If you’re craving focaccia bread but want to skip the gluten then this Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread recipe is just what you need! It is also free from dairy and is suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Serve it as an appetizer or side with olive oil.
About this Recipe
Focaccia bread is a flat-leavened oven-baked bread that originates from Italy. It is usually made with strong white bread flour, which contains a high amount of gluten. The texture of focaccia bread is similar to that of pizza and in some areas, focaccia bread is also known as ‘pizza bianca’. It can be made in a circle or square shape.
This delicious bread became extremely popular on TikTok and Instagram in Spring 2020 and people have been making their own varitations ever since. This is a gluten-free version of focaccia bread. Although focaccia bread is usually made with flour that has a high gluten content, it is still possible to make focaccia bread using gluten-free flour. The texture is not exactly the same as regular focaccia but it is still delicious.
In addition, this is also a vegan focaccia recipe as it does not include dairy products. Serve this gluten-free focaccia bread with Mashed Potatoes, Sauteed Broccoli or Salad.
Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread Ingredients
- Gluten-Free Flour (self-raising): To make this focaccia bread gluten-free use GF self-raising flour. There are so many different brands of gluten-free flour on the market. Go for a gluten-free self-raising flour blend for this recipe.
- Active fast yeast: This is also called ‘quick-rise’ or ‘rapid-rise’ in some countries and by different brands.
- Salt: To taste
- Warm water: The water should be warm enough that you can place your finger in it for up to 10 seconds without removing it or feeling a burning sensation.
- Dried herbs: Choose your favorite herbs for this recipe. Rosemary and thyme are good herbs to consider using for this recipe.
- Olive oil: Use extra virgin olive oil for best results.
- Sesame oil: For flavor
- Agave syrup: You can replace agave with maple syrup if you don’t have agave syrup on hand.
How to Make Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread
1.First, preheat your oven to 170C/340F. Then grab a bowl and combine warm water, agave syrup, yeast, and two tablespoons of flour. Cover the bowl with a cling film and set aside for 15 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining flour, dry herbs and salt.
3. Next, add the dry ingredients, a spoonful of olive oil and sesame oil into the wet ingredients. Mix together and leave the dough covered for 30 minutes. In this time the dough should rise.
4. Cover a baking dish with parchment paper and transfer the dough to the baking dish. The baking dish can be round or square.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes then brush the hot focaccia with olive oil and sprinkle more herbs and/or garlic on top.
7. Once the focaccia has cooled down, cut the bread into small pieces and serve. Serve this gluten-free bread recipe as an appetizer or side.
Tips and Tricks
- Flour: Use a gluten-free self-raising flour blend as opposed to a gluten-free plain flour. This recipe has been tested with self-raising flour and using plain flour may not be successful.
- Water: Make sure your water is warm and not hot water. If your water is hot, it will kill the yeast and your bread will not rise properly.
- Herbs: Feel free to use your favorite dried herbs for this recipe. Rosemary and thyme are great options to consider.
- Substitutions: If you don’t have any agave syrup, you can use maple syrup as a substitute.
FAQs
The original focaccia bread recipe uses strong white bread flour and as such contains gluten. However, you can make a gluten-free version using gluten-free flour.
This could be because your dough is too dry or if your gluten-free flour blend has a high amount of dense flours such as rice flour, oat flour, sorghum flour and not enough of starchy flours such as arrowroot flour, corn starchy flours and potato starch.
While it is notably similar to pizza, focaccia bread differs slightly from pizza in terms of thickness and ingredients. Pizza is not as thick as focaccia bread, most pizza crust bread is slightly thinner than focaccia bread. Also, focaccia bread contains more leavening agents than pizza crust which is why it is thicker than pizza crust bread.
Focaccia bread is normally eaten with soups and salads and can also be used as sandwich bread.
Thanks for reading this recipe, comment below if you made this and let me know how it went! Follow @simshomekitchen on Instagram, take a photo, tag and hashtag it with @simshomekitchen.
Stay connected and follow me for more recipes on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all of my latest recipes!
Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread
Equipment
- Baking dish
- 2 Mixing bowls
Ingredients
- 180 g Gluten Free self-raising flour
- 6 g Active fast yeast
- 2 pinches of salt
- 150 ml Warm water
- ½ tsp. of dried herbs
- 2 tbsp. of olive oil
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 tbsp. of Agave syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 170C/340F. In a deep bowl, combine warm water, agave syrup, dry fast yeast and two tablespoons of flour. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to sit for 15 minutes.
- In separate bowl, combine the remaining flour, dry herbs, and salt.
- Next, add dry ingredients, a spoonful of olive oil and sesame oil to the wet ingredients. Stir until smooth. Leave the dough for half an hour and cover the bowl with cling film.
- Cover a baking dish with parchment, transfer the dough. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Brush the hot focaccia with olive oil, to which you can add garlic, fresh herbs if desired. Let the focaccia cool, then cut into small pieces and serve.
Notes
- Flour: Use a gluten-free self-raising flour blend as opposed to a gluten-free plain flour. This recipe has been tested with self-raising flour and using plain flour may not be successful.
- Water: Make sure your water is warm and not hot water. If your water is hot, it will kill the yeast and your bread will not rise properly.
Leave a Reply