Chickpea Flour Sourdough

Three-word description for this bread: healthy, creamy, and delicious! This is the best Chickpea Flour Sourdough. I love chickpea flour, it brings such a creamy texture to sourdough bread, almost like butter. Chickpea flour is also full of fiber, which provides another reason why you should try this recipe!

Ingredients

Sourdough starter 

• 5g sourdough starter
• 35g water
• 30g all purpose flour or bread flour
• 5g rye flour

Dough

• 270g bread flour (90%)
• 30g chickpea flour (10%)
• 207g water (69%)
• 21g (7%) cold water added along with salt. Total hydration 76%
• 60g levain (20%)
• 6g salt (2%)

Directions 

Starter

• 7 am add starter to the water and whisk together, add flour, mix well, cover loosely, let it sit at room temperature 74-78F until in about 8-10 hours starter reaches its peak (triples or more in volume). Learn how to make starter from scratch here.

Dough

• 5 pm mix water with all flour and cover, let it rest for 1 hour to complete the autolyse.

• During the autolyse process the flour absorbs the water, becoming fully hydrated. This activates gluten development.
• 6 pm add sourdough starter. 
• Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 minutes, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 3-4 minutes until well incorporated. 
• Also if for some reason you don’t have a mixing machine, you can incorporate starter into the dough by hands. Using Rubaud method or slap and fold method (about 5-7 min).
• Cover, let it rest for 30 minutes.
• 6:30 pm add salt and extra water. 
• The process of adding extra water is called bassinage, it helps to tighten up gluten. Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 min, or with KitchenAid on speed 3 for 5-6 minutes until well incorporated. The dough should come up together, but still be sticky on the bottom.
• Please note, if you perform mixing by hands, using Rubaud method or slap and fold method, that takes about 10 minutes. Do a couple of stops in between kneading, it helps tightening up gluten.
• Continue gluten development and structure building by performing stretches and folds during the warm fermentation period.
• Leave to rest 30 min. At 74-78F /23-26C.
• 7 pm wet your hands and perform 1st stretch and fold.

• 7:45pm 2nd stretch and fold.
• 8:30 pm 3rd stretch and fold.
• 9:15 pm 4th stretch and fold.

Performing stretches and folds helps with gluten development. Keep monitoring the dough, if it rises too fast, you can shorten the time between stretches to 40 minutes or less.

• After the final stretch let the dough proof for 30 minutes at 76-80F/ 23-26C. You should see some bubbles on the surface, the dough has to become lighter. We are looking for 40%-50% rise. 

Preshaping Sourdough

• 9:45 pm Transfer the dough on to a work surface and dust its top with flour. Flip the dough over so the floured side faces down. 
• Fold the dough onto itself so the flour on the surface remains entirely on the outside of the loaf. This will become the crust. 
• Place the dough round on a work surface and let it rest for 30 minutes uncovered.

Shaping Sourdough

• 10:15 pm dust the dough with flour. Use a dough scraper to flip it over on to a work surface so the floured side faces down. 
• Starting at the side closest to you, pull the right 2 corners of the dough to the left, then fold them up into half of the dough. Repeat this action on the left side too.
• Finally, roll the dough. Shape it into a smooth, taut roll.
• Transfer the roll, seam side up, into a prepared proofing basket (loaf pan with kitchen towel).

• Cover it with plastic and return the dough to the 80F (27C) environment for 15 minutes. 
• Then transfer the dough to rise for 14-24 hours in refrigerator.

• Preheat your oven to 500 F, place a cast iron pan with the lid inside for 45 minutes – 1 hour.
• Remove the dough from the fridge. 
• Flip it over on a parchment paper, score it with a sharp knife or a scoring lame. 

• Transfer it on to the hot cast iron pan, cover with lid (to create steam for a beautiful and crusty crumb).
• Bake at 500F for 15 minutes with lid on.
• Remove the lid, lower temperature to 450F. 
• Bake for 20 more minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy your chickpea flour sourdough loaf 🙏

Chickpea Flour Sourdough

1277kcal

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Prep 45 minutes mins

Cook 35 minutes mins

Overnight Levain Rise 8 hours hrs

Total 1 day d 3 hours hrs

An artisan sourdough loaf incorporating chickpea flour (garbanzo bean flour) into the dough matrix, giving the interior crumb a smooth, velvety texture reminiscent of butter, packed with dietary fiber.

Servings 1 Loaf (~800 g)

Cuisine Modern Artisan Sourdough

Ingredients

1x2x3x

Sourdough Starter Levain (Night Before)

• ▢ 5 g Sourdough starter culture
• ▢ 35 g Water
• ▢ 30 g All-purpose flour or bread flour
• ▢ 5 g Rye flour

Chickpea Flour Dough Base

• ▢ 270 g Bread flour (90%)
• ▢ 30 g Chickpea flour (Garbanzo bean flour / 10%)
• ▢ 207 g Water (69% – autolyse mix)
• ▢ 21 g Cold water (7% – bassinage water added with salt)
• ▢ 60 g Active levain (20% – from the stage above)
• ▢ 6 g Salt (2%)

Equipment

• ▢
  Digital Kitchen Scale
• ▢
  Stand Mixer (or large bowl for hand mixing)
• ▢
  Proofing Basket (Banneton)
• ▢
  Cast-iron Dutch Oven with lid
• ▢
  Scoring Lame or Razor Blade
• ▢
  Parchment Paper

Method

Prevent Sleep ModePrevent Sleep Mode

1. Night Before: Build Levain

1. 7:00 AM / 10:00 PM: Whisk 5 g starter into 35 g water. Add 30 g bread/AP flour and 5 g rye flour. Cover loosely and rest at 74–78°F (23–26°C) for 8–10 hours until peak volume (triples in size).

2. Autolyse & Mixing

1. 5:00 PM (Autolyse): In a mixer bowl, combine 270 g bread flour, 30 g chickpea flour, and 207 g water until fully hydrated. Cover and rest for 1 hour.
2. 6:00 PM (Levain Integration): Add 60 g peak levain. Mix on low speed (or KitchenAid speed 3) for 2–3 minutes until incorporated. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
3. 6:30 PM (Bassinage & Salt): Add 6 g salt and 21 g cold water. Mix on low speed for 2–3 minutes, then medium (KitchenAid speed 3) for 5–6 minutes until dough tightens and pulls together cleanly. Rest 30 minutes.

3. Stretch-and-Folds & Bulk Fermentation

1. 7:00 PM: 1st Stretch & Fold
2. 7:45 PM: 2nd Stretch & Fold
3. 8:30 PM: 3rd Stretch & Fold
4. 9:15 PM: 4th Stretch & Fold
5. Rest untouched for 30 minutes at 76–80°F (24–27°C) until light, bubbly, and risen ~40%–50%.

4. Preshaping, Shaping & Cold Proof

1. 9:45 PM (Preshape): Turn dough onto a floured surface, flip floured-side down, fold onto itself, and shape into a loose round. Rest uncovered 30 minutes.
2. 10:15 PM (Shape): Flip floured-side down, pull right and left corners inward, roll tightly into a taut log, and transfer seam-side up into a floured proofing basket.
3. Cover with plastic wrap, rest at 80°F (27°C) for 15 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator for 14–24 hours cold fermentation.

5. Bake in Dutch Oven

1. Preheat oven with Dutch oven inside to 500°F (260°C) for 45–60 minutes.
2. Invert cold dough onto parchment paper and score cleanly with a lame.
3. Bake covered inside the Dutch oven at 500°F for 15 minutes.
4. Remove lid, reduce heat to 450°F (232°C), and bake uncovered for 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours before slicing.

Nutrition

Calories1277kcalCarbohydrates252gProtein44gFat7gSaturated Fat1gPolyunsaturated Fat3gMonounsaturated Fat1gSodium2365mgPotassium575mgFiber12gSugar4gVitamin A18IUCalcium69mgIron5mg

Notes

• The Structural Impact of Gluten-Free Chickpea Flour: Because chickpea flour is naturally gluten-free and loaded with dense plant-based proteins, capping its inclusion at a balanced 20% ratio is critical. This baseline introduces all of the smooth, butter-like fat notes and golden coloring of garbanzo beans without overwhelming the elastic wheat gluten strands supplied by the 80% bread flour base, keeping your oven spring tall and airy.
• Why the Bassinage Technique is Mandatory for Legume Flours: Chickpea flour is highly hydrophilic, meaning it absorbs ambient moisture at a much faster rate than grain-based flours. Utilizing the bassinage technique—holding back 30g of your target hydration water until the 9:30 AM salt mixing stage—ensures your mixer builds a solid, resilient gluten core before the dough mass becomes completely saturated with the legume starches.
• Alternative Hand Kneading Integration: If you do not own a stand mixer to complete steps 3 and 4, you can easily execute them by hand. Swap out the mechanical hook for the traditional Rubaud mixing method or standard slap-and-folds on your counter for roughly 5 to 7 minutes to integrate the starter, and about 10 minutes to finish the bassinage water and salt step. Be sure to pause for a couple of quick stops mid-knead to naturally tighten the gluten matrix.

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