Rosemary and Sea Salt Chickpea and Buckwheat Bread — Casa Adora

There is a loaf in Dominique Ludwig's No-Nonsense Nutrition that stopped me in my tracks — a rosemary and sea salt chickpea bread, gluten-free, yeast-free, and built around dried chickpeas blended whole. I didn't have dried chickpeas. I had chickpea flour, buckwheat groats, and a spice grinder. The colour of her loaf — dark, almost wholemeal — told me she was using the whole chickpea, skins and all. Chickpea flour would give me pale yellow.

The buckwheat changed that. Ground from groats in the spice grinder, it darkens the crumb, adds a nutty earthiness, and turns a straight adaptation into something genuinely different. This buckwheat bread recipe is not Ludwig's loaf. It's a Casa Adora version — same spirit, different kitchen.

Why This Buckwheat Bread Recipe Works

No gluten, no yeast, no proving time. The rise comes from bicarbonate of soda reacting with the apple cider vinegar — so once the wet ingredients go in, the clock is running. The KitchenAid does the mixing; the oven does the rest.

The chickpea flour brings protein and a subtle nuttiness. The buckwheat adds colour, fibre and depth. The rosemary runs through both the seasoning and the vinegar — Bionsan Depur, a rosemary and honey apple cider vinegar that earns its place here rather than just filling it.

This is also a genuinely high-fibre gluten free bread recipe — chickpea flour and buckwheat are both significantly higher in fibre than most gluten-free alternatives.

Buckwheat and Chickpea Bread — The Recipe

Makes: 1 loaf
Prep: 20 minutes (including grinding)
Bake: 50–55 minutes

Ingredients

The dry

• 250g chickpea flour (gram flour)
• 50g buckwheat flour (ground from groats in a spice grinder)
• 1½ tsp sea salt
• 2 rounded tsp dried rosemary
• 3 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 45g mixed seeds, ground in spice grinder

The binder — choose one:

• Option A (egg): 2 medium eggs, beaten
• Option B (chia/flax egg): 2 tbsp ground chia or ground linseed + 6 tbsp cold water — mix and leave 10 minutes to gel before using

The wet

• 25ml extra virgin olive oil
• 45ml Bionsan Depur apple cider vinegar — rosemary and honey infusion
• 225–275ml water — start at the lower end

For texture

• 2 tbsp whole mixed seeds

To top

• Dried rosemary
• Sea salt flakes

Method

1. Grind the buckwheat. Blitz 50g buckwheat groats in the spice grinder until you have a rough flour — 30–40 seconds. Set aside. Grind the 45g mixed seeds separately.
2. Prepare the binder. If using Option B, mix the ground seeds with cold water now and leave 10 minutes to gel. If using Option A, beat the eggs.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with baking parchment.
4. Mix the dry ingredients. Combine the chickpea flour, buckwheat flour, ground seeds, salt, rosemary and bicarbonate of soda in the KitchenAid bowl. Paddle on low, briefly.
5. Add the wet ingredients. With the paddle on low, add the binder, olive oil, Bionsan Depur and 225ml water. Mix to a thick sticky paste. Add water a tablespoon at a time if needed up to 275ml. Stop as soon as combined — don't overmix.
6. Fold in the whole seeds briefly on lowest speed.
7. Transfer immediately to the tin — the bicarb and ACV are already reacting. Smooth the top with a wet spatula.
8. Top with dried rosemary and sea salt flakes.
9. Bake 50–55 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the base sounds hollow. Cover loosely with foil after 30 minutes if the top colours too quickly.
10. Cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

Notes on the Chickpea Flour Bread

The Bionsan Depur is a natural choice here — its rosemary infusion echoes the rosemary in the loaf, and the honey adds a gentle warmth to the crumb. The same bottle that goes into the Four Bean Salad dressing.

The egg version (Option A) gives a more cohesive crumb for a first bake. The chia/flax version (Option B) keeps it vegan — both work.

This buckwheat bread recipe doesn't rise dramatically — no gluten, no yeast. What you get instead is a dense, moist crumb with a good crust. Slice it thick. Excellent with olive oil, alongside soup, or toasted with ghee. Keeps wrapped for 2–3 days; freezes well in slices.

If buckwheat is already in your kitchen, the Honey Buckwheat Soda Bread is worth a look alongside this one — a different approach to the same grain.

FOOTNOTES

This buckwheat bread recipe is featured in my Gut Health Recipes hub — real food from a rural Andalucían kitchen, built around fermented foods, high-fibre pulses, wholegrains and prebiotic-rich ingredients.
It also features in my Bread Recipes and Veggie & Vegan collections.
Inspired by Dominique Ludwig's Triple 30 plan — 30g protein per meal, 30g fibre per day, 30 plants per week. Her rosemary and sea salt chickpea bread from No-Nonsense Nutrition is where this loaf started.

Find more recipes and food adventures here.
Wonky photos, proper bread, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef