It’s so easy to make this wonderful gluten free focaccia bread! It’s light and airy with a crunchy top and bottom crust. Focaccia is flavored with olive oil, rosemary, sea salt, and a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
It’s been a busy week for me and I missed my usual Wednesday post. My son shipped off to Navy boot camp on Monday and that’s all I’ve been able to think about since.
It’s definitely a mom’s duty to worry about your kids, but this worry is a whole different ball game. I know he’ll do well and I’m the proudest mom ever!! But I still need to hear from him to make sure he’s okay. Unfortunately, that won’t be for another few weeks.
To go along with my son leaving, my daughter just recently moved out. At least she’s only about 15 minutes away. To top it all off, Scott is traveling again and is only here for about 6 days. He’s leaving right before Easter. It’s gonna be a pretty quiet house, just me and my fur babies (dogs).
I’ll just have to immerse myself in recipe testing until I go to Disney World next month (woohoo!). This Disney trip is a short one with my daughter that was a college graduation gift to her.
Stay tuned for posts about what I eat at Disney!! If you’ve never been, you’ll find they treat those of us with food allergies/sensitivities like royalty. It’s literally the best place on Earth to vacation when you have issues with certain types of foods.
What Exactly IS Focaccia Bread?
Focaccia bread has always been one of my favorites. It’s an Italian flatbread that can be used as a side or even as a sandwich bread. I first encountered focaccia bread at a local bakery and deli. They made the most wonderful sandwich with focaccia bread, and I’ve been hooked on it since.
The most traditional flavor used in focaccia bread is rosemary and I LOVE rosemary! But if you don’t, feel free to substitute any favorite herb of your choice OR no herb at all.
How Do I Make Gluten Free Focaccia Bread?
This bread has to be one of the easiest breads I’ve ever made. Using my gluten free English muffin dough, I literally “threw” it together in less than five minutes!! And I might be so bold as to say that it was one of the best focaccia breads I’ve had! I served it to my family with spaghetti and meatballs and no one knew it was gluten free. We all loved the crunch of the outside and the soft, chewy inside.
After dumping the dough into a well-oiled skillet, add the rest of the olive oil on top. With your fingertips, dimple and push the dough out to the sides of the pan. See this video for my gluten free pan pizza to see how easy it is to spread this in a pan.
Allow the dough to proof for about 30 minutes. It won’t double in size, just look puffed. Sprinkle chopped fresh rosemary, sea salt, cracked pepper, and freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano all over the top.
Bake the bread for approximately 30 minutes. Cut into triangles and serve warm with pasta, or use as a sandwich bread (see notes below). *
Can I Make This Dairy Free?
Absolutely!! Several readers have said they’ve substituted the milk with dairy-free milk, such as soy or almond, and the butter with a dairy-free alternative, such as Earth Balance, or even olive oil. The olive oil will change the taste just a bit.
Gluten free focaccia bread is yet another way for us to enjoy bread. As a side to a great spaghetti meal or as a sandwich bread, focaccia is flavorful and so easy! If you’re just starting out baking gluten free breads, start with this one 🙂
Gluten Free Focaccia Bread
Ingredients
Gluten Free English Muffin Dough
- 3¼ cups (455 g) Kim's gluten free BREAD flour blend
- 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp (29 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp rapid rise (instant) yeast
- 2½ cups (600 ml) milk
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
Focaccia Bread
- about ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, weigh bread flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Whisk to combine. Using a stand mixer with the beater blade or a handheld mixer, turn on low and slowly pour in the milk and butter. Increase speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. You can use it immediately after rising, or refrigerate the dough for up to 7 days.
- Pour about 2-3 tbsp of the olive oil into the bottom of a 12-inch cast iron skillet* (See notes below)
- Dump half the dough** on top of the olive oil and add about 2-3 tbsp more on top of the dough. Using your fingertips, dimple the dough and gently spread it to the sides of the skillet/pan. Cover and let rise until a little larger in size, about 1/2 an hour. (It won't be doubled in size).
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. When dough has risen, sprinkle the rosemary, sea salt, cracked pepper, and Parmigiano Reggiano over the top and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Serve warm with pasta or use as a sandwich bread by slicing pieces in half horizontally.
I need to use active dry yeast instead of instant (the country I am in doesn’t have instant). Any tips? 🙂
You’ll just need to activate it first in the milk before using.
This turned out amazing! We made it with Bob’s Red Mill Baking flour because I don’t have a million ingredients on hand to mix the flour blend recommended. Mine was a little flatter because I made a mistake and used active dry yeast instead of rapid rise but it was still delicious with an amazingly crispy outside and soft center. I look forward to making it with the proper yeast but I’m glad it still rose with the active dry yeast.
I can’t find your video for the Focaccia bread anywhere on your site. Did you take it down? I really need to see the consistency of the dough, mine was very soft, unlike a “dough”. Please put the video back up, or let me know where to find it. thanks so much, I made this a year or so ago, and made it again today, but couldn’t remember how it supposed to look. It’s in the first rising stage now.
I’m not sure why you can’t find it. I just typed focaccia into the search area on my site and there it is, video and all.
Here is the link to the recipe on the site (with video): https://www.letthemeatgfcake.com/gluten-free-focaccia-bread/
And if you can’t pull that up, for whatever reason, here is the link directly to the video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X72RkdcptbI
for some reason, my computer is not loading the video on your website with the recipe. I pulled it up on youtube, and was able to view it. Thanks! I love this bread, so much!
My bread os currently in the first raising stage but it is very liquidity. I checked the recipe, and I believe I followed it exactly. Any advice for what to do now other than start over? Thank you.
Did you watch the video? That’s the consistency you’re looking for.
Of note, when you rate a recipe before you’ve even finished making it, it puts that rating out there on Google. Please refrain from rating a recipe until you’ve gone through the entire recipe. I’d appreciate it, thanks!
Hello and yes,, I did watch the video and the dough Was very runny compared to the video. I did go ahead and make the bread. But had to throw it away. If I try this again, I will. Add flour until it reaches the consistency in the video. Also, I tried not to rate the recipe, but the system would not let me continue without adding a rating. Thank you.
Oh, no! I’m so sorry you weren’t able to continue without rating. I didn’t know it did that and will look into it.
What flour blend did you use? I find if people have a problem with their dough being too sticky, it’s because they either didn’t use my flour blend or substituted something within the flour blend.
Wonderful!!! Thank you!!!
We use this for a quick pizza crust. I either divide it between (3) 1/4 sheet pans for a more traditional crust or use the entire batch in one sheet pan. My husband who is not GF and measures things in degrees of badness, requests this pizza! Thank you, Kim!!
Yes, I actually have a pan pizza recipe here on the blog that uses this same dough for pan pizza (similar to what we used to get from Pizza Hut). I make it almost weekly for my non-gf family and we all love it!
This gluten-free focaccia smells delicious! The top was crunchy and a nice, golden bottom crust was created. The big issue was the inside of the bread. I followed instructions exactly and I was extremely disappointed. It was really gummy. Not because it did not bake all of the way, but because something in this recipe does not add up. I attempted 2 different times, and it came out terrible both times. At least it smelled good.
Hmmm. This recipe has been made many times by hundreds of people with great (non gummy) success. May I ask what flour blend you used? Or did you substitute anything within the flour blend? What size was the pan you baked it in? I’d love to help fix your issue because this focaccia really is great and not gummy at all, but I’d need more info from you.
I assure you the recipe works. Hundreds of people have made it with success, so somewhere along the lines something went wrong. Often the pan size is the culprit, so if you’re using a pan size that’s of a smaller or larger size than mine, you will need to adjust the baking time to get the proper consistency of the dough.
What flour blend did you use?
Fantastic! Looked perfect, smelled perfect, tasted perfect!! We enjoyed it to the last crumb! Thank you! 😋
Thank you Kim for the perfect recipe and instructions for adding starter. It came out more fluffy and tender than the original recipe which was already very good. And it stays soft longer. My gluten-eating friends all said they couldn’t tell it was not gluten and said they could not stop eating it!
That is awesome, Holly! I’m so glad it worked perfectly for you 🥰
So good. I’m so glad I found this recipe.
Thanks so much, Alexis!!
Omgoodness! This was so good!
Hello, what can I use to bake this bread as I don’t have a cast iron skillet?
Any oven-safe skillet or even a baking sheet with sides.
You can make it in a baking sheet that has sides (just like I did in the video). Or any oven-safe skillet will work 😊
Short version of a long story – I haven’t had a working oven in a while, then I realized my new instantpot had a bake function, and I knew the first thing I wanted to test. I’ve made this before and it came out great. I made a half recipe, put it in an 8″ cake pan and put it in the pot. It worked great. I think if anyone else wants to try this I would consider putting some foil over it halfway through – the top of mine was quite brown (but not burned) and the oven roasted tomatoes I had from my freezer were nothing but paper – which had nothing to do with her recipe. I would also consider lining the pan with parchment to prevent it from sticking. However, the brown crust was extremely thin and underneath was a delicious soft/spongy bread, my non-gf husband ate half of it in one sitting.
Really good. I’m glad I found this recipe and the accompanying flour blends.
Kim…. I wish you could smell my kitchen right now!!!
OMG…. I’m about ready to jump into the oven before it’s done and start eating! Where’s my glass of wine🍷
You should get an award for this recipe🏆🏆🏆
Thank you.
Pamela
Oh, my goodness! You are way too kind 😍
I love this bread… but would like to make it fresh every time with the hassle of making the dough. Have you tried freezing the dough before cooking it?
Hi Kim! Huge thanks for making your own gf flour mix – it makes things much easier. I can’t wait to try! Could you please explain what the protein powder does for the flour blend? Is it a structural thing or a nutritional thing?
Thank you 💗
It is mainly for structure as gluten in regular (wheat) flour is essentially a protein made up of two parts–glutenin and gliadin. When they come together during kneading of regular bread, they form a strong bond that enables the bread to maintain its shape and stretch. Adding protein to gluten free flour acts a similar way, allowing gluten free dough to be kneaded and creating more structure to the finished bread.
I hope this helps 🙂
Wonderful recipe and so versatile. I have kept it in the fridge up to a week and pulled out just the amount I need for a recipe. I found that finely chopped apples, a bit of extra sugar and some cinnamon makes for awesome GF Apple Fritters, if you fry the dough. The smaller the piece the crispier it is. It reminds me so much of when I was a kid and my mom would fry bits of canned biscuit dough and dip them in sugar for “donut holes”. Thank you so much for giving me back some of my childhood!
Thanks so much, Gabrielle! So glad you’re enjoying it.
Of note, I DO have a different recipe for apple fritters, so check it out if you’re interested. You can search on my website or go to the Breakfast category 😊
This was hands down one of the best bread recipes that I have ever made. Gluten free or not. I bake often but I am new to gluten free baking. I decided to try this first since I had made the gluten free flour blend. It was pillowy soft, cloud like with a crisp crust, unlike any bread I had before. I will definitely make again and again. This was a huge hit with a fancy dinner. The bread was the biggest hit. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!
Awe, yay!!!!! I’m thrilled you enjoyed the focaccia! It’s a favorite of ours, too 🙂
I haven’t tried this yet, I want to really bad, but I don’t have a stand mixer. Can I just use my electric mixer and mix really well? It sounds and looks fabulous, I would probably eat it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and drink wine! Bread is my downfall, but wheat makes my stomach hurt, so I need a good bread recipe that doesn’t use wheat flour. This look like the one, can’t wait to try it!
Yes, I think that would work just fine. Most of them come with dough hooks so if yours has those, I would use them. Either way, it will take you a little longer to get a nice smooth dough, but as long as it’s well combined that’s what you’re after.
I mix it with my hand mixer and it’s smooth easily in 5 minutes, even less really.
Has anyone tried this with Bob’s red mill 1:1 flour?
Absolutely fantastic! Legitimately tastes like regular focaccia. I have used lots of different gf flour blends over the years, but have been getting great results on my baked goods using Kim’s flour blend. Things have come out lighter and without the sort of bouncy texture that I get from regular gf flour. Worth the extra ingredients and effort, because this bread was the right density and crumb with a crunchy exterior. I had to stop myself from eating half the pan! I will be making this again for sure!
Awe, yay!!!! I’m so glad you had success, and I agree that using the right ingredients and flour blend creates far superior results. 🥰🥰🥰
This came out better than I could have ever imagined. It was soft and a flavorful. My gluten eating family had to ask if it was gluten free. This recipe is a definite keeper. I used Bob Red Mill GF flour as I didn’t have all the ingredients to make Kim’s blend. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m having trouble finding some of the brand specific ingrediants to the Kim’s GF Bread Flour Blend. Are the links intended to signify brand specificness or just an example? The “Anthony’s Organic Tapioca Flour Starch, Gluten Free & Non GMO” seems to be only available wholesale. Would another brand’s tapioca starch/flour work just the same?
Do you sell Kim’s GF Bread Flour Blend? I’d love to purchase that for next week’s baking. I’m guessing that would be cheaper than buying each ingredient separately when all I need is 3/4 cup for this recipe!
edit: 3 -1/4 cups
Unfortunately, I don’t sell my flour blend (yet). I hope to get started on attempting to sell it at least online next year some time, but it’s a long process due to the fact that it will need to be certified gluten free.
I only give examples so the brands I use are just suggestions. There is one component, though, with the superfine white rice flour. I have only been able to find it from Authentic Foods, but recently there’s another one that’s surfaced called Naturtonix Fine White Rice Flour, which I’ve substituted and it seems to work well. Here is the link for that: https://amzn.to/3yA4kvU As far as Anthony’s brand tapioca, I haven’t been able to get it either, so I would suggest Bob’s Red Mill tapioca starch. There are others, but Bob’s appears to be the cheapest with the finest texture. Naturevibe Botanicals was horrible, in my opinion (very grainy). I ended up dumping out the entire thing!
I hope this helps!!
Thank you for this!!! It’s like magic. I made it last night and replaced the milk with oat milk and the whey powder with Judee’s egg white powder and it is wonderful. I refrigerated overnight and the only thing I would have done differently is to let it sit overnight in the skillet it was going to bake in (it was so puffy this morning but lost a lot of volume in transferring dough this morning and 30 min. rise didn’t do much to regain it). It tastes great as focaccia but also reminds me so much of the crust on a Pizza Hut personal pan (or what I remember it tasting like years and years ago). I can’t wait to utilize it for pizza in the future.
Thanks so much, Heather! So glad you liked it!! By the way, this dough IS used for a Pizza Hut style pan pizza and here is the link to that: https://www.letthemeatgfcake.com/best-gluten-free-pan-pizza/ It’s SOOOOOOO good, too!!
Fluffy pillow heavenly goodness. VEGAN goodness. For peeps based in UK I used pea protein isolate I got from real food source based in Scotland, rice flour and pretty much all flour mix ingredients from buy whole foods online shop based in Kent. Bog standard el cheapo soy milk from tesco and since I ran out of vegan butter I used vegan flora marg. And olive oil on top. I highly recommend pouring a bit of olive oil on top after you are 120% sure the focaccia is baked. Mine needed 40 minutes at 200 degree Celsius with a fan on. I took it out at 25 min and added 5 min incrementd till I was happy. I even flipped it to make sure bottom crisps up too. I halved recipe and it fitted perfectly my brownie pan.
My advice is to check video out for batter consistency. YouTube was really helpful thank you for making these videos!
Many thanks to the recipe author , finding gf recipe that actually works sans eggs is a struggle. You are literally one of 3 ppl found online whose recipes work. Im really grateful as this means I don’t waste expensive ingredients trying to dial a recipe down.
If I can be so bold and offer a you tube suggestion could we see a bit longer clips of batter consistencies? Even few extra seconds would be useful for anyone using different rice flour etc in the flour mix.
You are so sweet and I truly thank you for your wonderful comment! And I appreciate the constructive criticism in regards to video and agree that I should focus more on the texture and consistency of the dough/batter. I always felt like people don’t want to see longer videos from me, but I’m beginning to find that if they’re more helpful, everyone is just fine with longer videos 😍😍😍
Thank you so much for this recipe, it was a hit!
Yay! It’s my pleasure 😍
Hi, I’m so discouraged…made this 3 times and was fab everytime. Everything the same and last 2 times complete fails, very watery batter, never could dimple it just spreads like water. It rises so i know it can’t b my yeast and it also sticks to my pan now, ruins my cast iron so i have to scrub it and reseason it now. The top crust is gorgeous still so taste is fine just texture is wrong.
Hmmmm. Since it worked so well for you before, there must be something either missing within the flour blend itself (or a different brand of flour component) or within the recipe. I would see about making up a new batch of the flour blend, just enough for the recipe, and try it again. If it works, you know it’s something within the blend. IF it still doesn’t work, then it may be a component you recently bought (potato flour instead of potato starch, for example).
Oh my gosh…update…the second half of the batch i put in the fridge and it kept proofing i guess and has expanded out of its container and gone everywhere.
I made this yesterday, and i used pea protein instead of whey, olive oil instead of butter, and oat milk instead of milk. It was PERFECT! I can’t believe how delicious this was. The texture was superb. My family devoured it all. I will definitely make it again! Thanks for this amazing recipe!
I LOVE hearing stories like this, especially when several things have been substituted with great results 😍😍😍
This is hands down the best gluten free recipe I have had ever. I never feel that gluten free bread taste very good. This is amazing!!!
Awe, thanks so much!!!! So glad you liked it.
Hi Kim! I tried making this bread last night. My “dough” seemed very watery and never really came together. I know you mentioned that the dough is liquidy but the one I made had a VERY watery consistency, almost like thin pancake batter. I could have never dumped the batter onto a sheet pan/create dimples. What did I do wrong? I made your bread flour recipe too. 🙁
Oh no, Kiana! Could you send me a list of what brands of components you used for my flour blend? I might be able to dial down to where the problem was based on those.
You can respond here or send me an email at [email protected]
Hi Kim,
Leaving a reply in the hopes you can help. I have been using your bread flour for a while and just recently started having trouble with it. For some reason my dough is super wet, almost like a batter even though I am using the exact recipe for the focaccia bread and the bread flour. I am looking at my product brands, but not sure why it would be doing this. Have you ever had this happen? It was all working great for a while and now I am super discouraged.
That is very strange, Stephanie. The only time I had something like this happen to me was when I switched brands of protein powder. I didn’t really get the same results (my dough was fine, it was the finished bread that would collapse). Can you give me a list of each product and brand you’re using for the bread flour components? We’ll start there and see what we can figure out.
I’m excited to try this. Is there a reason you use whey protein isolate in the flour blend instead of regular whey protein? The former is quite pricey! I did a Google search for the difference between the two and it says the isolate has less calories, carbs, and fats. So are you using the isolate for health-conscious reasons, or is there something about it that bakes up better? (I’m hoping it will still turn out okay if I buy the slightly less expensive whey protein powder)
I use it mainly because it has more protein in it per serving. My goal in adding it in my flour blend was to replace and mimic the protein that’s missing from not having gluten, so I didn’t want anything else interfering with that (fats and carbs). That being said, it’s possible concentrate would work fine, but I personally haven’t tried it for those reasons. Also, it’s a pretty minimal amount that’s added to my flour blend as a percentage of the whole that it really does last a while. I last purchased a 5 lb container of it in July of last year and just this past week ran out (and I make a LOT of gf flour).
I made the focaccia bread last night for my 2 Celiac teenage boys and our family. It was a success. But, the inside of the dough was a little too wet and a small bit gummy. What can I do to improve this? Did I use too much milk? I weighed all ingredients to the gram.
It might have just needed to bake a little longer. The bake time is always an estimate and dependent on the size of the pan used and your oven. My suggestion is to give it another 5-10 minutes, using the same pan you baked it in the last time, and allow it to cool a little bit before serving. If cut into when it’s still very hot, it will be gummy (as any bread would be). Sometimes it just takes a few times to get it right and working for your pan size and oven. I’m sending you good gluten free baking vibes 🙂
Thank you. Trying it again!
I can’t thank you enough Kim for the joy your focaccia and pizza dough recipes bring to my son. I’ve been baking and cooking gf for 12 years for him, adjusting all the time because of other food sensitivities too. He’s just blown away with the flavour and mouth feel of these recipes. So thank you, just thank you for your tenacity in their development and for your basic human goodness to share with others. We are so grateful. Not commenting on other recipes as he can’t have sugar and much fat.
For muffins and cookies we have found other sites and even then we have to adapt. I know you understand the challenges.
Eating tasty food is such a joy. Thank you for bringing this joy into our lives.
That’s so wonderful to hear, Janice!!!! I’m so happy you can bake for your son and he can enjoy food again! I completely understand having to adapt, and I see the challenges you must face. I really appreciate your kind words 😍😍😍
WOW! Crispy olive oil exterior… light and airy interior… amazing texture… how do you come up with these recipes?! I’m super impressed. My friend and I have made your doughnuts, cinnamon buns, and pizza dough, as well, and were completely amazed. You’ve enriched our gluten free lives so much!!! Thank you Kim!!!
Awe, yay!!!!!! Thank you so much, Sophie 😍😍😍 That was always my biggest goal with starting my blog–sharing my recipes with others so that you, too, can have the same experiences I’ve been having with gluten free food! I love creating these recipes and more so, I LOVE hearing your successes so thank you so much for sharing that with me 💓💓💓
Hi Kim! I recently made GF focaccia and i found that my bread was a bit gummy after baking. Any idea why or what I can do to ensure or help with the gummy texture?
Kylie
Hi, Kylie! I’m guessing maybe it wasn’t baked long enough. If the vessel you baked it in was smaller than 12 inches (which is the size of my cast iron skillet), then it will be thicker and will need more time in the oven. I would try it again and add at least 5, maybe 10 more minutes to the baking, depending on the size of your pan.
Hope this helps 🙂
This recipe is fantastic! I am NOT a gluten free eater but my husband is. I always feel bad eating bread with dinner in front of him so I won’t unless I can have a GF version for him. You know those recipes where GF people say “you can’t even tell it’s gF” and then you try it and you’re like “ maybe you can’t because you haven’t hade real bread in awhile this is not the same!” I LOVE my bread products so I’m pretty picky about GF recipes.This one is a true “you can’t tell the difference “. My whole family devours the entire loaf in one sitting.
3 notes in case anyone is wondering:
1. I used cup4cup the first time (because I didn’t have a scale to measure ) and I still thought it turned out really good.
2. Also if you accidentally put the dough straight from the bowl into the oiled cast iron pan before letting it rise and let it rise in the oiled pan for 2 1/2 hours it still works!
3. If you accidentally use peanut butter flavored whey protein in the flour mix it also still turns out good! 😆 I didn’t realize my husband’s whey powder was flavored when I made it. I almost threw put the dough but decided to see how it would turn out and honestly you couldn’t tell.
I’m hoping my next attempt at this recipe I can do with NO mistakes but even with the ones I made it is still REALLY GOOD!
Awe, thank you SO much, Priscilla!! I’m so glad you and your family are enjoying the recipe, even with all the accidental substitutions, haha! 😍😍😍
This recipe turned out amazing! I always have low expectations for any gluten free recipes that involve yeast, but I was really surprised by how great this recipe turned out. My focaccia was light and fluffy with a crispy crust.
I was a little worried about the consistency of the dough (almost as runny as pancake batter) but I am so glad I resisted the urge to add more flour. After the dough rose, I flopped it onto my cast iron pan and trusted in the process. One thing I should mention is my cast iron pan does not have high edges (< 1cm) and the dough spilled over when it was cooking, the mess wasn't too bad…. but I guess if you are going to make this try to use a pan with higher edges.
Question, where is the nutritional information?
There is none. I’m sorry! I’d love to have it, but the cost is double the price of the regular recipe card. You’d be surprised how expensive it is to offer free recipes to the public. I’m hoping to be able to do it at some point in the near future 🙂
Hi Kim
I am making the focaccia bread for the first time. My Daughter in Law has celiacs and I try to do alternative recipes for her. My question on the yeast breads. Typically you heat the water or milk to start to activate the yeast. Your recipe doesn’t say to do that. Do you just use cold milk?
Thanks
Kathy
Hi, Kathy! You’re such a good mother-in-law!!
There’s really no need to heat the milk when you’re using instant yeast. You can if you want, but I never do because it’s not necessary. If you need to use active dry yeast, then I would definitely heat the milk and add the yeast to the milk along with the sugar and let it rise before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.
The focaccia bread was a hit! I did heat the milk as that was what I usually do when baking with yeast. I made the dough yesterday and refrigerated for use today. Everyone loved it. I used your recipe for the bread flour mix. It was not as grainy as some of the flour mixes I have used. Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes!
Thank you so much, Kathy 🙂
My partner has celiac. Finding a recipe for decent bread has been very challenging. This focaccia recipe is phenomenal. My partner, who has spent months in Italy, loves the fresh focaccia that came out from our ovens!! Thank you.
Thanks so much, Keiko! So glad you and your partner enjoyed the focaccia 🙂
Hi! I have been making this bread for the past 9 months and every time it has been amazing! I did want to share that I used it for Thanksgiving this year and made it into stuffing. It was PERFECT. I didn’t use parm for the top, but kept everything else the same. I know a lot of fellow gluten-free people are constantly looking for a good stuffing bread and this is it. Thank you – this recipe has made my life better!!
Awe, thank you so much, Brynne!! I’m so happy you enjoy it and that’s a great tip 🙂
This bread is amazing. I used a different flour blend than the one in the recipe and it turned out fabulous. It was soft. It was light. It was fluffy. It was just like the good onle days when I had bread filled with gluten. I absolutely will make this every weekend for my family. We all enjoyed it. I can’t wait to try with different spice/cheese blends 😋
Thanks so much, Vanessa!! I’m so glad it turned out well with a different flour blend 🙂
This is sooooo good! I’m yet to get all the ingredients for your flour blend, so used a GF mix from our local bulk food store and it’s so delicious. I cooked it the first time a couple of weeks ago for a family picnic and everyone raved over it. I’ve got another loaf in the oven right now, which will keep my kids & I happy at lunchtime tomorrow.
Thanks for a great recipe. I can’t wait to try some of the others once I have the flour blend mixed up 🙂
Thanks so much, Nyree! So glad you like it 🙂
I’ve made this twice in two weeks because I just can’t get enough! So delicious, and dead easy. I love that this is an egg free recipe I can just toss together.
I proofed my active dry yeast in the warm milk and sugar (almond milk, worked great) and baked a single ‘loaf’ in a quarter sheet pan.
It toasts up so beautifully the next day, and is just a joy to eat. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so glad you like it!! Thanks so much for your kind words 🙂
Absolutely delicious, made this twice in once week and the non g-free eaters in the house wolfed it down too. After 13 years g-free this is by far the best focaccia I’ve tasted! I live in the UK and am also dairy free, so used normal Dove’s flour plain gluten-free flour and added 1 tsp of xantham gum, used olive oil instead of butter and almond milk instead of dairy, but it worked beautifully. Thank you sooo much for developing and sharing the recipe!
Amazing recipe. Felt like I was eating bread for the first time in nine years, thank you. I did have a question about the calories of each piece. I used a 12 inch cast iron pan and cut into 9 pie shaped pieces. I was interested to know what the calories were for one piece of the bread?
Thanks Lydia
Hi, Lydia, and thank you so much for your nice comment!
I’m not sure about the calories. For my website, it costs me extra money to get a calorie counter added onto my recipe maker and I’m just not financially able to do that at this time. I hope to in the future, but for now I think there are websites that have calorie counters that you can plug in the info and it will give you the calorie count. I’m so sorry I can’t offer that at this time. You’d be surprised how much money it costs to get every little detail added on.
Hello,
I’ve just started to make the bread and I’m very confused. I’ve used the grams as measurements and using 600ml of milk has made the “dough” just like cake batter consistency. I didn’t see the recipe say warm milk so I used cold but my dough 100% isn’t right and hasn’t risen. I’ve followed the recipe down to a T but I’m really confused what’s gone wrong.
Can you give me any advice?
I assure you this cake batter consistency is right. Just let it proof. It won’t rise a whole lot, but it will once you bake it. Check out my video for making pan pizza using this same dough to see how the consistency is and how it pours into the pan https://www.letthemeatgfcake.com/best-gluten-free-pan-pizza/
Hello,
This is my first time making gf bread and I have a question? I do not have a hand mixer or stand mixer and mixed the bread by hand, as a little extra info. The focaccia tastes great, but it is still very doughy in the middle. Is the bread supposed to be this way and if not, do you have any suggestions?
No, it’s not supposed to be doughy. What size pan did you use? It sounds to me like you under baked it. You’ll need to adjust your baking time for the size pan you have, adding or subtracting a few minutes to make up for the difference. Hope this helps 🙂
Thank you for your quick response! I baked the second half the next day and let it rest before I cut the focaccia and it turned out better than perfect!! My gluten eating friends were very impressed!!
I’m throwing away all of my other GF cookbooks! What a waste of time and money. This bread is amazing. I actually got teary-eyed because it made me feel like I was eating real bread after not being able to for so many years. A million thanks! I can’t wait to try your other recipes.
Awe, thank you so much, Drina!!! I really appreciate your kind words 😊
My GF daughter requests this at least 3X a month! Fabulous!
Awe, that’s awesome! Thank you so much 😍😍😍
Have tried the recipe; first time added all the liquid it was too sloppy and didn’t cook properly. Second time I reduced the liquid and it was better but didn’t rise the second time and was still a bit gluey. Love the taste of it. What am I doing wrong??🤔
Have you made any substitutions within the flour blend itself? I just made this recipe a few days ago and it came out perfect like always. It is a very sticky and liquidy type of dough, but you don’t have to knead it (just put it in the pan and spread it out with well-oiled hands or fingers). Check out this video for my gluten free pan pizza, which uses the same dough, to see how liquidy it is): https://www.letthemeatgfcake.com/best-gluten-free-pan-pizza/
Hi Kim,
I want to try to make this tomorrow, and looking into the recipe for your GF flour bread blend I see that I would need to use pea protein (as I’m also dairy free), do you know if Pea protein is the same as Pea Protein Isolate? I found both online, but at my town store only pea protein and was wondering if there is some difference?
Thank you so much for your feedback !
Hi, Nathaly! I think pea protein would work just fine. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s what I used when I made some bread for my daughter, who is vegan. I’m out of town at the moment so I can’t check, but I think it worked perfectly 🙂
Hi Kim
Just about to attempt this for part of a gluten free Italian themed lunch and trying to prep in advance. If I make the dough a couple of days in advance and refrigerate it, do I let it get back to room temp before Step 4 or do I work with it straight from the fridge and just give it the half hour before baking?
Yes, you can take it straight from the fridge 🙂
This is delicious. The first time I made it, it came out perfect. I made some today and it is a little bit gummy. Not underbaked. I have had other recipes do this occasionally. DO you know what causes this?
Maybe under proofed? I’m not sure, but that’s my guess.
I made this today and it was terrific! I baked half the dough in a 9-inch cake pan (20 minutes), topping with 1 T each chopped fresh rosemary and grated Parmesan and 1/4 t of flaky sea salt. Looking forward to another loaf later this week!
Yay!! So glad you liked it, Ann and I hope you’re able to enjoy another great loaf again this week 🙂
Made this today. It came out delicious.
Thank you!!!
Hi just wondering if the dough can be refrigerated overnight before being baked?
Absolutely! It can be refrigerated for several days, actually 🙂
Where are the nutritional facts? Or am I missing it?
Hi, April! I’m sorry, I don’t use the nutritional facts. It costs a little extra to get that on the recipe card and I honestly haven’t thought about using it because my recipes are usually not health conscious, just gluten free 🙂
I never realised you could make g/f focaccia 😉 It was easy to make and fantastic! We tried adding some sundried tomatoes, mozzarella and pesto on top of the dough and let it rise around them in the tin instead of the mixing bowl and it turned out really well. Thank you very much for sharing this wonderful recipe.
I must try something like that. It sounds wonderful! Thank you so much 😊😊😊
Hi there,
I followed the directions exactly and my dough was so watery, I could actually pour it out. What did I do wrong?
Thanks!
The first thing I’ll ask is did you used my exact gluten free bread flour blend? If not, I can’t guarantee the results. Check out my video for pan pizza here and you’ll see what the consistency of the dough should be (it is actually pourable, but not watery).
This turned out so wonderful! I was very impressed by how light and airy the bread turned out. When I first took it out of the oven and cut a piece, it seemed a little gummy so I turned off the oven and put it back in with the door cracked until it cooled. It firmed right back up!I have celiac and have been gluten free for several years, but my non-celiac fiancé said you wouldn’t even know the difference!
I used my gf sourdough starter in place of yeast, then decreased flour and milk by 1/2 cup. I got very little rise during proofing, so I wasn’t sure what would happen, but it turned out DELICIOUS. Very tight crumb, but I did get air pockets inside and the flavor is wonderful. Will experiment a bit more with my starter. 🙂
Wonderful 🙂
Maybe my fault but totally stuck to the pan! I used a cast iron frying pan with plenty of oil.
Shame reading the other reviews it sounds delicious!
About to make a sheet-size Focaccia! I notice with the skillet, the dough is covered again before baking. When working with a sheet pan, do you recommend allowing time for that to rise as well, or can it go directly into the oven?
Hi, Caroline! I would still cover it and allow it to rise for about a half an hour or so. It won’t double in size, but it’ll get a little higher I think.
Let me know how it goes 🙂
Came out wonderfully! Unfortunately due to limited time restrictions and flour availability I had to use a different blend, but will say that if one is just looking to experiment, Red Mill GF Bread Mix with 2 and 1/2 cups of milk, and the exact instructions for this recipe, makes a very nice focaccia. I am looking forward to trying the bread flour mix once I round up all the ingredients. Thank you for your dedication to quality gluten free recipes.
Oh, thanks so much, Caroline! I appreciate it 🙂
First time making this focaccia bread. Pretty good. Almost as good as my husbands which has regular flour
I didn’t use gluten-free bread flour. Just a gluten-free blend. Turned out just fine.
My husband who’s a chef suggested I make it again and use for pizza crust. I think it will work really well so I’m going to give it a try. Thanks for the recipe.
It does work great for pizza! I have a recipe for pan pizza style pizza and here’s the link for that: https://www.letthemeatgfcake.com/best-gluten-free-pan-pizza/
I think if you would have used my bread flour blend, you would have seen a huge difference. I only tested my recipes with my own blend so if you’re using a different blend and it only comes out “okay” then it’s because of the type of flour.
I am planning to make this and was wondering if any gluten free baking flour should work or you particularly need bread flour ?
Hi! It took me a long time to develop my recipes and my own gluten free bread flour blend is what gave me the best results. That’s not to say that another flour blend won’t work, but I can’t say if it will give you the same results. You might get good results, but for my standards nothing else worked as well.
Can you make this with active dry yeast rehydrated in some warm water?
Yes, I think you could, but I would reconstitute it in the milk called for in the recipe. Just warm the milk up to about 105 degrees F, add the yeast and allow it to bloom before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.
If substituting active dry yeast for instant, is it also 2 tsp (i.e., same quantity)?
I just Googled it and it said you’d need 25% more, so it’d be 2 1/2 tsp of active dry yeast 🙂
This focaccia recipe is amazing!! So fluffy and delicious and so easy to make. I used egg white protein powder in the bread flour blend instead of whey protein isolate. I will definitely be making this again!
I printed this and am going to make it now. BTW your photos are beautiful. I just hope mine looks that good
This was absolutely phenomenal. And 2 days later it was STILL AMAZING- it’s a gluten free miracle! Thanks so much for sharing!
Aww, thank you so much for the wonderful comment!! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
Awesome…One of the best gluten free breads i have made till now. Thanks a ton😊
Wonderful! Thank you, Sujala 🙂
Has anyone made this using alternative milk-soy or almond? We are gluten/dairy/egg free because of allergies and I’ve yet to find a bread recipe that actually turns out. I’m always searching for “the one” and this definitely has potential!
Hi, Michelle!! I’ve had several readers say they’ve had great success with dairy-free alternatives for both the milk and the butter, as well as the whey protein in the flour blend 🙂 Someone used olive oil instead of melted butter and said it worked great, and others have tried almond and soy milk with great results as well!!
I used Oat milk and pea protein and it was stellar!
Wonderful 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Hi Kim – love your GF flours and recipes!! For this focaccia the salt and yeast measurement….I’m in Aus and wanting to be sure I use the right amount of yeast. Can you tell me how much in grams? I have done a quick search but am getting conflicting answers…
Thanks
Kelli
Hi, Kelli! Thanks so much!! I usually don’t weigh such small amounts, but from what I could find it’s about 6.3 grams.
Hope this helps 🙂
Hi hello
Just want to ask you I can’t find Kim’s gluten free flour,can I use other gluten free flour like bob reds mill flour please let me know thank you very much.
Hi, Sobia! Kim’s flour blend is just my own homemade blend. It is a clickable link to my flour blends page, where I give you the recipe for how to make my flour blend. I would not suggest using another flour blend as you won’t obtain the same results.
Hi Kim. The ingredients don’t mention milk, but the instructions say to add milk and butter. I used the same amount of milk as was in the English muffin recipe but I don’t think that was right. The dough was so wet and the recipe did not work at all.
I’m so sorry, Kate. I recently updated the recipe card because someone had asked me to include the recipe instead of having to click to my English muffins, and I inadvertently left the milk out. But it is supposed to be the exact same amount of milk as in the English muffin recipe, and the dough is VERY wet, almost pourable. You dump it in the pan and then add some olive oil on top and use your fingers to push it out to the corners of the pan.
Your focaccia bread looks really nice. I was thinking of giving it a try, but I am a bit confused about the dough recipe. The link goes to your English muffin recipe, but then to a second link which has several flour blends. Would it be possible to just include the dough recipe for the focaccia instead of having to follow several links? I think I will have to look for another recipe for now. You bread looks delicious though.
Doug, thank you so much for pointing out what a pain my link situation really was! I’m so sorry for making you travel through my website just to make one recipe.
I completely understand how annoying it was, so I have gone back through my recipe and put the actual dough ingredients and instructions in my focaccia recipe so you’ll no longer have to click through to the English muffin recipe.
Thanks again for making me realize how annoying it was to click through several times just to get the recipe! I hope you are able to try my focaccia at some point and let me know how you like it 🙂
How long does this keep
A couple of days well wrapped at room temperature, just like any other fresh bread. But it can be frozen for a couple of months.
Delicious! Don’t worry; he’ll do great! I served for 25 years and can say, boot camp isn’t as bad as everyone thinks. Thank you for raising a son strong enough to take the oath to serve our great nation.
Thank you so much!! This comment really brings great joy to my heart. My son got to boot camp in the middle of April and has been there since! He had a stress fx in his leg while running his final PFA. Other than that, he actually loves it there, or did until he got transferred to the RCU ship. He’s been very bored, but his spirits are up and he’s now just trying to get physically fit again to run his final PFA and be put back into a division and graduate. We’re crossing our fingers for some time this month.
Thank you, Anna for the kind words and thank you also for serving this great country of ours😊
Had this last night & you would never know it was gluten free! Absolutely delicious!
Thanks, mom!
The flavour and texture especially the crust on top is delicious but the bottom stuck to the pan and the inside is gummy.
Not sure what happened. Any idea?
Thanks
What kind of pan did you use? Don’t be afraid to use a good amount of olive oil on the bottom to prevent sticking.
If the inside is gummy, it probably didn’t bake long enough. If the top is getting too dark and the inside isn’t done yet, tent it with foil the next time.
Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It is very easy and yet very tasty, cant believe it’s gluten free. I sub the white sugar with coconut sugar though as we are trying to keep white sugar away from our meals. Thanks again
Awesome!! Thanks, Sophie 😍
I have a serious dairy allergy so I can’t use the whey powder for making your bread flour. Would collagen powder work in place of it? I have collagen powder here at home. If not, I’ll use the pumpkin flour but I’ll have to order i instead.
I don’t know if collagen powder would work. I have several different suggestions right after the whey protein isolate within the chart.