Gluten Free Basil & Sun Dried Tomato Flaxseed Focaccia Bread

By The Blender Girl on Jan 24th 2012 - Bread Recipes

Piggies! It is DAY 24 of "I LOVE Vitamix" month and we continue our celebration of our Vitamix 5200 giveaway. Don't miss out on your chance to get your hands on the best blender on the planet. Simply, create a piggy name, enter your email address and share on Twitter and Facebook for bonus entries. Every time your piggy name gets mentioned in a subsequent entry you both get a bonus entry. So share with family and friends for more chances to win!

Today I am sharing one of my favourite gluten free quick bread recipes! Vitamix Recipe #24: Gluten Free Basil & Sun Dried Tomato Flaxseed Focaccia Bread. This gluten free flax bread recipe is so quick, easy, and delicious it will ROCK your world! I can't claim credit for this recipe. I got this recipe from my friend Lois, who made it for one of our girly lunches with Dr Elaine Carter and Sharon. Those of you who have been following me for a while would remember these fabulous ladies from the fiesta verde soup post, raw key lime mousse post, cream of spinach soup post, and many others. They are my fellow passionate whole foodies and kindred spirit friends. Anyway, I was so taken with this recipe that I asked where it was from. Lois said she found it from a video on You Tube. I found variations of this fantastic recipe all over the internet and traced it's origins back to Laura Dolson in her Low Carb column at About.Com. If you don't know about this fabulous resource, check it out. She has some wonderful information and recipes for people following a low carb diet.

Since discovering this recipe, we have all made countless flavourful variations of this original recipe with spectacular results. We have made olive and parsley, roasted garlic and caramellized onion, potato and rosemary, maple banana, pumpkin spice, apple, raisin and cinnamon, and the list goes on. But my favourite way to serve this bread is with basil and rosemary, so this is the one I am posting today. But you get the idea - you really can add anything you like. I love to serve this with soup or salad, serve it as an appetizer with olives and olive oil, or just cut it open for a snack with some vegan spread or nut butter. Oh, show me the way to piggy heaven!

A lot of people make this flax bread in a rectangle baking tray or dish. But I prefer to make a round mound and cut it into triangles like a pizza. It looks gorgeous and is easy to serve. I use a silpat or baking paper to avoid sticking and the bread comes out perfectly every single time. I mix my wet ingredients in my Vitamix. But you can just whisk them by hand if you don't have a blender. Just make sure you only let the mixture set and thicken for a couple of minutes or it will be become very difficult to spread into shape. I make my mound about 1 inch high and when the bread rises a little in the oven, it comes out beautifully. If you are vegan, check out the chickpea socca bread and allergy friendly vegan rosemary and chilli cornbread. They are super quick and delicious too!

Trust me, this super quick flax bread will change your life. It is ridiculously easy and absolutely scrumptious. YUMMO!

Gluten Free Basil & Sun Dried Tomato Flaxseed Focaccia Bread

Vegetarian Dairy Free Gluten Free Nut Free Soy Free Blender

2 cups flax seed meal
1/2 cup filtered water
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
5 beaten eggs
1 Tbsp gluten-free baking powder
1 Tbsp raw agave nectar or coconut sugar
1 1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt
flavour additions:
1 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1 cup finely chopped sun dried tomatoes

Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F.
Prepare a 10 by 15 inch flat baking sheet with a silicon mat (I use a silpat) or parchment paper.
Mix the flaxseed meal, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl - a whisk or fork works well for this.
Place all of the wet ingredients in your blender (I use a Vitamix) - the eggs, oil, water and agave and pulse just a few times until combined. *If you don't have a blender just use a whisk or a fork.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine well.
Stir in the basil and sun dried tomato.
Allow the mixture to set for about 2 minutes. Don't leave it beyond this or it will get past the point where you will be able to spread it.
Pour the batter onto your prepared baking sheet in a large circle. the larger your circle the thinner the bread will be. I have found this bread works best if you
try and create a circular shape about an inch or two from the edges of the pan. Then you will achieve a more uniform thickness.
Bake for about 20 minutes. It is done when it springs back when you touch it and the top is a nice golden brown - the colour of the flax seeds.
Cool slightly and then cut into strips or wedges to serve. YUMMO!

Piggy Cooking Tips

Releasing the flavour and oils in fresh herbs

Making dips, pestos and sauces in the food processor and blender is quick and easy. But the fast action of the blades pulverizes everything so quickly, that you don’t always get the most out of fresh herbs such as basil, cilantro, parsley and mint. To capitalize on their divinely flavourful oils - bruise them a little bit with a meat mallet or rolling pin before placing them into the machine. This will help to release the full flavour of the herb, resulting in a richer, more full bodied blend.

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