These gorgeous little gluten free focaccia muffins are a fantastic easy bread to bake for lunches or dinners. Simply make the dough, prove, add the toppings of your choice and bake. The result, these incredibly soft and squidgy focaccia muffins.
I’ve been baking them regularly recently, even for non-gluten free friends and family. And they’ve been a hit with everyone! My kids and their friends have been especially big fans and it’s been fun to let them customise the focaccia muffins with their own toppings choices.
Most of the ingredients needed for these focaccia muffins can be easily sourced in your local supermarket. The only item you will need to source elsewhere is psyllium husk, which I will explain about below.
What Is Psyllium Husk?
The little magic ingredient in this focaccia muffins recipe is whole psyllium husk, which is a fantastic ingredient for gluten free bread making. Whole psyllium husk is widely available online and from health food stores. I buy this variety of psyllium husk.
It is a naturally-dervived fibre and it helps to give flexibility to gluten free bread, acting as a binder and improving the final texture of your bake. Do not skip it, else the end bake will not be soft and lovely.
I use whole psyllium husk, rather than the powdered variety. If you only have the powdered variety that’s okay, but you’ll need to reduce the amount used – use 6g psyllium powder.
How Long Do These Gluten Free Focaccia Muffins Stay Fresh?
Like most fresh breads, these focaccia muffins are best enjoyed on the day of baking. They are especially good when still warm from the oven.
If you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container and refresh them in the microwave or oven before eating. The psyllium husk will keep them fairly soft for a while though, which is the beauty of that magic ingredient.
My Dough Is Really Sticky – Is That Right?
Yes, the dough for this focaccia is really sticky and not like gluteny bread dough. Gluten free flour needs a higher level of hydration and using a nice wet dough results in a lovely soft crumb. Rather than a hard dry bread.
Wetting your hands allow you to shape this dough easily without it sticking to you. And a dough scraper is a handy piece of equipment for transferring it from the bowl to the muffin tin holes. If you don’t have a dough scraper don’t worry, a tough spatula will do the job nicely.
Is This Gluten Free Focaccia Dairy Free Too?
It sure it! Naturally dairy free, egg free, vegetarian and vegan, this is a great bread to make if you’ve multiple dietary requirements.
You will only need to be aware of the toppings you are using – e.g. don’t use cheese as a topping for dairy free/vegan guests, choose a plant based alternative instead.
Top Tip
My top tip for making any sort of gluten free bread is: ALWAYS stick to the recipe. Gluten free bread making is very precise and scientific. If you make substitutions, the recipe will not work.
Gluten Free Focaccia Muffins
This recipe makes 6 smallish rolls (you’ll want 1-2 per person, depending on your appetite). If you want to make more, simply double or triple the ingredients quantities and keep the method the same.
You’ll find a full method below, plus lots of photos to help guide you through the recipe. However, feel free to email me any questions or comments you might have. You can contact me at laura@mygfguide.com or message me on Instagram/Facebook @myglutenfreeguide.
I love seeing your home bakes too so please send me photos of your creations, or tag @myglutenfreeguide on social media :).
Lastly, if you enjoy this gluten free pretzel rolls recipe, I would be really grateful if you could leave a star rating or review on the recipe card below. Thank you!
Laura xxx
Gluten Free Focaccia Muffins
Gorgeous gluten free focaccia muffins that can be made in under 2 hours and enjoyed warm from the oven. Perfect as a lunch, snack or side.
Ingredients
- 230ml warm water
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 8g dried active yeast
- 10g whole psyllium husk
- 35ml extra virgin olive oil
- 220g plain gluten free flour (I used FREEE by Doves Farm)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 tsp fine salt
- Toppings of your choice: any of ham, cheese, olives, sundried tomatoes, jalepenos and rosemary are ideal. Ensure you choose dairy free/vegan toppings if catering for that dietary requirement.
Instructions
- Combine the warm water, dried active yeast and sugar together in a jug. Leave to sit for 10 minutes, until a layer of foam has formed on top of the liquid. No foam = your yeast is dead and you'll need to start again with a fresh packet.
- Add the psyllium husk to the jug and stir really well. Leave to sit for 10 minutes (stirring half way through), while it absorbs some of the liquid and turns into a gel.
- Meanwhile mix the plain gluten free flour, baking powder and fine salt together in a stand mixer bowl (if you don't have a stand mixer, use a large mixing bowl).
- Add the olive oil and the contents of the jug to the dry ingredients. Mix on medium-high speed for 3-5 minutes until you have a sticky dough. (If mixing by hand, use a wooden spoon and some serious muscles to mix until smooth and sticky).
- Prepare a 6-hole muffin tray by greasing the holes really well with olive oil and drizzling a little extra (about half a teaspoon) in the bottom of each hole.
- Divide the sticky dough into 6 equal portions (either using a spatula/dough scraper or your hands damp with water) and place a portion of dough into each hole. Wet your fingers and smooth the top of the dough then press your finger into each muffin 3 times to create 3 dimples.
- Cover the tray loosely with cling film (you want a little tent-little effect so the dough has space to prove and grow) then pop it in a warm place to prove for 1 hour, or until the muffins are nicely puffed up.
- Preheat the oven to 210C (fan). Brush the tops of the muffins with oil and add fillings if you wish - any of ham, cheese, olives, rosemary, sea salt, jalepenos, sundried tomatoes and more. Press the fillings gently into the holes. Then bake the muffins on the middle shelf for 20 minutes.
- Carefully remove the muffins from the tin (they should pop out easily, if not, try more oil next time) and place on a wire rack to cool. Or enjoy them immediately, warm from the oven!
For more delicious savoury bakes, why not try some of my other gluten free recipes:
Happy Baking! Laura xxx
