Looking for a gluten free homemade bread recipe? And have you heard about how healthy flax is?
This focaccia bread is well, just great.
We have been eating flax seeds for years, but mainly in shakes and as a substitute for eggs in baking, but this bread is a great way to get the health benefits of flax into your family.
The Benefits of Flaxseed:
- high in omega-3 essential fatty acids
- high in fiber
- high in antioxidants
Sounds like a good idea to get you and your family to eat more of this wonderfood, right? Well here’s how!
I’ve shared this Focaccia Flax Bread with a number of folks, and everyone has asked for the recipe. It has a nice deep flavor and pleasing texture. And it’s a great bread alternative for those on gluten free diets. Gluten free folks need to take great care not to load up on refined starches for those do damage to their already compromised digestive systems. Alternatives like this are pleasing both to the palate and also healthy for your body.
If you’re not that familiar with flax seeds, there are two varieties – light and dark. The bread in the photo above was made with dark seeds. The light ones will (of course 
) produce a lighter-colored bread, but from what I understand, there is no difference in nutritional value and we haven’t found there to be a taste difference either.
Look at this yummy sandwich! Want to make some now? Here’s how -
Gluten Free Focaccia Flax Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups flax seed meal
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 Tbsps healthy sweetener (like Sucanat or coconut sugar)
5 beaten eggs (or equivalent alternative like Ener-G Egg Replacer)* See my post on how to make your own powdered egg replacer!)
1/2 cup water
1/3 coconut oil, melted (other healthy fats may be substituted)
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease pans (coconut oil works great!). * See below for pan selection information.
2. Mix dry ingredients well — a whisk works well.
3. Add wets to dries and combine well. If using eggs, make sure there aren’t obvious strings of egg in the batter.
4. Let batter set for 2 to 3 minutes to thicken up some (leave it too long and it gets past the point where it’s easy to spread.)
5. Spoon batter into pan and spread out.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes, until it springs back when you touch the top and/or is visibly browned.
7. Cool and cut into whatever size slices you want.
Notes:
- 4 cups of flax seeds yield about 6 – 6 1/2 cups flax meal. If you have extra after grinding, just store it in the fridge or freezer for adding to smoothies, etc.
- Eggs – If you are not a fan of eggs, using all 5 might be a bit much for you. You can try using 3-4 and substituting an egg alternative for the remaining eggs. Try Ener-G Egg Replacer for a good option. I’ll be sharing one you can make yourself soon!
Pan sizes and conversion info:
One recipe will fit well in a 10x 15 pan. To use 2 9×13 pans, make 1 1/2 recipes.
3 recipes covers 2 large circular baking stones.
If you really want to bake in bulk, make 4 1/2 recipes for 2 large size pizza stones and 2 9×13 pans (this is what I always do since we eat it up so quickly!)
Here are the measurements for 4 1/2 batches:
9 cups flax meal
4 1/2 T baking powder
4 1/2 t salt
4 1/2 T sweetener (using the lower measurement)
22 eggs, or equivalent
2 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups coconut oil
The baking stones really make clean up easy and there is no greasing necessary.. No need to grease and clean up is a snap!
Hope you love it as much as we do.
Serving Ideas: Top / Serve This Great Gluten Free Bread with:
- Homemade Nut or Seed Butter (and jam if you like)
- Savory Hummus
- Homemade Egg-Free Mayo with cheese, veggies, shredded carrots, etc. Makes a great sandwich!
- Fried Egg and Cheese
- Nothing! Just eat it plain!
How about you? What would you serve this bread with?
Source: Web Md
![Life As I See It [Fitness, Health and Happiness]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v407/momof2as/Rev170x170_RunningButton.jpg)
Yeah for you! Great start and I will be visiting your blog often.
Thanks, Shelley, for your support! You left my first comment! I sure look forward to sharing and learning together.
Do you buy the flax seed meal or make it out of flax seeds? Just curious because I have a big bag of flax seeds.
Rachel, it is best to purchase the seeds and grind them as you need them. As always, no need to get really stressed out about this, but they do go rancid quickly so once you grind them, if you do not use them right away, store them in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator or freezer. If you have leftover flax meal after making this recipe you can put in in smoothies, on oatmeal (or any hot cereal), or even use it as an egg substitute. Whole flax seeds, by the way can’t really be digested and so you need to grind them to get any nutritional benefit from them.
Hi Adrienne,
It has been awhile! I’m so glad you started a blog! I’m very excited to try this bread because I’ve discovered Ethan is not allergic to flax! I have a question about the egg replacer. Do you sub as my box suggests 1.5 teaspoons egg replacer to 2 Tablespoons water or do you do 3 teaspoons egg replacer to 2 Tablespoons water?
thank you and good luck with your blog,
andrea cordes
Hi Andrea!
What a nice surprise to hear from you!
I really hope you like this. My disclaimer is that the past 2 times that I have made it, it hasn’t worked out as well so perhaps we can do a few trial runs and see what we come up with. I have been using a homemade version of Ener-G’s egg replacer that I can share on the blog at some point. I am not too particular in my baking but I typically use a heaping 1 1/2 tsp replacer with 2 Tbsp water. At times I have used (in other recipes) 1 tsp ground chia with 3 Tbsp water.
I think what may have happened these last two times is that my baking soda in the homemade replacer is old.
So I would recommend just trying 1 batch and see how it turns out. It still tasted great, but it wasn’t as crispy.
Also, do you have a good resource for flaxseed? We are still buying from Country Life if you’d like to join us.
The best to your family and so nice to be in touch again!
- Adrienne
Hey Adrienne,
Thanks for sharing this recipe with me. It’s PERFECT for using up a few more eggs! I was surprised to see I have all the ingredients in my pantry… not sure why I was thinking focaccia would take fancy ingredients. lol
Thanks again for coming tonight. Always great to see you
You are so welcome! I will have to pull out that German Chocolate cake one and give it a whirl. But the sweets tend to really do me in. I’ve never made read focaccia. I love this recipe really. It is easy and tastes really great. I hope you like it! Country Life has really good prices on organic flax seeds too.
You’re welcome about tonight too. The kids had a blast. Daniel wants to know when he can see Clint play so keep us in the loop
I just found your blog, and I love it! Great tips, and I can’t wait to try this bread. I included a link to this recipe in a the post: Facts on Flax
http://eatdrinkbewell.blogspot.com/2011/04/facts-on-flax.html
Check it out! I hope you will like Be Well, and become a follower:)
Hi Adrienne,
Your Flax Bread looks so delicious, I would really love it! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipe with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great week end and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Sounds wonderful. Always trying to add more flax in our diet. Our grandson has flax in his goats milk….and apparently the benefits are huge, according to his naturopath doctor.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
This sounds really delicious and so healthy too. I’ve heard so much about the benefits of flax, it is great to have more recipes to use it in! Thank you for sharing this post with the Gallery of Favorites.
Yum! I have to admit, I’m a bread fiend. Especially dark bread! Thanks for sharing at Church Supper! Have a blessed week.
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
This is a perfect bread for diabetics!
Check back later tonight when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts!
Yum! I love how it looks like pumpernickel.
I know this is an old post but I had to come and say thank you. My son and I both have Celiac’s and our family lives in Southern Ecuador, a place that does not have gluten free substitutes for us. It has been 2 and a half years since we have had a sandwich which is our favorite meal. I made this bread tonight, it turned out perfectly and we had a grilled cheese and THEN at some smoked ham, mayo, lettuce, avocado, and cheese sandwich. We are stuffed but so happy. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It’s so easy that even my 12 year old son will be able to make it and it was so tasty that even my family that can eat gluten said they loved it!
Oh Becka – I am so glad that you took the time to comment and share this with me! I actually just made 4 1/2 batches today and we’ve eaten quite a bit! It is a bit softer this time than I had hoped but we love it anyway. I so hope to see you around again! I don’t care how old the post it – perhaps I should remove the dates so that people aren’t dissuaded from leaving comments
.
Hi Adrienne!
I LOVE this bread, I just made it and cannot stop eating it! What is the best way to store it? Can it go in the freezer if I make a double batch? Thanks!
Also, wondering if it’s possible to decrease the amount of salt in the recipe?
Thanks again!!
Yea! We were just talking about this with a friend who has just gone grain free. I made 4.5 batches the other day and they are all gone! I haven’t tried storing it in the freezer, but if I can make more today we’ll see! I just stored it in the fridge. You can alter the salt however you’d like – are you doing that for health reasons or taste?
On second thought – I’m thinking freezing will be just fine. I know things like hummus work but don’t have great results, and potatoes don’t work, but this should — I’ll try to remember to let you know how it turns out!
MAy be a silly question, but does “2 cups flax seed meal” means “2 cup of GROUND FLAXSEED”. Is the bread going to be of same texture if I just use COSTCO boought Organic ground flaxseed??
Thanks for inspiring us every single day.
Sofia, not a silly question. Yes, that means 2 cups ground flaxseed. It is fine to use either home ground or purchased ground flaxseed, but I will say that ground flaxseed starts to go rancid quickly so I much prefer to use mine freshly ground, or at least not purchased in a store. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for your sweet compliment. (Oh – store that flaxseed in the freezer
.)
Thanks for this! I love your blog and am more than delighted that I found it. Tried this bread today and it was so easy. I probably will try 4 eggs next time and use parchment paper as it did stick even after greasing it with coconul oil. It tasted awesome! Thank you so much! Keep the recipes coming!
Surprised to hear about the sticking?? I hope not next time. I’ve baked these on stones and ceramic bakeware. Hmmm…Glad it tasted great though
. You’re welcome!
Great recipe..! Delicious! A thought: may want to use greased parchment paper in the pans. Helps with removing the bread and cleaning up. Thanks…!!
Nice tip. It hasn’t ever been an issue for me so I am puzzled about that, but I’m glad you found a solution. You’re welcome!
I make this bread on a regular basis to keep on hand in the fridge. It makes a great pre-workout snack or breakfast to start the day. It also freezes well. I have adjusted the measurements somewhat to suit our preferences: I use 2 ½ cups of flaxseed,1 ½ Tbsp of baking powder,and honey as the sweetener. I use about 4 Tbsp of honey because we like the bread a bit sweeter. I cut it into 12 pieces,and then slice each piece in half like a bun.
I’ll have to try your measurements as well! Thanks much and I am so glad that you like it!
Hi Adrienne,
I can’t even remember how I came across your blog but I am loving all your recipes! The hummus was great and easy to make (my 2.5 year old was just eating it with his hands- haha!) and I made your almond joy bars for my husband for his birthday earlier this month and they were absolutely delicious. I am looking forward to trying out this bread sometime this week. We have cut out wheat/gluten (we’re not sure which exactly is causing our problems, but think it is either gluten or specifically wheat) and it’s just nice to have bread sometimes
I was just wondering how many eggs to use if I do 1 1/2 of the recipe since it doesn’t come out to a whole number- do you think 7 eggs would work better or would 8?
Thanks!
Amy – so glad you are enjoying the recipes! I would go w/ 7. We’ve made the recipe w/ eggs several times and occasionally it tastes too “eggy”. Make sure you mix them in really well! Let me know how it goes! Oh – you could also add in one egg’s worth of substitute if you are concerned about the texture of the finished product but I think you’ll be fine.
Thank you so much for the quick response! I went with 7 eggs and it worked wonderfully
My sons and I had some warm right out the oven and we all thought it was delicious! I only wish I had made more! We ate almost an entire 9×13 with dinner (I did manage to set one piece aside for my husband to have when he gets home from work) and we’re going to have the other pan with our lunch tomorrow- tomato soup! I am so glad that I found this recipe, it is so simple and delicious and I also appreciate that this bread has very few carbs…I have type 1 diabetes and while I don’t have to only eat a certain amount of carbs or anything like that I find that I do better eating much lower carb than I used to, and especially since I am expecting our fourth child I really try not to overload myself with insulin from eating high carb foods and this bread is just the perfect thing. I do have one more question though, what is the best way to store this bread for the few days after baking it? Can I just cover my 9×13 (I used a pyrex that has a lid) and leave it out on the counter or does it need to be refrigerated? And does it freeze well?
Thanks!
Hi Amy! So glad you liked it. I made an unbelievable 9 batches today. Trying to bake before it gets really hot!
Anyway, I am on a really low carb diet so you and I are in the same boat. I still post grain recipes since I don’t keep the rest of my family as tight as I am but it’s better for them too.
I have left it on the counter. I think it’s OK for a day or two, but if it’s warm the fridge might be better. It does freeze just fine. So you can do whatever you need!
Hope to see you around again. And yes, it goes super fast in our home. I think the tomato soup pairing sounds great! My youngest eats it w/ nut butters and a little sweetener. Actually, both of my boys eat it that way!
Can you use something else besides egg replacer? I currently don’t have any, and would have to order it and wait. I’ve read about different things like using actual flax seed soaked in water, fruit, and other ideas. I live in a town that all things are hard as heck to find or triple in price. Thanks.
Hi. Did you see my Homemade Egg Replacer post? It works great in this recipe. The link is there….maybe you missed it?