What’s for dinner? I had no idea! So I thought, I’ll make a focaccia, I’m sure something will come together then.
Whipped up a batch of my baguette recipe, spread it onto some baking paper to rise, and wandered off to do a few things. When I returned it was still the same – it hadn’t risen! Tilted my head this way and that, yes, it still hadn’t risen… Then a light bulb moment – I hadn’t added the yeast – no yeast, no rise!!!
I’d already washed up and put away the stand mixer, and being lazy, just reached into the drawer for a bowl , scraped the dough/batter into the bowl, sprinkled over the dry yeast, used up a bit of elbow grease and mixed and mixed by hand. There were little dots of yeast through the batter, I kind of new that it wasn’t right, but perservered, put down another sheet of baking paper, spread out the dough/batter, and set it to rise… Did a few more things, still no rise.
OK, out comes the stand mixer, again, scraped in the dough, spread it out, went away did some more jobs, come back, a little bit of rise… finished the top off with sprinkling of salt flakes and freshly picked rosemary and put it in the oven to bake.
While not the best one ever, it still come out ok. So with focaccia baked (finally), I grabbed some of my canned chicken soup from the shelf, heated it up, and dinner was done.
Gluten Free Focaccia with Chicken Soup
- 280 g rice flour
- 110 g tapioca flour
- 3 tsp xanthan gum
- 1½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 3 tsp dry yeast
- 340 ml lukewarm water
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tsp vinegar
- Canola spray, to grease the pans
- Extra olive oil, to finish
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Line the baguette pans with baking paper, folding the ends to enclose and prevent spillage.
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Using a stand mixer, blend the flours, sugar, yeast, xanthan gum and salt on low speed to combine
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Add the water, olive oil, egg whites and vinegar to the dry ingredients.
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With the mixer on high (Kenwood speed 4-5), beat the mixture for 3 minutes. (The mixture will be a smooth batter, not a dough.)
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Using a wetted spoon, spoon the dough/batter into the lined French baguette pans. Smooth the top with a wet spatula.
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Drizzle over a little olive and, using a flexible spatula, carefully coat the top of the baguette with the oil.
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Preheat oven to 200˚C.
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Set the baguettes to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
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Bake for 35 minutes in preheated oven.
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Remove the baguettes from the trays and place directly onto the oven rack and continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes.
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Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
- I use a Thai white rice flour and tapioca flour, they are a very fine flour and they are also inexpensive. Generally available in most Asian grocers.
- The mixture is quite sticky, and I find that the best way to get it into your baking pans is to use a wetted spoon or plastic plastic spatula. I have a jug of warm water on the side and dip the spoon into the water each time, this stops the dough from sticking to the spoon. The dough rises quite fast and will at least double in size.
- Allow the bread to cool completely before cutting. In fact, if you can wait, it's best cut the following day. If you can't wait, when it is at room temp, refrigerate the loaf for an hour or so, It makes it much easier to slice.
- Remember, the mixture for this bread is not so much a dough, as a batter.
- If you don't have a good stand mixer, don't be tempted to use a hand held mixer, it is best to hand mix the batter using a large spoon. While it won't give such a smooth batter, the baked result is just the same.
- I also use this batter to make a gluten free style focaccia. I just spread the batter 1.5 - 2.5 cm (1/2 - 1 inch) thick onto a baking paper lined baking tray, oil the top of the batter, and once it has risen, poke in sprigs of rosemary, pieces of Queso Blanco (you could use ricotta, feta or such), and sprinkle with pure salt flakes.
- Last updated: 4 January 2025
Until next time…
