaf.

Magnesium — moderate. Almond, chia and hemp together.

Manganese — high. Tigernut and almond flour.

Estimates, based on twelve slices to a loaf. They move with how thick you cut it.

Notes and swaps

Beef gelatin in place of the egg makes it AIP-friendly.

Ferment time moves with room temperature and how lively your starter is.

Hazelnut flour works, if you can get it. That was the original.

It freezes well sliced, which is how it mostly gets stored here.

Brenna May Wellness

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