BEST Gluten Free Focaccia Bread Recipe (Vegan!)
This amazingly super easy gluten free focaccia bread tastes just like classic focaccia! Soft and chewy, easy to make, no xanthan gum, and naturally vegan!
This is truly the best homemade gluten free focaccia bread recipe. If you’re looking for a stretchy pull, soft and chewy texture, and delicious focaccia flavor all while being gluten free and naturally dairy free and vegan, then this is your gluten free focaccia recipe to make.
Even regular focaccia bread eaters LOVE this gluten free bread recipe. Because it truly doesn’t taste gluten free!
This bread recipe is super easy to make too, even for beginning bread bakers. You’ll love how quick and easy this focaccia bread recipe is to make (no kneading, no xanthan gum, and same great flavor!). It’s perfect for dipping into olive oil or hummus, using as bread for sandwiches, or even making a Sicilian-style pizza with this focaccia bread as the crust (what my great grandparents did!).
Homemade focaccia bread ingredients:
- Sorghum flour: If oat flour is more accessible to you and you do not have an intolerance to oats, you may use oat flour.
- Tapioca starch: You may also swap in tapioca flour instead.
- Potato starch: This is NOT potato flour. Please do NOT use potato flour in place of the starch. Unlike tapioca starch and flour, potato starch and flour are not the same thing and will result in a completely different recipe.
- Apple cider vinegar: This helps to stabilize the air bubbles that the yeast creates in the dough so that the gluten free focaccia can rise!
- Psyllium husk powder: I use the psyllium husk powder, but I’ve provided the measurements for the rough husk form if you’d prefer.
- Instant yeast: More on instant yeast vs dry active yeast below!
- Water
- Maple syrup: Because we’re using gluten free flours, we need a touch of sugar to help get the yeast going. I opted for maple syrup to keep the dough refined sugar free, but you can also use granulated sugar.
- Olive oil: I use extra virgin olive oil for an intense olive flavor.
- Sea salt: Of course, you can’t have focaccia bread without the salt!
Overview: How to make gluten free focaccia bread:
You’re just going to love how easy this homemade vegan gluten free focaccia recipe is to make! Here’s a quick overview on how to make it:
- Make the dough: You’ll whisk together the dry ingredients then add in the wet ingredients. Keep mixing the dough, which will seem VERY soupy at first, but it thickens as you mix it when the psyllium husk begins to activate.
- Proof the dough: Place the dough into a greased bowl once you’ve shaped it into a rounded dough ball.
- Shape the focaccia: Once the dough has doubled in size, you’ll spread the dough in the casserole dish with greased fingers. You can watch my Instagram reel here where I demonstrate that. Then cover the dough to allow it to rise again.
- Dimple the focaccia: The classic dimpling of the focaccia! Drizzle the olive oil over the dough, then use your finger tips to dimple the dough. Top with your favorite focaccia bread toppings as well!
- Bake: Place your focaccia into the oven to bake until you reach a lightly golden brown crust that sounds hollow when you tap it.
- COOL: Remove from the oven and allow the gluten free focaccia to FULLY COOL before slicing into it. This prevents any gumminess!
Instant yeast vs. Active dry yeast
I always like to use instant yeast over active dry yeast with my gluten free recipes, as I find that the dough just rises better.
Instant and active dry yeast are actually quite similar, as they’re both made from fresh yeast. However, their processes in how they’re made are a bit different. Instant yeast you don’t have to bloom before you activate it, and I’ve noticed it makes the dough rise much quicker because it’s a bit stronger.
Active dry yeast takes longer to rise, and seeing as there’s no gluten in gluten free focaccia recipes, it’s harder to see if the dough is actually rising because it takes so long.
Instant yeast, you’ll know fairly quickly how your dough is progressing.
There are benefits and negatives to both instant and active dry yeast (I like to use active dry yeast with my regular gluten vegan bread recipes); however for this recipe, I recommend using instant yeast here.
Is Yeast Gluten-Free?
Fresh yeast and dry yeast are actually naturally gluten-free! However, most recipes with yeast are not gluten free, as they use all purpose flour (wheat) or bread flour (wheat).
The only time yeast might not be gluten-free is yeast extract. This has to do with how the yeast extract is made. But fresh and dry yeast (like fleischmann’s yeast) are gluten free.
How to Properly Measure Gluten-Free Flour
Like with all of my vegan recipes, I highly recommend using a kitchen scale for measuring both dry and wet ingredients. This will always give you the most accurate bake and achieve the results I intend for you to achieve!
The next best method, however, if you do not have a kitchen scale is the spooning and leveling technique. It won’t achieve as accurate results as using a kitchen scale but is much closer than scooping the cup into the flour bag and using that. You will get way more flour than is needed and as a result, the recipe won’t turn out.
To spoon and level, simply take a spoon and spoon the flour into the measuring cup. Then take a knife and carefully level the top. This will ensure that you’re not packing in the flour.
Final Tips For Making The Best Focaccia Bread
- Customize the toppings! You can add fresh compari tomatoes to the top of your focaccia dough, or even vegan pesto, sautéed onions, a mix of your favorite fresh herbs, dairy free vegan cheese, or even figs too!
- Use the swaps that I have recommended in the recipe card notes section: And make sure that you’re not swapping in ingredients that I haven’t recommended. For instance, I do not recommend swapping in rice flour at any point because I rarely work with rice flour; it’s not my favorite gluten-free flour to work with! I also have specifically made this focaccia with my own gluten-free flour blend and chose not to use an all purpose flour blend. This is because all purpose flour blends can vary in ingredients (for instance, I’ve noticed Namaste GF flour blend does NOT work well with my recipes since I usually just use Bobs’ Red Mill 1:1 GF flour blend). I therefore do not recommend swapping in an all purpose flour blend.
- Make sure you’re using instant yeast and not dry active yeast: Instant yeast can also be called quick rise yeast or fast acting yeast.
- Don’t forget to line the casserole dish with parchment paper! This will make it much easier to remove the focaccia from the casserole dish.
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BEST Gluten Free Focaccia Bread Recipe (Vegan!)
- Prep Time: 15
- Rising/resting time: 70
- Cook Time: 22
- Total Time: 1 hour 47 minutes
- Yield: 15 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This amazingly super easy gluten free focaccia bread tastes just like classic focaccia! Soft and chewy, easy to make, no xanthan gum, and naturally vegan!
Ingredients
- 2 cups (480 mL) water
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 cups (272 g) sorghum flour
- 1 cup (130 g) tapioca starch/flour
- 1/2 cup (90 g) potato starch*
- 1 tsp finely ground sea salt
- 2 tbsp (18 g) psyllium husk powder
- 1 packet instant dry yeast
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for spreading the dough
- 1/4 cup fresh rosemary sprigs
- 1/4 cup fresh thyme, de-stemmed
- 1/4 cup pitted olives
Instructions
- Prep: Measure out all ingredients before beginning. Grease a medium sized bowl with cooking oil or olive oil and set aside.
- Heat: Heat the water to be lukewarm, about 98-105F. Add in the maple syrup, and stir. Set aside.
- Whisk: In a large bowl, whisk together the sorghum flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, sea salt, psyllium husk powder, and instant dry yeast.
- Make the dough: Add in the water mixture and apple cider vinegar, and use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture together. It will be really soupy for a few minutes, but keep stirring because the psyllium husk will activate and all of the sudden the dough will begin to thicken to an actual dough, much like a gluten dough. Fold the dough with the wooden spoon until you can easily shape it into a dough ball (about 3 minutes).
- First proof: Place the dough ball into the oiled bowl, and cover. Place the bowl into a warm area (about 85F or hotter, but no hotter than 110F) and allow the dough to proof until doubled in size (about 40 minutes).
- While the dough is rising: Grease a large casserole dish, about 13″ in length, with oil. Line the casserole dish with parchment paper. This will make it easier to remove the focaccia for slicing. Set aside.
- Shaping the focaccia: After the dough has doubled in size, carefully flip the dough from the bowl into the casserole dish. Grease your fingers with olive oil, and gently spread the dough in the casserole dish to reach the edges with your fingers.
- Preheat the oven + second rise: Cover the dough once more and allow the dough to rest until almost doubled in size again. Preheat the oven to 450F.
- Dimple the focaccia: After the oven has preheated and the dough has risen, drizzle the 2 tbsp of olive oil over the dough. Then dimple the dough using the tips of your fingers all over. Sprinkle the rosemary, thyme, olives, and more sea salt if desired over the focaccia.
- Bake the focaccia: Place the casserole dish into the oven to bake for 20-22 minutes, or until the top of the focaccia has turned golden brown and sounds hollow to the touch.
- Cool and serve: Remove the focaccia from the oven and allow it to cool in the casserole dish for 30-40 minutes. Gluten free bread is best sliced into after it has cooled. Otherwise it might be gummy from the warmth. Serve with more olive oil for dipping, with hummus, or enjoy as is!
- Storage: Store any leftover slices in an airtight container or bag for up to 4 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer. Always reheat when ready to enjoy again.
Notes
Sorghum flour: You may also swap in oat flour here if you do not have an intolerance to oats.
Tapioca starch: Tapioca starch is the same as tapioca flour. Bob’s Red Mill sells the two interchangeably.
Potato starch: Potato starch IS NOT the same as potato FLOUR. Please DO NOT use potato flour for this recipe. It will not work.
Psyllium husk powder: I have always used psyllium husk powder vs. the rough husk form for my gluten free bread recipes. I just personally prefer it, but if you have psyllium husk in the rough husk form, you can use 20 g instead of just 18 g.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 140
- Sugar: 1.2 g
- Sodium: 335 mg
- Fat: 4.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.8 g
- Fiber: 2.5 g
- Protein: 1.8 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Great gluten free focaccia recipe! My crumb wasn’t quite as open so I think I underproofed, and color was a little blonder, so I’ll bake an extra few minutes next time. Texture was bouncy, not at all gummy, with a nice crunchy crust. Just lovely to sop up the dressing from my tomato basil salad. Will make again.
That sounds just WONDERFUL! Yes, for the top of the focaccia too, if you notice it’s not browning enough even though it’s completely baked, you can turn on the broiler for a few minutes to help it 🙂
The best gluten free recipe I have found! I served it to my family who love regular bread and they were so surprised with the texture and the taste!
I’m so happy to hear this!! Thank you so much for the review!! 🙂 Enjoy!!
This was very good!! My first attempt was a failure; it didn’t rise at all. Must have been my yeast. But this second time, it was fantastic! This will be a go-to recipe for me. I had to use broil to get mine to brown at the top.
I’m so happy to hear this!! Thanks so much for giving it another go 🙂 So glad it worked out! Enjoy!
Just tried this recipe with the oat flour. It’s a bit of a commitment (and I need to get back to the gym as stirring was embarrassing LOL).
I live full-time in a 5th wheel RV and thought I’d be using my toaster oven – but alas, the pan I used in my old toaster oven was about 1/2 ” too big to fit into this one, so I had to get hubby to fire up the propane oven.
If you’ve ever tried to bake in a 10 year old RV oven, you know it’s a challenge, and it was (too much heat leakage meant it took a lot longer to bake) and it still didn’t turn golden, so I waited for it to cool, then I cut it into 2 and sprayed with some olive oil and toasted it in the toaster oven.
I don’t want to blast the recipe as I can’t say whether it was my substitution or my oven or the recipe.
However, using oat flour results in a bread that has the colour of oatcakes (which to me, isn’t appealing).
And, while the outside was awesome and crunchy, the inside was gummy.
Apart from the gumminess, it tasted ok and it was okay to dip in the soup I made but I don’t think I’ll make it again.
Hi Carol! I’m so sorry to hear about the gumminess! Did you happen to use a kitchen scale when measuring? I’m wondering if it was the oven too- is it convection or conventional? The lack of circulation of air throughout the oven might have been the issue- I know whenever I make my recipes at my mother in law’s home, her oven is a conventional oven, and I always have to be aware of how it bakes differently!
This is the BEST recipe EVER! And the mouthfeel and taste is so similar to “gluten” bread!
Thank you Britt….I make this biweekly, it’s a staple in my home now!
This is awesome 🙂 I’m so happy to hear it!! Thanks for the review!