Gluten-free has never felt so soft and delicious before this recipe!
One of my favorite breads that I was most hesitant to give up when going gluten-free is focaccia bread. I used to buy it from the store and make sandwiches, but it’s hard to find gluten-free bread at all, let alone a gluten-free specialty bread like focaccia. And so, this recipe came to the rescue.
Baking is practically a science and often easy to mess up. Expert bakers spend ages perfecting a recipe. And making bread gluten-free adds a new level of difficulty in most cases. But not in this case! This recipe, to my great relief, is beginner-friendly! It doesn’t require lots of strange additions to get a good texture, and basically, the only thing you need to do is mix things up and let it rest before baking.
The taste and texture really shine for this gluten-free focaccia. The outside is crispy with the perfect crust, while the inside gives you that soft bite of good bread focaccia is known for. Not only is this recipe gluten-free, but it’s also dairy-free, which makes it ideal for people with various dietary requirements.
Herbalicious
A flavor I love for my focaccia is fresh rosemary. I’m guilty of sometimes just using the dried version from a spice shaker that’s been sitting probably too long on my shelf, but I highly recommend getting the fresh stuff for this bread. There’s something warm in the taste of fresh rosemary, and the freshness adds not just to the taste but to the smell. It’ll make your whole kitchen, or even your whole house, smell divine with that distinctive earthy and powerful aroma. It is a very strong herb, so you don’t need a whole lot. A light sprinkling alongside your sea salt will go a long way!
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (110°F to 120°F)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
- Coarse sea salt for topping
How to Make Gluten-Free Focaccia
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free flour, sugar, yeast, and sea salt.
Step 2: Add the warm water and 1/4 cup olive oil to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined; the dough will be quite sticky.
Step 3: Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Step 4: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan with olive oil.
Step 5: Transfer the dough to the prepared pan, spreading it out evenly with oiled hands.
Step 6: Dimple the dough with your fingertips, then drizzle with additional olive oil and sprinkle with chopped rosemary and coarse sea salt.
Step 7: Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
Step 8: Remove from oven and let cool slightly before slicing and serving.
FAQs & Tips
How to Make Ahead and Store?
For short-term storage, you can keep focaccia at room temperature for a day or two. If you’re storing it for a longer period, keep it wrapped tightly in cling wrap or aluminum and in a sealed bag. Then, put that bag in the freezer and store it there for up to 6 months. To reheat, you can defrost the focaccia by putting it on a counter for a while or in the microwave. Lastly, toast it before eating so that it isn’t left soggy from defrosting.
Gum It Up
When picking your gluten-free flour, make sure that it has xanthan gum to get the best texture when baking. If you have a gluten-free flour that does not already have xanthan gum, it’s recommended you add some yourself, 1 teaspoon per cup of flour. This is needed to give your gluten-free bread the elasticity found in full-gluten bread!
Dimples to Smile About!
Dimpling your dough is a very important step in making good focaccia bread and involves simply pushing little dents into the dough with your fingertips. This allows your dough to soak up the oil and flavors mixed with said oil from the fresh rosemary. Olive oil has a distinct flavor that’s different from other oils. That’s part of the charm of focaccia bread: the flavor of the olive oil that saturates the crispy crust! Use a good quality olive oil to put in your dimples for the best flavor.
Serving Suggestions
I love using focaccia sliced in half for a sandwich, but it’s a very versatile bread. You can be like me and fill it with some chicken breast cold-cuts and salad, or have it next to a warm Easy Tomato Ravioli Soup. A nice filling option for a sandwich is the filling from these Jerk Chicken Tacos. Just replace the taco shell/tortilla part with the sliced-in-half focaccia and enjoy. But focaccia is a good side to any meal, so don’t limit yourself to soups and sandwiches! Have some whenever the mood strikes.
Gluten Free Focaccia
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups warm water 110°F to 120°F
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped
- Coarse sea salt for topping
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free flour, sugar, yeast, and sea salt.
- Add the warm water and 1/4 cup olive oil to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined; the dough will be quite sticky.
- Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan with olive oil.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared pan, spreading it out evenly with oiled hands.
- Dimple the dough with your fingertips, then drizzle with additional olive oil and sprinkle with chopped rosemary and coarse sea salt.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
- Remove from oven and let cool slightly before slicing and serving.
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