12 March 2025

runpunkrun: silverware laid out on a cloth napkin (gather yon utensils)
[personal profile] runpunkrun
I got two posts on focaccia bread coming at you. This is the first, written a while ago, back when this was the focaccia I was making all the time. I have a new favorite recipe, though, so stay tuned for that.

Bakerita's vegan focaccia bread is very similar to Snixy Kitchen's vegan focaccia bread, which I've written about here before, link goes to my post. Both are delicious, but I prefer the Bakerita one as it makes slightly more bread and takes half as long.

Snixy's version takes longer due to the double rise and it has a chewier crust because you blast it at 425°F for the first twenty minutes before reducing the heat to 350°F. Bakerita only has you rise the bread once, in the pan, so it cuts down on the mess, and the wait, and it has a more delicate outer crust. Because it rises twice, Snixy's version retains the finger holes you poke into the top for maximum verisimilitude. Bakerita also has you poke dimples into it, but they mostly swell shut in the oven.

Snixy gives you exact measurements for brown rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch. Bakerita lets you wing it with the flours and starches of your choice as long as they add up to the right amounts, but Bakerita also has a gluten-free flour blend that's super easy to mix up and works wonderfully in this recipe. You just use 110g brown rice flour, 110g sorghum flour, 40g potato starch, and 40g tapioca starch. Both recipes use yeast and psyllium husk for rise and chew, though Snixy helps the leavening along with a small amount of baking powder.

But I don't see any reason why you can't play with the blend of flours in the Snixy bread, or let the Bakerita bread rise twice. These breads are so similar I'm sure what works for one will work for the other.

Also, I did try out the parchment sling I mentioned in my other post, but it causes the bread to pull away from the sides of the pan and foils me from getting nice, crispy edge pieces, so instead I just cut a piece to fit on the bottom and, in addition to oiling the pan, I pour a thin stream of oil around the edges of the dough, oiling it where it meets the pan. This does make the Bakerita focaccia soft and tender underneath, though, rather than the crisp crust of the Snixy.
runpunkrun: silverware laid out on a cloth napkin (gather yon utensils)
[personal profile] runpunkrun
I've made Loopy Whisk's focaccia twice now and it has become my go-to focaccia bread. It has a crisp crust on all sides and a tender and chewy middle with an open crumb. I shove some sliced Kalamata and Castelvetrano olives in the top and they stay soft and don't dry out or burn in the oven and give the bread a nice salty/briny/greasy element.

I make it exactly as written and it looks just like the pictures. It instantly became my preferred method to make focaccia. Before I was routinely making Bakerita's focaccia bread in an 9 x 9 inch metal pan, and it was very good, but difficult to get out and the bottom never got crispy. Though it always crisped up nicely when rewarmed in the oven, so that's 100% down to the cooking method. There's nothing stopping me from making that recipe in a sheet pan except that it has rice flour in it, and I'm trying to cut back on my rice intake. The other focaccia bread that I've shared here before is Snixy Kitchen's focaccia, which did get crispy all the way around when I cooked in a 8 x 8 glass pan as it practically boiled in the oil, but it has to rise twice, and that really drags out the process.

Loopy Whisk's focaccia is rice-free and only rises once, in the pan. I put it in a quarter sheet pan lined with parchment paper, as recommended. I put that sheet pan on top of a heavy duty sheet pan that preheats along with the oven, and this helps give the bottom crust some extra heat and intensify the crunch. The dough expands to fill the sheet pan as it rises, then it shrinks away from the sides as it cooks, giving it a nice crust along the edge (unlike when made in a cake pan) and it literally slides right out of the pan.

All three of these focaccia breads taste great and, thanks to the psyllium husk, are very satisfying to chew. They're also easier to make than a loaf of bread, so if you've never made gluten-free bread before, but want to give it a try, this is a nice, low-stakes place to start. It helps a lot to have a stand mixer, and I do, but if you've got the verve, you can mix the dough by hand.

All three of these breads freeze well, too. I just wrap them in foil and stick them in a ziplock bag. Then when I want bread for dinner, I take out a portion and let it defrost on the counter before popping it in the oven to warm up. To reinvigorate the crisp of the crust, unwrap it first so it gets nice and toasty.
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