Gluten Free Focaccia Bread with Garlic, Rosemary and Tomatoes
This Gluten Free Focaccia Bread has the perfect texture and taste! It’s flavour is made even better with roasted garlic, rosemary and tomatoes! Great for easy bread making, to go with soups and to make sandwiches!!
This Gluten Free Focaccia Bread says to me “live your best life always”. If you’re like me, then you believe that you should be living your best life throughout the week too, not just on the weekends. The Mr. and I have been making a real effort to make all of our meals at home this month because of our big trip (telling you about that soon!).
Since we ascribe to this philosophy, we are meal-prepping lots of delicious, healthy, and exciting dishes! That exciting element is really what makes cooking at home something to truly look forward to, and what continues to make all of our at home meals so enticing for us. A great example? A warm bowl of homemade chili that has filled your house with amazing aromatics with a slice (or two) of this fresh, perfectly textured and fragrant gluten-free focaccia. Let me tell you friends – once you make this focaccia, you’re going to want to put it on your meal prep list.
I’ve always been a focaccia lover. In fact, I’ve always loved homemade bread. Whenever we buy bread, it’s been from our local bakery. It’s one of those small life treats that I’ve promised myself. That can get pretty expensive pretty quickly though, so we love to make some of our favourite bought treats at home. For me, that would be this Garlic, Rosemary, Tomato and Focaccia Bread. Just typing the name makes me want it all over again!!
What I love about this focaccia bread is just how easy it is to make. Forget kneading. Forget difficult dough. This is easy peasy, and yes you can do it while binging your favourite tv show. To make this masterpiece, I used Bob’s Red Mills’ Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
I mean, if you’ve been here before, you know I am a Bob’s Red Mill lover. It’s our favourite gluten free flour and brand in general, because of so many reasons. Such high-quality ingredients, perfect replacements, and easy to find in any store. I used this Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour here because it works so well as a replacement for regular gluten flour. It gave this focaccia that familiar texture and rise! I was so impressed, and the Mr. was equally impressed. We decided to “taste test” a few more slices, you know, for recipe testing sake. Shh.
Other things you can do with this bread? Make great sandwiches, and pair with pretty much every meal you’re having. This is particularly perfect if you have family members with gluten-free allergies, or if you’re like me and always feel better eating gluten-free products. It takes about 15 minutes of “on” time, then an hour to rise, then bake it off and enjoy! Easy peasy.
Let’s talk about those flavour additions, though. The bits of garlic become roasted when baking, so if you’re like me, you basically end up eating bits from your slice to eat on their own because they are SO good. The tomatoes become burst, sweet caramelised bits. I love tomatoes like crazy, so you know I’m here for that! The rosemary makes the whole house SO fragrant, so don’t skip it! Then the sea salt. Ah!! Each bite had the perfect contrast that just thinking about it is making my mouth water again. It really balanced out all the flavours.
So there’s the bread. Eat up, and enjoy friends! Remember, live your best life!
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Q: How do I know if my yeast is active?
A: If you’re like me, you’ve had your yeast for a while in your fridge, and you’re wondering if it’s still good. Test it first to double-check: 2 ¼ teaspoons of yeast + ½ teaspoon sugar in ½ cup of warm water. Swirl, let it sit for like 10 minutes, and then come back to check on it. It should have blossomed (lots of bubbles on top, raised and very foamy!) and then you know it’s working!
Q: How important is the heat of my water?
A: Very important. It’s crucial to the baking of the dough. Ensure that your water isn’t too hot, and not too cold. It should be able 120 degrees F. Hotter and it’ll kill the yeast, colder and it won’t be activated. So get your warm water as soon as your about to mix it in to ensure the best results.
Q: How long will my focaccia stay fresh?
A: On the counter, it’ll stay fresh in an airtight container for 2 days. After that (or even before that) you should freeze it carefully in slices, and then just reheat the slices when you want them in your toaster oven! I do this all the time for fresh bread and it produces the BEST results. If you have a particularly humid kitchen, I would freeze it after day one.
Gluten Free Focaccia Bread with Garlic, Rosemary and Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Flour 1-to-1, (333g)
- ¼ cup cherry tomatoes, cut into small pieces, (41.5g)
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 sprigs rosemary, chopped and stems removed
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon organic cane or coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ cups 110°F-120°F water
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- large sea salt pieces, for topping
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or any large bowl, combine all the flour (except ¼ cup), salt, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir until blended.
- Add in the warm water (ensure it's still warmed to the necessary temperature) and two tablespoons of the oil. Stir with a dough hook or your hands until just completely combined. If the dough is particularly sticky, add in the extra ¼ cup of flour you held back (you almost always will have to do this). The dough will be wet, not like regular dough - you haven't done anything wrong!
- Lift the dough out, grease the bowl slightly with oil, and then place the dough back in. Cover with a cloth of towel and allow to rise/rest in a warm place (like an off, closed oven) for about 1 hour.
- Remove towel and spread the dough to a rectangle until its even throughout, into a 11 x 9 shape. Lightly oil your fingers, and gently poke holes about every inch in the dough going nearly to the bottom of the dough. You can also use the back of a wooden spoon or spatula. Into each hole, push a few pieces of garlic, using an equal amount in each hole for the entire bread. Then add the tomato slices equally around the wholes.
- Drizzle the bread with the rest of what's remaining for the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and sprinkle the rosemary on top of the bread. Allow it to rest for a few extra minutes on the sheet while the oven preheats to 425°F/220°C.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly. Cut into squares or rectangles and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Disclaimer: Although jessicainthekitchen.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Jessicainthekitchen.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
The MOST delicious vegan gluten free bread ever! Thanks so much for this recipe!
Awesome Jess! We’re happy that you’re happy.
This is the best gluten free focaccia recipe I have tried! I only had dry active yeast but Jessica gave me some great instructions on how to use it. My daughter has celiac disease and has been missing the focaccia I use to make. We are really happy to have a recipe that she can enjoy!
Thanks so much Dyanne! We’re so happy that you and your daughter got to enjoy it.
Made this recipe tonight for dinner, I put quite a bit of toppings- olives, banana peppers, onions, anchovies and a bit of grated romano. It was fabulous! Crispy crust, tender interior and it held up very nicely with my toppings and rather heavy hand with the olive oil! Delicious! It’s now firmly in rotation! Thank you!
Wow this amazing to read Terry! We’re so happy that you enjoyed our recipe.