After successfully creating both ancient grain and gluten free sourdough starters, I began to consider the request of a grain free starter. Now, it didn’t make sense to me to sourdough a starch like tapioca or cassava as the purpose of fermenting grains is to neutralize phytates. However, as I looked through my baking cupboard, I noticed a number of bags of almond flour, and that got me thinking.

Since nuts also contain phytates, I would typically soak, sprout, dehydrate, then grind them. Such a process! But, what if I did that soaking on the backend? Well, I just had to try it.

Over the course of the next 4 days, I created an almond flour culture. Much to my surprise and delight, the culture acted just like my other sourdough cultures. It doubled in size and bubbled just as a grain dough.

From that culture (can I really call it a dough? I’m not sure), I made a delicious loaf of bread; completely grain and dairy free, as well as these Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies. Unlike their gluten flour counterparts, these grain free snickerdoodles are soft and chewy and not too sugary.