Chickpea Flour Sourdough
1277kcal
Ingredients
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
- Stand Mixer (or large bowl for hand mixing)
- Cast-iron Dutch Oven with lid
- Scoring Lame or Razor Blade
Method
1. Night Before: Build Levain
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 7:00 PM: 1st Stretch & Fold
- 7:45 PM: 2nd Stretch & Fold
- 8:30 PM: 3rd Stretch & Fold
- 9:15 PM: 4th Stretch & Fold
- Rest untouched for 30 minutes at 76–80°F (24–27°C) until light, bubbly, and risen ~40%–50%.
4. Preshaping, Shaping & Cold Proof
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- Preheat oven with Dutch oven inside to 500°F (260°C) for 45–60 minutes.
- Invert cold dough onto parchment paper and score cleanly with a lame.
- Bake covered inside the Dutch oven at 500°F for 15 minutes.
- 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.