Focaccia Flax Flatbread (Paleo with Vegan Option)
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This Keto and Gluten-free Flax Flatbread Recipe is one of our favorite recipes of all time. It tastes great with a sweet or savory filling and freezes well too, plus it's easily adaptable for vegan diets.
If you're on either a gluten-free diet or a grain-free, low-carb, or paleo diet and you miss bread, this Flax Bread Recipe is just what you have been waiting for.
It's grain-free and even vegan (if need be) to boot and is one of our family's favorites. It's a very forgiving recipe that you won't even need my gluten-free baking tips for :).
And if you haven't heard about how healthy flax is, then read on.
Because this focaccia flax bread recipe is well–just great.
We've 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
Flax is high in:
- omega-3 essential fatty acids
- fiber
- 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 who 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 main photos here above was made with light 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.
The light (golden) flax seeds are more expensive, so save your money (unless, of course, you really need the lighter variety for some reason) and buy the dark variety. The resulting bread will look like what you can see pictured below.
Serving Ideas
You can top or serve this oh so delish flax bread with….
- Homemade Nut or Seed Butter (and jam if you like)
- Savory Hummus, Pizza Hummus, or Olive Hummus
- Homemade Egg-Free Mayo with cheese, veggies, shredded carrots, etc. Makes a great sandwich! (that's what is on the sandwich in the main photo)
- Fried Egg and Cheese
- This Creamy Vitamix Blender Soup
- This Easy Marinara Sauce. Great for dipping!
- Nothing! Just eat it plain! I seriously can barely keep my sons out of this, so plain is how it mainly gets eaten in our home.
Ingredients
- Flax Seed Meal
- Baking Powder
- Salt (I recommend Real Salt)
- Healthy Sweetener (optional: sucanat or coconut sugar would be goo options. I use xylitol or stevia extract for a candida-friendly option)
- Eggs (or equivalent alternative)
- Water (use filtered water please)
- Coconut Oil (other healthy fats may be substituted).
Recipe Notes
- Sweeteners: Use whatever sweetener you like. Stevia extract will work as well. If using stevia, use 1/32 teaspoon. Organic sucanat or organic coconut sugar are good options if you don't need low-carb or are AIP.
- Egg Options: You can use an egg substitute like Ener-G Egg Replacer or my Homemade Powdered Egg Replacer. For a low-carb egg substitute use a flax egg, chia egg, or gelatin egg.
- All five eggs might be a too many for someone who doesn't like eggs. You can try using 3-4 and substituting an egg alternative for the remaining eggs.
- Flax Meal Info: If grinding your own flax (which I recommend), 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.
- Pan sizes and conversion info: One recipe will fit well in a 10×15 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!) - Baking Stones: Baking stones really make clean up easy and there is no greasing necessary. No need to grease and clean up is a snap!
Special Diet Options
- THM: For those on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, this recipe fits in as an “S.”
- Paleo: Use this homemade baking powder (or another appropriate version).
- Whole30: Use my homemade baking powder, or another appropriate alternative, and omit the sweetener to make this recipe friendly for Whole30.
How To Make This Bread in Bulk
I love baking in bulk so I can bake a lot but only clean up once.
You can of course change these proportions to make whatever amount of batches you want. I make 4.5 batches due to that amount working great for 2 large size pizza stones and 2 9×13 pans, which fits nicely in my oven.
Here are the ingredient measurements for making 4 1/2 batches.
9 cups flax meal
4 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
22 eggs, or equivalent (use 11 heaping tablespoons and 1 heaping teaspoon of this powdered egg replacer)
4 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 tablespoons sweetener (using the lower measurement)
2 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups coconut oil
Focaccia Flax Flatbread Recipe (gluten and yeast-free with grain-free and vegan options)
Ingredients
- 2 cups flax seed meal
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-2 tablespoons low carb sweetener (optional–See Recipe Notes for alternatives))
- 5 beaten eggs (see Recipe Notes for alternatives)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup coconut oil (melted – other healthy fats may be substituted)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease pans (coconut oil works great!). See below for pan selection information.
- Mix dry ingredients well — a whisk works well.
- Add wets to dries and combine well. If using eggs, make sure there aren't obvious strings of egg in the batter.
- 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.)
- Spoon batter into pan and spread out.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until it springs back when you touch the top and/or is visibly browned.
- Cool and cut into whatever size slices you want.
Notes
- Sweeteners: Use whatever sweetener you like. Stevia extract will work as well. If using stevia, use 1/32 teaspoon. Organic sucanat or organic coconut sugar are good options if you don't need low-carb or are AIP.
- Egg Alternatives: You can use an egg substitute like Ener-G Egg Replacer or my Homemade Powdered Egg Replacer. For a low-carb egg substitute use a flax egg, chia egg, or gelatin egg.
- All five eggs might be a too many for someone who doesn't like eggs. You can try using 3-4 and substituting an egg alternative for the remaining eggs.
- Flax Meal Info: If grinding your own flax meal, which I recommend, 4 cups of flax seeds yield about 6 – 6 1/2 cups flax meal. If you have extra after grinding, store it in the fridge or freezer for adding to smoothies, etc.
- Paleo: Use this homemade baking powder (or another appropriate version).
- Whole30: Use my homemade baking powder, or another appropriate alternative, and omit the sweetener to make this recipe friendly for Whole30.
- Pan sizes and conversion info: One recipe will fit well in a 10×15 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.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Note also that this post is one of the first ones that I put on my blog. I realize now that this recipe is on numerous sites around the internet–some with variations and some without. I don't recall where this Flax Bread Recipe came from, but obviously, there are a lot of people who love it as much as we do!
How about you?
What would you serve this bread with?
Source: Web Md
You could even use beer in the flax eggs for a yeasty taste. Also pour it into your pan immediately and let it sit up there. That way it is easier to spread.
Hi there – that’s an interesting idea! I have always felt that letting it sit a little was easier for me. Did you try it the way that you mentioned and you liked it better for spreading? Thanks in advance.
Would this work without any oil? I skimmed the comments but didn’t see anyone else asking about this. I’m on a very specific fasting diet right now where oil is not allowed most days. I thought I could try eye-balling the mixture and just add a little extra water if it is too thick? Also, sorry, I think you replied to a (different) question I had a couple years ago and I only just now saw it (life has been crazy!). Thanks for any advice/suggestions!
Hi Kim – I think it could work but maybe best to add an alternative like maybe avocado, applesauce or yogurt? Or even coconut milk or coconut cream? No worries about the reply! Let me know how it goes if you try it!
I ended up using Ripple Milk as the oil substitute. Taste and texture-wise, it’s great! I anticipated it would be sticky, so I mixed in some gluten-free flour but it was still very sticky and hard to spread. Is that because I didn’t use oil, or is it supposed to be sticky? I’m going to make it again soon (because it is so delicious!) and am hoping to be able to spread it thinner so it will be a bit crispy. I’ll probably try adding just a little bit of oil with the Ripple Milk and see if that helps the batter spread more easily/be less sticky.
Hi there, Kim – happy to try to help. Are you saying it was sticky before spreading or sticky after eating it?
Oh, sorry. The batter was sticky as I was spreading it out on the baking stone. Is that normal for flax seed meal? I sprinkled a bit of gluten free flour on top and sprayed my spatula with a tiny bit of cooking spray, which helped a bit but it was still pretty sticky.
Yes it’s kind of sticky but not too terrible. It gets really thick, as mentioned in the post, if you wait too long to spread it. I haven’t had it sticking too much to the silicone spatula, however. Did you mean you had it sticking to what you were spreading it with?
Yes, it stuck to my silicone spatula pretty bad, which made it difficult to speed the mixture out. I didn’t let the batter sit at all, as it was soaking up the liquids so fast. I will try using some oil next time I make it. It may just be that oil is an essential ingredient in the recipe. Thank you so much for getting back to me so fast!
Ah OK. It’s not easy for me to see past comments on a thread so now I remember. You were subbing in a dairy-free milk for the oil. I can see that now – maybe another milk like almond or coconut would have worked due to the fat content. I guess to keep it from being sticky that is a must but I admit I wouldn’t have thought that due to flax being so high in fat. Let me know how things turn out! Take care!
These are great. My sister and I love them for our grain free, dairy free and sugar free diet!!
Thank you so much, Carol! MUCH appreciated. We love it too and I have been meaning to make it again for awhile now!
Hi! I am not seeing any recipe notes for alternatives.
Hi there – I just made them easier to find — let me know if that helps, please.
Could I substitute the liquid in this with mashed overripe bananas to make a sort of unconventional banana bread?
ooh that is an interesting thought! I would LOVE to hear how it turns out. Please do try it!
I haven’t tried that yet, but I have made the recipe above twice now and it takes much longer to get done in my oven for some reason. I’m neither high elevation nor at sea level. I followed the recipe as exactly as I could except I did use less oil than called for. But it still has taken at least 40 minutes to cook both times I’ve made it. The first time I used Ener-G egg replacer and the second time I used chia eggs. I made 1.5 flax bread recipes both times on a 10×15 baking stone, but only used the recommended number of eggs for 1 recipe. Seems that I’m using less liquid than called for so I can’t figure out why it’s taking so long to bake. Still tastes great, don’t get me wrong, I just can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. ?????
How much less oil did you use?
If I remember correctly, I used 1 heaping tablespoon.
I’m so so sorry for not getting back sooner. I have been inundated and all this stuff going on in the world. Just hired more help so I could get to things more quickly. Is the temp of your oven OK? I just baked a new cookie recipe last night and they took forever so I’m wondering if that is my problem. Sorry again and thanks for your patience!
How much is a serving?
Hi there! Sorry for the delay–we had a lot going on here. The recipe information has been updated with serving sizes and nutritional information. Hope that helps!
Hi there – sorry for the delay–we had a lot going on. The recipe has been updated with serving and nutritional information. Hope that helps!
Made this again without baking powder. 2 teaspoon sea salt,3 eggs nd grape seed oil. Taste really good . Thank you
Great! So glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent bread. Flavorful, nourishing, and easy to make.
Glad to hear it – thank you for coming back to comment!
Absolutely love – I just skip the sweetener and thinks it’s delicious, especially toasted. I’ve made it dozens of times now and I’m grateful to you for the recipe.
So glad you like it! I have actually never toasted it. Great idea!