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 an estimate only. It may vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and preparation methods. Optional ingredients are not included. Net carbs are typically calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols (such as erythritol) from total carbohydrates. This information should not be relied upon for medical or nutritional purposes.
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
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? 🙂
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!
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!
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!
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!
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 :-).)
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!
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 :-).
Yum! I love how it looks like pumpernickel.
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! 🙂