Flatbread Recipe – gluten-free, dairy-free & flavoring options
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I have been making this gluten-free flatbread for over a decade. In fact, it took me over an hour to locate the link to the original recipe since it goes back before I was using Pinterest. While I have only partially committed it to memory, I bake this recipe from a printout of ingredients only!
In the original recipe, the bread is used as a wrap. I have never been successful rolling this (perhaps I make it too thick), and instead use it as a flatbread – cutting it into sandwich sized pieces. This gluten-free flatbread also makes a great pizza crust!
On our regular phone calls my Mom and I will often talk about what we are cooking, or have cooked. Here is how the conversation often goes: My mom – “I made an Asian beef recipe for dinner. Only I used chicken instead of beef, and parsley instead of cilantro, lemon juice instead of lime. I didn’t have any ginger so I left that out. It was supposed to go over rice, but I made pasta instead.” Me – “So you made Italian chicken for dinner?”
The glass jar is my mix of dry ingredients for next time – measure once and bake twice! Also note the flour – it will be almost impossible to keep a clean surface with the potato starch and tapioca flour as they both seem to be lighter than air.
When I start making changes to a recipe at least I know I come by it honestly! This recipe is no exception. While I follow what I consider to be the “baking” portion of the recipe (almost) to the letter, the “flavoring” portion is where I get creative!
What makes this recipe so special
I have tried a LOT of different gluten-free breads. Both commercially available ones and a number of recipes I have baked from scratch. Until recently, I had been unable to find anything which came close to the texture of this bread (score one for Aldi’s gluten-free bagels – no affiliation, just a fan). If you are missing a bread with a nice chew, this is the recipe for you. I would almost equate the texture to a bagel where you get a nice chewy bite. Add in the yeast (which as far as I can tell does not create any rise since it isn’t allowed to activate or proof) and you get a delicious aroma and the taste of fresh baked gluten-filled bread.
What this recipe has over the Aldi’s bagels is both the ability to add in any flavor profile I am craving, and list of ingredients I am more comfortable with. Those Aldi’s bagels while delicious do include sugar and eggs – I avoid sugar whenever possible, and I know many of you may also avoid eggs. Plus, not everyone has access to an Aldi’s!
I had been craving olive bread – thinly sliced and mixed in these make a delicious bread.
Make it your own
Just a few of the variations I have made over the years: thinly sliced olives to make an olive bread (featured in the photos), adding Italian seasoning and using it for pizza crust, adding chopped fresh herbs in any combination, a few very thinly sliced scallions to make onion bread, and so much more. Your creativity is the limit – and if you are not sure where to start, just toss in a tablespoon or two of your favorite spice mix.
How to use the gluten-free flatbread
If you are using this for sandwiches, I slice it through the middle the long way, and then into thirds on the short edges. This gives me enough to make three decent sized sandwiches. The bread is strong enough to hold up to most any sandwich ingredients if eaten immediately, however, I wouldn’t add very wet ingredients (like tomatoes) and pack it for a future meal.
Want to use this to make a pizza? Just bake as you would for bread, but before cutting, layer on the sauce, toppings and cheese of your choice and bake until the cheese melts.
Crease the parchment paper in your baking sheet and then you can easily spread the dough to the right size on a flat surface. One the right is the unbaked dough.
Make your life a little easier
There are a lot of ingredients which are measured out to make this bread. I have a few techniques to make it a little less overwhelming to make this bread on a regular basis. First, I double the original recipe. Even doubled it rarely lasts a full week in our house (actually we have been known to eat almost all of the first sheet of bread right off the cooling rack).
To keep the bread for more than a day or two, I do keep it in the fridge during the warmer months (or if I use wet ingredients like olives for the flavoring). The bread has a much better texture at room temperature, so I try to pull out a few pieces 15-30 minutes before I want to have lunch. You can also do a quick toast in the toaster oven to warm them up.
This is the golden color you are aiming for fresh out of the oven.
Second, when measuring out the dry ingredients (sorghum flour through xanthan gum), I measure everything out twice. The first set goes into a mixing bowl for immediate use, the second set I measure straight into a mason jar. This mix goes into the fridge (it could also go on the pantry shelf, but I err on the side of overly cautious), and then it just needs to be poured into a bowl and mixed with the four wet ingredients (water through vinegar) and the seasonings of my choice. It only adds a few extra seconds when making the first round of the bread, and it makes the second week of bread making an extra speedy process!
I hope you enjoy this bread as much as I do!
Gluten-Free Flatbread Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup sorghum flour
- ½ cup millet flour
- ½ cup potato starch (this is different from potato flour)
- ½ cup tapioca starch
- 2 Tbsp yeast
- 4 Tbsp powdered coconut milk
- 1 tsp salt (less if using a spice mix which includes salt or a salty mix-in like olives)
- 4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1½ cups warm water
- 3 tsp honey (try agave to make this vegan)
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1-2 Tbsp dried spice mix of your choice and/or up to ¼ cup of wet mix-ins like olives or chopped fresh herbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Mix dry ingredients (sorghum flour through xanthan gum) in a bowl. Once dry ingredients are well mixed, add your mix-ins and ensure they are thoroughly distributed.
- In a 2 cup measuring cup, add water, honey, olive oil, and vinegar. I suggest measuring 1 tsp olive oil, then 2 tsp honey, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp honey and then the vinegar. The oil helps to keep the honey from sticking to the measuring spoon and the vinegar will pick up anything that does manage to stick. Using a fork, stir the ingredients in the measuring cup until the honey is combined.
- Add wet to dry and use your fork to mix until combined, this will be a thick, sticky dough and will look a little shaggy.
- Refill your measuring cup with water and place a rubber/silicone spatula in the measuring cup.
- Line a 10x15” baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide your dough in half and drop half onto the baking sheet. Using the rubber spatula, spread your dough so it is in an even layer and reaches all edges of the baking sheet. If your spatula starts to stick, drop it back in the measuring cup. Place in the oven and bake for 13 minutes or until the top is a light golden brown.
- Repeat the last step with the second half of the dough (if you have two 10x15" baking sheets and enough room in the oven to put them on the same rack, you can bake these at the same time).
- When you remove the bread from the oven, leave it on the parchment paper, but take it off the baking sheet and let it cool on a baking rack. You want to allow any moisture trapped on the bottom of the bread to evaporate out. The bread should come off the parchment paper without a problem if it is properly cooked. If cutting the bread, return to the baking sheet and cut the bread into slices, I use a pizza cutter to easily make my cuts.
I love your “conversations with mom”.
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