The goal: Develop a recipe for gluten-free focaccia that rivals our wildly popular recipe for no-knead focaccia. Getting there was no easy task. Flour is a fairly small component in cakes and cookies relative to the other ingredients. But bread? Bread recipes hinge on gluten, which is formed by the reaction of (usually) wheat-based bread flour or all-purpose flour and water.
The open, airy structure of conventional bread results from a strong gluten network trapping carbon dioxide as the dough rises. The trick to reproducing this in gluten-free baking is to create a dough that’s sticky and thick enough to do the same. Our solution? Psyllium husk, a natural fiber so powerfully absorbent that it can turn a thin batter into a workable bread dough. When mixed with liquid, the husks form a sticky, stretchy gel that mimics the elasticity of gluten, creating enough structure to trap gas bubbles as the yeast expands.
The result is this actually easy wheat-free focaccia, which bakes up with an open, chewy crumb, a crispy crust awash in olive oil, and trademark dimples filled with fresh rosemary and onion. It’s made to be eaten on its own, a delightful side dish in its own right, or torn off in chunks and dunked into soup. But you can also treat this loaf as Italian sandwich bread: Slice a square through the center and pile it high with cheese, meat, and vegetables. Or use it as a gluten-free pizza crust: Replace the rosemary and onions with oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, and sun-dried tomatoes and finish the baked focaccia with a generous scattering of fresh mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
A few tips for success (especially if it’s your first time making GF bread): Use whole psyllium husk; the powdered version is too absorbent and will throw off your recipe. Cup4Cup is our preferred flour for gluten-free bread recipes; it consistently produced the best gluten-free focaccia, but it does contain milk powder, so it’s not dairy-free. If you’re seeking a loaf that’s vegan as well, swap in your favorite gluten-free flour mix (look for a mix that contains xanthan gum, another ingredient that helps bind things in the absence of gluten) and use a vegan butter substitute to grease the baking pan. Finally, note that you must use instant yeast. Active dry yeast requires warm water to reach its full potential, but warm water would essentially deactivate the baking powder used here as a secondary leavener. Result: gummy bread. Instant yeast, on the other hand, can be mixed with room-temperature water without suffering any performance issues.
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What you’ll need
Gluten-Free Flour
$17 At Amazon
Stand Mixer
$330 $250 At Amazon
Instant-Read Thermometer
$35 At Thermoworks
8" Baking Pan
$25 At Amazon
10.25" Cast Iron Skillet
$18 At Amazon
Rubber Spatula
$13 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
90 minutes (plus 1 hour for resting)
Yield
8 servings
Ingredients
2
4
2
2¼
1½
2
3
2
¼
1
Preparation
Step 1
Stir 2 Tbsp. psyllium husk, 4 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 2½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 2 tsp. sugar, and 2 cups room-temperature water in the bowl of stand mixer to combine; let sit until thickened slightly, 5–10 minutes.
Step 2
Add 2¼ tsp. instant yeast, 1½ tsp. baking powder, and 2 tsp. finely chopped rosemary to mixture and stir vigorously until no large, undissolved lumps remain. Add 3 cups (375 g) gluten-free flour blend, 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar, and ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil; fit onto stand mixer and attach dough hook. Mix on low speed until dough is no longer shaggy (it should be sticky but smooth), 5–8 minutes. Remove mixing bowl from stand mixer; cover tightly with a plate or plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm, draft-free place until almost doubled in size, 1–1½ hours.
Step 3
Generously grease a 10"-diameter cast-iron skillet or 9" square metal pan with room-temperature unsalted butter; pour 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil into pan and swirl to coat (this double greasing prevents any sticking and helps create a golden brown bottom crust). Using a rubber spatula, scrape focaccia dough into prepared pan. With oiled hands, pat dough to smooth surface and extend to edges of pan. Cover (a baking sheet is excellent for this) and let dough rise in a warm place until puffy and jiggly, 45–60 minutes, depending on the temperature of the room.
Step 4
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 425°. Scatter 1 medium red onion, cut into ¼"-thick wedges, and rosemary leaves over the top of the dough, pushing gently into focaccia to adhere. Drizzle remaining 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil over and season lightly with flaky sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Bake focaccia, covering loosely with foil if onions are browning too quickly, until puffed and deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 205°–210°, 50–60 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before cutting into wedges or strips.
Editor’s note: In response to poor reviews, we made note above that you must use a gluten-free flour mix that contains xanthan gum. This binder should be listed on the ingredients on the back of your package. Varieties that use the terms “cup-for-cup,” “measure-for-measure,” “1-to-1," or similar should work.
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Reviews (11)
Back to TopOvercooked it slightly by following directions. Otherwise very good. Omitted the onions.
Anonymous
Philadelphia
2/17/2024
This recipe was so disappointing. The photo reflects a bread with a large, open crumb (which IS possible with GF), but the recipe yield was flat and dense. I used a homemade flour blend derived from America's Test Kitchen (white and brown rice flower, tapioca and potato starch, milk powder) which has been successful in the past for developing an open crumb. I baked it in a cast iron and the crust formed was golden and crispy and the flavor was great, but the consistency is all wrong and the image is misleading.
Anonymous
2/19/2024
I have to agree with the review that was also left today. I've made a lot, A LOT of recipes form Bon Appetit. This one was shockingly disappointing. The description in the other review is 100% accurate. The photo shows a bread that's airy and puffed like typical focaccia, but the end result was flat, dense and super doughy. I made this recipe 3 times in hopes to get a better result. Sadly, it didn't happen. I baked it in a metal pan and cast iron. I tried proofing it longer, mixing my hand instead of with a stand up mixer, and even lowering the temp in the oven and cooking it higher in the oven wondering if our oven just runs hot. Every time the result was the same; the crust was golden and crispy and the flavor was amazing, but the consistency on the inside was super doughy, and totally under cooked. If the team at Bon Appetit is willing to troubleshoot this, I'd love to be a part of that conversation.
M Apel
Kansas
2/19/2024
I see people hating on this recipe and I’m here to say it worked beautifully. I know how finicky gluten free recipes can be so I went out and bought Cup4Cup. I always use a heating pad under my dough when I let it rise because my house is super cold. I did the metal square pan. It worked really well. Flavorful. Crispy on the outside and soft and springy on the inside. I made sure to watch it every ten minutes so when the onions were browned I could put foil on it, which was about the 20 minute mark. I also checked for doneness with an instant read thermometer. If you do it exactly as written (in the magazine) it will work! Oh and I live at 4000 ft and didn’t do any altitude modifications!
Booksandchow
Salt Lake, UT
2/24/2024
Fabulous! I've used psyllium in my hamburger rolls before but always dry, in with the flour. I like how it turned out after hydrating in the liquid. FYI, I ran short of my King Arthur brand Measure For Measure flour...I used 136g M4M and subbed in 239g of new King Arthur GF Bread Flour. It has xanthan gum, so it felt safe. It was delicious. I also added 1/2 c pecorino romano cheese with the flour. This will definitely be in rotation at my house. It made a lovely chicken sandwich with sliced Costco chicken.
Laura DV
Vancouver WA
3/18/2024
Excellent. I have now made this twice. The first time I made the mistake of using the 8" pan linked in the article rather than the 9" in the recipe. The 8" pan bread was good but far too thick for ideal focaccia. The second time I used an even larger skillet than suggested - 12". That worked perfectly for thinner focaccia that was used to make sandwiches. My wife, who is gluten intolerant, says this is the best bread she's had in her life. The second one was the best, and resulted in the "best sandwich I've ever had in my life." Some notes: * Larger pans/skillets were preferred here to get a thinner focaccia (still plenty thick and similar to what I would expect from gluten) * I cooked at 7,600 feet which gives a thicker rise, perhaps explaining why we needed the 12" skillet * Skipped both the rosemary and onion as I wanted to nail a base focaccia. Future attempts may have more goodies * Used exact ingredients suggested, including cup4cup brand * Used good cooking oil (Grazza Sizzle) * Maldon flake sea salt on top, generously
Michael
Colorado
3/27/2024
This recipe is amazing! I have to eat gluten-free and could no longer make the BA Shockingly Easy No-Knead Focaccia recipe that I loved. The gluten-free recipes for focaccia that I had read said that xanthan gum is the enemy of yeast and should not be in the flour used for these recipes. However, this recipe's use of gluten-free flour with xanthan gum and psyllium husk (whole, not powder) results in a beautiful loaf which is crunchy on the outside and has a good internal crumb. I used an 8 inch square pan and it still cooked to the stated internal temperature in 45 minutes. Delicious! Thank you.
Mary
New York, New York
4/6/2024