I LOVE this gluten free flatbread recipe. The bread is soft, rich and flavourful, yet strong enough to hold up as a pita or focaccia. It is really quick to make, will last for several days before going stale. It freezes well too!
How to use Flatbread
Flatbread is pretty universal. Almost every culture has a form of flatbread. While this recipe is most similar to a soft, naan-style flatbread, it is so easy to make that I pretty much use it for EVERYTHING. Here’s a few ideas:
- Pizza: Precook the flatbread on the stovetop, then add your toppings and broil until the cheese is melted.
- Focaccia: After cooking, brush with olive oil and add your favourite toppings. I like bruschetta or olive tapenade
.
- Naan bread: Serve along side of your favourite curry.
- Pita: Perfect for wrapping up falafels with pickled turnips.
- Hotdogs: Just make a long thin flatbread and wrap it around your hotdog.
- Dinner roll: It’s a delicious replacement for a dinner roll. Spread with garlic butter and enjoy with your favourite soup.
- Farl: divide a circle of flatbread in quarters and serve with butter and jam for breakfast.
.Forming the Flatbread
The only trick to making gluten free flatbread is forming the dough. Each flatbread is made individually on a frying pan from a soft ball of dough. It’s actually easier than it sounds.
Here’s a few pictures to help guide you.
Start by rolling the ball of dough in starch so that it is well-coated.
Put the ball of dough into the frying pan, then quickly press it flat with your hand. You can see the indentations from my fingers in the dough as I have just finished flattening it out.
The bread is ready to be flipped after 3 minutes. It should be nicely browned.
Quick Gluten Free Flatbread
This delicious gluten free flatbread is both soft and strong. It is quick to make (without yeast) and can be used for naan, pita or focaccia. The secret is to preferment the flour in buttermilk ahead of time as a quick sourdough substitute.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 Flatbreads 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Fermented
- Cuisine: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Preferment
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 cups whole grain gluten free flour (see notes)
Remaining Ingredients
- 3/4 cup starch, plus more for dusting (see notes)
- 2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1⁄4 cup cooking oil
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Mix the buttermilk and whole grain flour, and allow to ferment at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, but up to 12 hours.
- Mix in all the remaining ingredients until a smooth and sticky batter is formed.
- Warm a frying pan on medium heat.
- Coat your hands in starch, and make a small pile of starch (about 1/4 cup) on a plate. Take a spoonful of batter (about 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup depending on the size of bread that you want.) Drop the batter into the starch and quickly coat it in starch and put it into the frying pan. Then carefully use your fingers (or the back of a spatula) to spread the ball out in the pan so that it is only about 1/4″ or 1 cm thick. The starch should prevent the bread from sticking to your hands.
- Cook until the bread has started to brown, then flip to cook the other side. This should only take about 2-3 minutes per side. If it’s cooking faster than that, then turn down the burner as you want the dough to cook through.
- Serve straight up or with butter.
Notes
- I usually use GF oat flour, but you could use rice, buckwheat or whatever gluten free flour you want.
- I usually use potato starch or tapioca flour as my starch.
- To preferment the batter you need to use cultured buttermilk, milk kefir or yogurt.
Keywords: 10 ingredients or less, nut free, soy free, gluten free, sides, snacks, breakfast, focaccia, pizza, pita, naan, farl
Is it possible to replace the xantham gum in this recipe?
I haven’t tried it without the xantham gum, however, you could probably just skip it. It might be a bit crumbly, but it should still taste good!