100% Teff Sourdough Bread Recipe

Teff Basics

The first thing you need to know about teff is that it's a wild card, but only in the best possible way.  Unlike other gluten-free grains, teff is the most flexible GF grain for baking, and it's also the most variable grain I've ever worked with for flavor.  Nutty, earthy, sour, sweet, spicy, and mild are all flavors that I've gotten from teff bread.  I'm still not always sure how to control the flavor, I'm just along for the ride.

Teff is one of the world's tiniest grains and has been used in sourdough bread for as long as 40,000 years.  (See this recipe for traditional injera flatbread.)  It comes in two main varieities in the USA, brown and ivory, though many other varieties exist.  It comes originally from Africa. However, Idaho seems to have a climate conducive to growing it, so that is where much of the teff is grown here in the USA.  Bob's Red Mill, Maskal and Judee's are the three brands I buy. (I've included affiliate links to these products on Amazon but you might be able to find better prices direct from the mills.)  There are several others, but these are the brands I've found that are certified gluten free and seem to have good manufacturing practices to keep them separate from gluten.

100% Brown teff bread at a medium hydration, 100% Ivory teff bread at a lower hydration.
 

Last week I wrote about making single flour bread with yeast and introduced the tortilla test for creating your own recipe.  This week, I want to give you a 100% teff sourdough bread recipe.

What's really the most amazing thing about teff is its performance in gluten-free baking.  In my last post I talked about the tortilla test and how it's used to determine the correct hydration of a dough.  This is really important in GF baking because most gluten-free flours have such a narrow window for a good hydration.  

Tortilla test: slightly too dry

Torilla test: perfect
This is where teff differs from other flours the most: it has an enormously wide window for hydration, possibly more than wheat flour does.  This gives any teff recipe a lot of leeway in how much water can be used, depending on the results you want to get out of the flour.  It can also be used at very high hydrations up to 120% which lends it a lot of extensibility, much more than most flours.  I've done the tortilla test on teff many times and also baked numerous 100% teff loaves.  I've determined the hydration range for teff in my climate is around 70-120%. (For comparison, an AP white wheat flour might have a hydration range of 50-75%, and millet has a range of 60-70%).

 

Here's a quick reference for teff facts:

  • VARIETIES. Brown and ivory teff flour are interchangeable in any recipe.  The color is different, the flavor is slightly different, but the performance is the same.
  • MILLING. Teff is one of the smallest grains in the world but it can still be milled at home with a good grain mill.
  • WHOLE GRAIN. Teff is a whole grain - ivory teff is just a different color of varietal, it's not de-germed.  It's high in fiber and protein.
  • HYDRATION RANGE. Teff has a huge hydration range at which it still works, which I've measured at 70-120% hydration.
  • FLAVOR. The flavor of teff can vary wildly based on other ingredients in the dough, as well as fermentation time, temperature, and hydration.
  • FLAVOR ENHANCEMENTS. Bringing out different flavors: milk or whey products make teff bread taste nuttier, somewhat like hazelnut. Molasses makes it taste a little spicy like cinnamon and cloves.
  • FERMENTATION. Teff ferments very well and quickly.  It's one of the grains that's considered the best gluten-free substitute for rye flour.  This recipe doesn't include any sugar because it doesn't need it to rise, however, it can be added for a quicker rise or more flavor.

 

100% Ivory Teff
100% Teff Sourdough Bread Recipe

Gluten free, dairy free, vegan, egg free, sugar free

Making the sourdough culture: 3 days, or

Teff specific sourdough starter method: 5 days

Mixing ingredients: 10 minutes

rest time: 2 hours

Rise time: 4-6 hours

Bake time 30-40 minutes

 

This recipe yields a small loaf, what I call a half loaf.  I have not tried doubling it yet but feel free to experiment. This recipe can easily be mixed by hand but you can also make it in a stand mixer.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl or stand mixer:

200g brown or ivory teff flour

10g powdered or ground psyllium husk

4g salt

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients

50g teff sourdough starter (click here or here to find the method for creating it)

240g spring water (use less for a firmer loaf, or more for a more flexible loaf.)

When the ingredients are fully mixed, let the dough rest for two hours to allow the psyllium to hydrate.

After resting, remix or knead the dough until smooth.  Shape the dough into a boule and place in a banneton or towel-lined bowl seam-side up.

Shaped boule placed seam-side up

Boule fully proofed (~5 hours)
 

Leave the dough to rise for 4-6 hours.  You'll know it's ready to bake when it's increased in size about 50% and it's noticeably springier to the touch.  Preheat the oven to 450°f/230°c with a baking vessel inside or set it up for steaming the bread for the first part of the bake.

Invert the bread so it's seam-side down on a piece of parchment paper.  Place in the baking vessel and score.  Bake at 450°f/230°c for 15 minutes covered or with steam. Uncover the bread (or remove the steam) and bake another 15 minutes uncovered/without steam. If needed, bake another 5 minutes directly on the rack or until the bread makes a hollow sound when tapped with your knuckles.

Let the bread cool on a rack.

Enjoy!






Comments

Anonymous said…
Question through curiosity please. I’ve noticed some of your recipes have ACV, would this recipe produce different results with the addition of it? How do you know when to add or to omit in a recipe? Looking forward to making this loaf. Starter is ready baking one tomorrow. Thank you for sharing awesome recipes!:)
Gina said…
The small amount of acid from ACV acts as a bread improver. Most sourdough recipes don’t need it because the sourdough itself adds enough acid to improve the dough. I think I have one sourdough recipe that calls for ACV because it’s a mild recipe that doesn’t develop a lot of acid. The ACV is always optional. There’s a small increase in rise with the ACV but the recipes typically still work without it.
Anonymous said…
Thank you. Makes sense
Zahara said…
Would it be possible to use this recipe to make pita bread?
Gina said…
Hi Zahara, that is a good question! I haven’t created a good pita bread recipe yet, so I’m not sure. It sounds great though, let me know if you try it!
Deanna said…
How large of a dutch oven is needed here? Would a 2 qt work or would we need 4-5 qt?
Gina said…
Hi Deanna,

Yes, a 2-quart pot with a lid works well for this size loaf. Or any larger baking vessel would work too. It holds its shape.
Deanna said…
Thank you! I am looking forward to giving this a try!
Deanna said…
Finally got this made and it’s a HUGE hit with my celiac kids who have been missing “good” and “soft” bread! They immediately requested I make 17 more loaves!!
Deanna said…
I literally have only made this once, and already just dropped the cash to buy a 25lb bag of Teff. lol. Thank you so much for this! Comments from my celiac kids include:
“It’s not so crumbly!”
“It’s actually moist!”
“It’s not falling apart!”
"It tastes like real bread!"
"It FEELS like real bread!!"

And best of all, they preferred the teff bread (plain, mind you) over the waffle with strawberry syrup I had made them for breakfast, and the entire loaf was gone in less than 5 minutes.

Their next questions:
"Can we make a bigger loaf?"
"Can you make 17 more of these?"
Gina said…
Thank you so much for the comments! Pressing the kids test is a crucial step in recipe development ;) I can’t remember if I ever tested this recipe at double the size, but I feel like it would work. Teff is pretty strong. Bigger loaves have to bake a little longer is the only thing.
Deanna said…
Update: We've had this starter for a month now. It's lasted in the fridge whenever we've put it in (we just went on a trip and were gone 10 days). It lasts in the fridge regardless of whether I let it double in size after feeding it or whether I just feed it after making other bread and pop it into the fridge right away. It perks right up as soon as I pull it out of the fridge and feed it again.

We've also increased the loaf size by both 25% and 50%. We had success in our 2 qt Dutch oven both times, though I didn't bake it quite long enough when it was 50% larger (my kids ate it anyway...) I was listening for the hollow sound, but I think I just judged it incorrectly. It was in about 50 minutes, so I felt sure it was done, but oh well. We've also had success when I've spilled the water or starter for some reason (did I mention I have four small people in the house? lol) and proportions got thrown off slightly. The bread still came out delicious every single time; this recipe is super forgiving and pretty dang-near mistake-proof. I have recommended it to just about every single person I know with celiac disease.
Gina said…
Thank you for coming back to report on the size increases you’ve tried. I too am surprised that the bigger loaf didn’t bake within 50 minutes. I would have guessed 45-50 minutes would do it. My typical loaf size is double the size of this loaf and those usually bake in 45 minutes. But I’ve never done a 100% whole grain loaf that size that’s freeform. So I guess it would be an experiment.

I’m so glad the kids are into the bread! I hope the rest of the bakes go well. It sounds like your experiments are paying off.
Pete said…
Hi Gina, thanks so much for all the amazing work you do!
Are starters generally interchangeable, without affecting the recipe outcome too much?
I have a brown rice starter which I've been using successfully for brown rice sourdough for the last month or so. I'm really keen to try other recipes including your teff bread and sorghum bread mix, but I'm not keen to have several starters on the go as I don't think I can keep on top of the maintenance of them (smallholding, young children, etc etc!). I'm sure my starter will work with the other recipes, but will it change the outcome significantly? Is it worth the hassle of making different starters?
Many thanks! Pete
Gina said…
Hi Pete,

The starter definitely affects the flavor, though not necessarily in a bad way. It’s just that each type of starter has a unique flavor. Teff starter in particular provides a great rise, a complex flavor, and it ferments quickly, so if you use something else it might not rise as quickly. Also rice flour in particular can change the texture of the bread. It can sometimes lead to tackiness but it can also have some beneficial qualities. It can take a little longer to bake. It’s been a really long time since I’ve had a brown rice starter but my other readers use them often and it seems to usually work for various recipes. I think it’s worth a shot to try this recipe with your current starter. Maybe someday you’ll have a reason to try a teff starter. They are wonderful. But until then I’d say try out new recipes with your existing starter and see what you think. Also report back on your results!
Pete said…
Hi Gina, I used my brown rice starter, but switched it to teff for for a couple of feeds and it was rising well. I've made 3 loaves of teff bread of different sizes and they all worked well and tasted delicious! They were all quite dense though, and definitely not 'light and fluffy'. Not necessarily a bad thing, as I love quite dense bread .. it was very similar to rye bread. I'd love to have light and fluffy bread too though! Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Could it be the starter?
Deanna said…
Hey Pete! The way I usually describe this bread is "like rye sourdough," so I totally hear you. Mine has been a 100% teff starter from the very beginning, so I don't know that it's your starter. We love this bread (and used to love rye bread!), so it's not a deal breaker for me. Ours gets lightER and fluffyER if I let it rise longer, but it's never really been light and fluffy like wheat bread was.
Gina said…
Hi Pete, if you’re using this recipe and want the bread to come out a little fluffier, bump up the amount of liquid a little bit. Teff can range from dense to slightly fluffy. But for more fluffiness you’d have to bland the teff with starches. My Country White Sourdough Bread is the fluffiest recipe I have.
Pete said…
Many thanks Deanna and Gina. I'll keep experimenting ..
Deanna said…
Another update: my girls really wanted cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning, and I just hate the GF flour blends that are super processed and have ten different ingredients. So I made two batches of this dough and rolled it out between lightly oiled parchment paper (it was still a bit too tacky when rolling it out on parchment without the oil). It worked perfectly, and my kids were so excited this morning!

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