Sharing is caring!

You did it. You created your gluten-free sourdough starter. It’s bubbling, it’s alive, it smells amazing.

Now what?

Now you BAKE.

This is the article I promised you—the exact step-by-step process for how I actually bake gluten-free sourdough bread using my starter.

If you haven’t made your starter yet, start here →

---

The Bottom Line Up Front

Baking gluten-free sourdough bread takes anywhere from 8 hours from start to 3 -5 days to finish, but only about 30 minutes of actual hands-on time.

The key difference from regular sourdough? You’ll be using gluten-free BREAD flour instead of all-purpose flour for the actual loaf.

This makes all the difference in texture and rise.

---

What You’ll Need

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup active gluten-free sourdough starter (fed and bubbly)
• 6 cups King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour (this is crucial—NOT the all-purpose blend)
• 2½ – 3 cups filtered water (adjust as needed)
• 2 teaspoons salt

Equipment:

• Large glass mixing bowl
• Wooden spoon or Danish dough whisk
• Plastic wrap or damp kitchen towel
• Bread pan OR Dutch oven (there is no right or wrong here; just personal preference)
• Parchment paper

---

How to Bake Your First Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread (The Step-by-Step)

Click HERE to save this article for later.

Step 1: Prepare Your Active Starter

The first thing to know is that this all start when you need to feed your original sourdough starter.

This is the process from Day 14 in the first article.

1. Take your the starter out of the fridge.
   • Place 1 cup starter + 1 cup water + 1 cup gluten-free flour [REGULAR 1:1 NOT bread flour] in a glass bowl.
   • Stir until it is completely mixed together.
   • Cover the bowl with a tight plastic wrap, then place a hand towel over it to sit on the counter. [Put the starter that’s still left in the jar back in the fridge.]
2. About 6 hours later, take the starter jar from out of the fridge.
   • From the mix on the counter, remove 3/4 cup and set it aside.
   • The REST of the mix then goes back into the starter from the fridge. Stir with your wooden spoon, and set your starter back in the fridge.

Timing: 4-8 hours before mixing dough

Make sure your starter is fed and active. You want it bubbly, doubled in size, and at its peak activity.

How to tell it’s ready: Drop a small spoonful into a glass of water. If it floats, it’s ready to use.

---

Step 2: Mix the Dough

Timing: Evening (I usually do this around 7-8pm)
Hands-on time: 10 minutes

In a large glass bowl, combine:

• 3/4 cup active starter (what you just set aside)
• 2 ½ – 3 cups filtered water
• 6 cups King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour
• 2 teaspoons salt

Here’s the key: Mix until everything is completely incorporated. Gluten-free dough will be stickier and wetter than regular sourdough dough. This is normal. Don’t add extra flour to “fix” it.

I always start with 2 1/2 cups of water. I try to get by with only that amount, but sometimes it’s still too hard to fully mix together, so I’ll add a little more.

The consistency should be thick and sticky—not watered down.

---

Step 3: Fermentation

Timing: Overnight for up to 3-5 days
Hands-on time: 0 minutes

Cover your bowl tightly with plastic wrap and a towel.

Put the bowl in the fridge.

Leave it there at least overnight, and up to 3-5 days.

Extra notes for this part:

• As soon as you put the mixture into the fridge, the fermentation process slows. This is why some people will just keep the mixture out on the counter, overnight, and bake first thing the next morning. You CAN do this.
• The reason I put it in the fridge is that I usually don’t want to/need to bake for a few days. So I keep it in the fridge for when I’m ready.
• It’s just a personal decision – my best piece of advice is to try it all and see what you like best. Experimenting is so much fun. At least for me 🙂

What you’re looking for: The dough should rise and you’ll see bubbles forming on the surface. It might not double like regular sourdough, and that’s okay.

Temperature matters: Ideal room temp is 70-75°F. If your house is cooler, it might take longer (what I mentioned about the fridge).

---

Step 4: Get Ready to Bake It!

Hands-on time: 15 minutes

At this point, there are so many different ways people will share how they do it.

And I’ve done them all.

In my early sourdough-ing days, I took the extremely long route.

I’d roll out the dough, then let it sit 90-minutes. And I ‘d repeat that several times before the final baking.

Until one day when I was in a hurry and I wondered, “Could I just roll it, and then bake?”

The answer was > YES.

So I’m lazy and always take this shortcut now.

I simply get out a large cutting board, and place gluten-free flour on it. Then, I take my sourdough from the bowl and lay it on top. I roll, by hand, the sourdough with the flour.

Regardless, here’s where gluten-free sourdough is different: you don’t really “shape” it like traditional sourdough because there’s no gluten structure to work with.

Instead:

For a bread pan loaf:

• Set a piece of parchment paper in the bread pan
• Pour the dough into the pan
• “Score” your dough
• That’s it

For a Dutch oven loaf:

• Line your Dutch oven with parchment paper
• Pour the dough onto the parchment
• Don’t stress about perfection—it’ll spread a bit
• “Score” your dough (more on scoring below)

---

Step 6: Preheat Your Oven

Timing: 30 minutes before baking
Hands-on time: 1 minute

Preheat your oven to 425°F.

If using a Dutch oven: Put the empty Dutch oven (without the lid) in the oven while it preheats.

If using a bread pan: Just preheat the oven—no need to preheat the pan.

---

Step 7: Score and Bake

Hands-on time: 5 minutes prep, then 45-55 minutes baking

Optional but pretty: Use a sharp knife or bread lame to score the top of your loaf. This isn’t as crucial with GF bread as with regular sourdough, but it looks nice.

Why score? When bread bakes, steam builds up inside and needs somewhere to go.

Scoring creates a controlled weak point where the bread can expand and “bloom” in the oven.

Without scoring, the bread will find its own random spots to crack open—which can look messy.

In fact, sometimes I don’t even score, but instead use a scissors. I snip it a ton on the top – which helps for baking more even in the deep, middle.

Think of it like this: you’re giving your bread permission to expand exactly where you want it to.

Baking times:

For Dutch oven:

• Place lid on Dutch oven
• Bake covered for 30 minutes at 425°F
• Remove lid
• Bake uncovered for 15-20 more minutes until deep golden brown
• Total: 45-50 minutes

For bread pan:

• Bake uncovered for 45-55 minutes at 425°F
• Cover with foil if the top is browning too quickly
• Total: 45-55 minutes

How to know it’s done:

• Internal temperature should be 205-210°F (use a thermometer)
• The crust should be deep golden brown
• It should sound hollow when you tap the bottom

Baking Note

For the longest time we needed a new oven because I could only get 400 degrees and not 425 degrees. During this time, it still worked. The only difference was that I had to add maybe 10 minutes onto the baking times.

I would still check the bread and use a knife in the middle to make sure it was fully baked through. Once it is, you can pull.

---

Step 8: Cool (THE HARDEST PART)

Timing: At least 30 minutes
Hands-on time: Extreme patience required

Remove the bread from the pan/Dutch oven immediately.

Place it on a wire cooling rack.

DO NOT CUT INTO IT YET.

I know. I know. It smells amazing. But gluten-free sourdough needs time to set up internally or it will be gummy in the middle.

Wait at least 30 minutes, up to 1-2 hours. Seriously.

---

These are the real and raw images. I did not tinker with them to give any false looks.

What to Expect: The Real Talk

Texture:

This is gluten-free bread.

It won’t have the exact same texture as wheat-based sourdough.

But it WILL have:

• A real crust
• A tender, slightly denser crumb
• Those beautiful fermented sourdough flavors
• Actual structure (not crumbly like many GF breads)

Taste:

You’ll taste the sourdough tang. You’ll also taste the blend of gluten-free flours. It’s different from wheat sourdough, but it’s GOOD different.

Storage:

• Room temperature: 2-3 days wrapped in a kitchen towel
• Refrigerator: Up to 1 week in an airtight container or bag
• Freezer: Slice it first, then freeze for up to 3 months (toast slices straight from frozen!)

---

My Honest Assessment

The first loaf might not be perfect. Mine wasn’t. The second one was better. By the third, I had it down.

It’s wetter than regular sourdough dough. Don’t panic and add more flour. Trust the process.

The Dutch oven method produces better crust. But the bread pan is easier and less intimidating if you’re new to this. The bread pan also allows you to cut into bread-like slices, which I love.

It’s absolutely worth it. If you need gluten-free bread and you’ve done the work to make the starter, this homemade loaf is SO much better than anything you’ll buy at the store.

---

Troubleshooting

Dough is too wet/runny:

• Next time, reduce water by ¼ cup
• Different GF flour blends absorb water differently

Bread is gummy in the middle:

• You didn’t let it cool long enough (I know, I’m sorry)
• Your oven might run cool—increase temp by 25°F next time
• Bake 5-10 minutes longer

Didn’t rise much:

• Your starter might not have been active enough
• Try letting the second rise go longer (up to 6 hours if needed)

Crust is too dark:

• Cover with foil for the last 15 minutes of baking
• Reduce oven temp to 400°F next time

---

What’s Next?

Now you have both a gluten-free sourdough starter AND the knowledge to actually bake with it.

Your homework: Bake your first loaf. Take a photo. Tag me on Instagram so I can celebrate with you!

Also, I already KNOW what you want to know, and those are the two following:

1. Tell me how to get creative with my sourdough design
2. And tell me how to get creative with my sourdough flavors

Anything else? Drop it in the comments below.

More soon!

---

Related Articles:

• How I Created My Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter (the full 9-day process)
• Gluten, Glyphosate & Why I Eat Sourdough (the original article)
• Is Sourdough Bread Vegan?

---

Questions? Drop them in the comments or DM me on Instagram. I’m here to help you troubleshoot!

Xox,
SKH

---

P.S. If you’re loving this gluten-free sourdough journey, make sure you’re on my newsletter. I share all my experiments, wins, and (let’s be honest) failures there first.