Gluten Free Focaccia Bread

This Gluten Free Focaccia Bread recipe came from Kim of “Let Them Eat Gluten Free Cake.” You have to absolutely need to make Kim’s gluten free flour blend to be successful. I made minor changes to her processes in making my focaccia panini style bread to suite my taste.

Here are my changes: Once I gathered all the necessary ingredients to make her gluten free focaccia bread, I like to first bloom my yeast to make sure that the yeast is active.

Process to bloom the yeast:

1. Microwave 2 1/2 cups (600 ml) milk for about 130 seconds. assuming the milk came from the refrigerator. The ideal temp of the milk should be around between 95° F and 115°F. Once the milk is at the right temperature add the 29 grams of granulated sugar in the milk. Mix briefly, then add the 2 tsp of rapid rise (instant) yeast, mix with a spoon. Cover the vessel with plastic and proceed to mix all the dry ingredients in your kitchen aide bowl.

2. Melt 4 tbsp of butter

3. By this time your yeast mixture should be bubbly which means that the yeast has been activated.

4. With a large spatula, add the yeast mixture and the melted butter directly to the dry ingredients. Carefully fold the dry and wet mixtures together making sure that the everything has been incorporated resembling a thin paste. Once there is no visible dry powder in your mixture, place the bowl in to your kitchen aide stand mixer, attached a paddle and mix the dough for at least 6 minutes in a medium speed.

5. This dough needs to proof for 2 hours. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and place it in a warm (87°F - 110°F) draft-free area until the dough have doubled in size.

6. Once the dough has proofed, follow the rest of Kim’s instructions. You will find her instructions here. I highly recommend that you watch her focaccia video instructions to ensure success in making this bread for the first time. You can find her You Tube video here.

Assembly: I lightly brush my 1/4 sheet pan of olive oil. I then evenly sprinkle enough parmesan followed by thinly sliced scallions. I then dump half of the focaccia mixture in the 1/4 sheet pan. Using a small offset spatula, I carefully spread the dough to cover the entire sheet pan. I then add more parmesan and scallions, and pour the remaining focaccia dough mixture and I lightly spread the dough mixture evenly, being careful not to deflate the dough too much. Lightly cover with plastic and and hand towel for another 2 hours. Before baking, I add a small drizzle of olive oil, add freshly grounded black pepper and lightly sprinkle with Za’tar seasoning blend. I get my Za’tar seasoning blend from Trader Joe’s

7. For baking the focaccia bread follow Kim’s steps.