Rosemary focaccia recipe with almond flour is a delicious gluten free and low carb bread. You’ll be amazed at how light and airy it is thanks to beaten egg whites.

I’ve been experimenting with some gluten free recipes lately for a dinner I’m having where a friend can’t eat gluten, and have had numerous failures before perfecting a rosemary focaccia recipe with almond flour.
Generally I have a pretty good idea if something is going to turn out or not and after a few additions here or there can come up with a recipe I like. However, this has not been true with gluten free baked goods. I’m still trying to come up with a good combination of flours and thickeners to get the best consistency.
Once I get the ingredient ratio I like, I still have to make things multiple times to figure out the best technique. It has been challenging and I have finally given up on baking a few things and will defer to my friends Mellissa at Mama Gourmand and Chandice at My Vivacious Life whose blogs are devoted to gluten free recipes.
This recipe for focaccia with almond flour is not one of the failures, although I’ve made it five times now working out the best combination and technique to make this truly amazing. Hopefully you can avoid my mistakes and make it perfect the first time.
Why you’ll love rosemary focaccia bread with almond flour
- Focaccia bread is a delicious no-yeast bread that tastes good with minimal ingredients.
- You can feel good about enjoying a slice or two as it’s gluten free and low carb.
What is Focaccia Bread
Traditional Focaccia is an Italian flat bread. You’ll find that most Focaccia has dimples on the top made by pressing your fingers into the top before adding olive oil and seasonings. It is typically made with yeast and can be used for sandwiches, pizza or eaten by itself.
For this keto focaccia bread recipe I decided almond flour was my best option. I tried using a combination of almond and flaxseed meal but didn’t care for the texture or flavor.
The almond flour alone was perfect for me. It adds a great flavor that you don’t get with white flour without being bitter. You really do need xanthan gum when not using wheat flour. You can find this in most grocery stores, mine is made by Bob’s Red Mill and a bag will last you a very long time. Most recipes only call for ½ teaspoon.
What you’ll need
- Olive oil – buy a good quality brand for this recipe
- Fresh rosemary – perfect herb for this Italian loaf
- Almond flour – to make this a gluten free bread
- Egg whites – this helps give volume to the bread
- Xanthan gum – this helps thicken the bread since this version is made without yeast
- Almond milk – whole milk will work as a substitute
How to make it
Step 1
Combine a good quality olive oil with fresh rosemary and salt.
Step 2
Combine the dry ingredients and add milk stirring until smooth.
Step 3
Beat the egg whites into stiff peaks.
Step 4
Gently fold in egg whites and place in a glass baking dish.
Step 5
Press the tips of your fingers into the top of the dough and drizzle with olive oil mixture and bake.
The texture of the dough will be sticky and won’t feel like a yeast dough at all. The texture is more like a muffin batter. When you poke your fingers in the top to give it the signature dimples, it won’t spring back like other dough. My tip to get it as light as possible is to very gently fold in the egg whites. Mine turned out a little better using a glass baking dish versus a metal one, but both will work.
Recipe Notes
- Beat the egg whites until they are very stiff. If you hold a spoonful upside down, they should stay on the spoon.
- Gently fold the egg whites into the very stiff dough. This may seem impossible, but be patient and use a rubber spatula to gently incorporate the egg whites into the dough.
- Bake in a glass baking dish if possible.
- Use a good quality olive oil to drizzle over the top, otherwise you can get an overpowering bitter taste.
- Oregano is a good substitute if you don’t have rosemary.
- You can use the same recipe but use diced up pieces of bacon and cheddar cheese for another tasty Italian loaf.
I stored the leftovers in the fridge and warmed them up in the toaster oven. While best right out of the oven, leftovers were almost as good.
I tried cheese on top and I thought that just covered up the great taste of the bread. My last goal was to try to make this dairy free, so I substituted almond milk for the regular milk, and it was a success.
What is Xanthan Gum
It’s a food additive that is FDA approved and is added to food as a stabilizer or thickener. It’s made when sugar is fermented with bacteria which is dried and made into a powder. When the powder is added to food it creates a solution that will thicken and stabilize whatever it’s added to. It provides the fluffiness that gluten would provide if using flour. It also has some health benefits. If you do much gluten free cooking, then you’ll need this product.
FAQs and tips
I have found that Bob’s Red Mills gluten free 1-to-1 baking flour is a great substitute for all purpose flour. I could hardly tell a difference when using it for Gluten Free Biscuits.
Olive oil will be a bit bitter because of the green olives used in making it. However, olive oil should have a fresh taste and not heavy, oily or exude bitterness. Since olive oil is a monosaturated fat, it should solidify if you put a few tablespoons covered in the fridge. You want the olive oil to be a bit bitter, a little fruity and be a little peppery in flavor.
In order to get a good, stiff egg white, you need to be sure you beat them with a hand mixer for around 5 minutes.
The short answer is yes. If you can’t use a fresh herb from your grocer or garden, then try and mix in the dry herbs to your dough to allow it to blend into the dough. Use ¼ tsp of each dried herb.
The signature of Italian focaccia bread are the dimples because which releases the air in the dough, and the bread won’t rise too quickly.
Looking for more low carb gluten free recipes
Low Carb dinner ideas
- Queso chicken
- Chicken with tomatoes and cheese
- Marsala steak
- Stuffed peppers with cauliflower rice
- Tequila chicken
- Sun dried tomato chicken
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More Favorites from Butter & Baggage
Rosemary Focaccia Recipe with Almond Flour
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
DOUGH
- 3 cups almond flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 egg whites room temp (5 ounces)
- 1 cup whole milk/almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400º. Line a 9 x 13 glass baking pan with parchment paper and spray with olive oil cooking spray.
- Combine the oil, rosemary and salt and pepper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- Add milk to flour mixture and stir to make a smooth batter, Gently fold in the egg whites, trying to keep it as light and fluffy as possible. The dough will be sticky.
- Place the dough in the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Dip your fingers into the olive oil mixture and make dimples in the dough. Pour the remaining olive oil over the dough.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Barbara’s Tips + Notes
- Beat the egg whites until they are very stiff. If you hold a spoonful upside down, they should stay on the spoon.
- Gently fold the egg whites into the very stiff dough. This may seem impossible, but be patient and use a rubber spatula to gently incorporate the egg whites into the dough.
- Bake in a glass baking dish if possible.
- Use a good quality olive oil to drizzle over the top, otherwise you can get an overpowering bitter taste.
- Oregano is a good substitute if you don’t have rosemary.
- You can use the same recipe but use diced up pieces of bacon and cheddar cheese for another tasty Italian loaf.
This recipe is “low carb?” Please provide the actual # of carb grams. Thanks!
If you cut it into 24 pieces, there are 3.4 grams. Hope this helps.
Hi Im pleased I found this as I cant have a lot of things and the bread ticks all the boxes for me so it is on the list to make today as oz is in shut down so will pass the time away and go well with my soup for tea Thanks again
We all need a little comfort food right now. So glad this hit the spot for you.
I made this yesterday and was amazing! even my non-keto hubby and kids loved it!!! It definitely took the Carb-Crave away very satisfying and perfect for a snack board that is what we would like to do on Friday nights, and so easy to make.. Thank you for this recipe!
So glad you liked it, You might also like these muffins with almond flour
Hi,
This looks fab! Is xantham gum necessary for the recipe? Is there an alternative? Can psyllium husk be used?
Thanks!
Hi, these look fab! Is xantham gum absolute necessary for the recipe? Are there any alternative that I can use? Psyllium husk maybe?
Thank you
I’d like to know the same thing.
I’m sorry, I realize I never responded. You will need the Xanthum gum, it serves as a thickener so without flour or cornstarch, there is nothing to stabelize and thicken this recipe.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. Our family enjoyed it last night. We were tired of the pervasive flavour of psyllium husk or coconut in many of the low carb breads we have been eating. I plan to have some with my breakfast eggs. What a treat!
So glad you liked it, I love the flavor of almond flour.
i was wondering if the whole milk is necessary? would 2% work?
You can get away with 2% but I wouldn’t use skim. Let me know how it works.
Finally an appealing recipe for a low carb focaccia that doesn’t require fathead dough! Hippieeee!!! 🙂
It tastes great and just happens to be low carb!
I gave this recipe a try but only had an 8×8 square pan that wasn’t glass, so obviously I didn’t have optimal results. I had to bake it quite a bit longer and it never brown quite as much as I wanted. The flavor and texture were really great though. I will be giving this recipe another try very soon and will start with a slightly higher temperature and will bake it longer if I can’t track down a pan that follows the recipe. Thanks for writing this recipe!
Glad that you still made it work.
Mine didn’t turn out. 🙁 It was still doughy in the middle, it did not rise, and did not brown. 400 for 20 min. My ingredients were all there. Not sure what happened.
This won’t rise like a traditional focaccia because it doesn’t have yeast. You do need to whip the egg whites until they are stiff. Also everyones oven is different, it sounds like yours might have needed a little more time in the oven.