Gluten Free Olive & Herb Focaccia

Enjoy another post from my sister, Megan! 

As you all know from previous postings, my husband is a gluten fiend.  So of course I am always on the lookout for gluten free bread recipes that rival the “real thing”.  Boy, did I hit the jackpot with this recipe!  I am not kidding when I say that this is the best gluten free bread recipe that I have tried to date.  My husband would heartily agree being that he ate all of it in less than two days.  I even went back for seconds, knowing that it would disappear before I knew it if I didn’t.  I also found that this was the easiest GF bread recipe I have made, which made it an even more appealing addition to my recipe favorites.  I hope you enjoy!

As you would with any baked recipe; start by separating the dry and wet ingredients. The recipe directs you to mix the two with a hand mixer, but being that my husband and I are in a temporary living situation (ah, the army :D) I do not have a hand mixer and found a spatula works just fine.   Plus, who doesn’t love a good arm workout!?

Once the batter has been mixed, you simply separate the dough and form it into two equally sized discs on a cooking sheet.  Some tips: wet your fingers before working with the dough; it is very sticky.  Cover your cooking sheet with foil for easy clean up and it keeps the bread from sticking to the sheet.  The dough will need 20 minutes to rest, which provides the perfect opportunity to chop up all the yummy toppings (pictured below) for the bread.

Once you have chopped all your toppings the recipe will direct you to use your finger to dimple the top of the bread.  DO NOT skip this step; this will help all your lovely toppings meld into the bread as it bakes. YUM!

Now that you have topped your bread, simply pop it in the oven and get ready to see something beautiful in 15 minutes.  Top the baked bread with some fresh grated Romano cheese and enjoy warm as a side or as a main dish because you might not want anything else.

*NOTES: I used Pamela’s pancake and baking mix instead of their suggested flour blend.  Pamela’s worked wonderfully and it is much easier than mixing your own.  This recipe is from the cookbook, The Gluten-Free Bible.