Olive and Rosemary Faux’caccia
This Olive and Rosemary Focaccia, or Faux’caccia as I like to call it, ranks pretty high on my list of “bestest” culinary successes.
Quite frankly, when I took it out of the oven, I was genuinely impressed with the way it turned out. It looked so beautiful and perfectly golden, and fluffy and crispy… and the smell that was emanating from it: OH.MY.WORD. This flat bread was absolutely everything I’d hoped it to be when I envisioned it, and then some!
Just like any good bread should, it holds together super well. In fact, it has a consistency that’s very similar to that of the real thing. You can even put this baby in the toaster, and if you slice it in half horizontally, you can use it to make the prettiest little sandwiches.
It knows how to turn breakfast into a very pleasant gustatory experience, too! You need simply toast a slice, then cut it into strips and dip ’em into your egg yolks! Oh joy…
Last but not least, it makes the most amazing croutons! Just you wait ’til I share my Keto Caesar Salad recipe, then you’ll know exactly what I mean!
As if all that wasn’t reason enough to fall madly in love with this Faux’caccia, it’s got another ace up its sleeve: it’s MUCH easier to make than the real thing!
There’s only this small little detail, though… it does call for cauliflower, which needs to be grated and cooked and then, you guessed it, squeezed dry! Yeah, that part sucks, but sadly, there’s no getting around it.
And you know what? The more I get to do it, the less I despise squeezing water out of things.
Especially when the end result is so very well worth it!
Once your cauliflower is dealt with, throw it into a large mixing bowl along with the rest of the dry ingredients.
Mix the dry ingredients with a large whisk until well combined.
In a separate bowl, add all the wet ingredients and again, whisk until well combined and slightly frothy, then pour that over the dry ingredients.
Mix delicately with a rubber spatula to combine.
Pour the batter onto a baking sheet that’s been greased and lined with parchment paper and spread it as evenly as possible.
Garnish with sliced green olives and chopped rosemary, then dribble some beautiful and fragrant extra-virgin olive oil all over its surface.
Place your bread in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until top becomes the most beautiful shade of golden.
As soon as the bread comes out of the oven, drizzle the remaining olive oil all over it.
Feel free to go liberally with the oil, your bread will soak it right up!
Transfer your Focaccia onto a cooling rack and let it cool for at least 15 to 20 minutes… if you have that kind of willpower!
Slice your Faux’caccia into 12 equal pieces and try your darn best not to eat them all!
You want to save some for later, so you can try toasting it, dipping it in egg yolk and then make sandwiches… and croutons! Ah yes, don’t forget the croutons! You gotta save a couple of slices for that, too!
Just look at that texture. Can you imagine how fluffy and crispy and tasty that is? Ah! How I wish you could just reach and grab a piece of this so you could try it for yourself right this minute.
I honestly don’t often eat or crave bread anymore, but you can be certain that when I do, I will invariably revert to this recipe.
And chances are, I’ll be craving “bread” slightly more often now that my brain has a freshly created memory of this new deliciousness…
Olive and Rosemary Faux’caccia
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 350 g 3/4lb cauliflower, grated
- 1-1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 4 large eggs
Toppings
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1/4 cup sliced green olives
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F. Grease and line a 9" x 13" rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper
- Use a box grater or the grater disc of your food processor to grate the cauliflower.
- Place the grated cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl and cover loosely; microwave for about 5 minutes on high or until super tender. Let the cauliflower cool for a few minutes until it can be handled safely and then squeeze as much water out of it as you possibly can.
- Throw the cauliflower into a bowl, along with the rest of the ingredients listed under "Dry Ingredients". Mix with a large whisk until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, add all the ingredients listed under "Wet Ingredients" and again, whisk until well combined and slightly frothy.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix delicately with a rubber spatula to combine. Pour onto the reserved baking sheet and spread as evenly as possible. Garnish with sliced green olives and chopped rosemary, then drizzle 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
- Place your bread in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 375F; bake for 20 minutes or until top becomes the most beautiful shade of golden.
- As soon as the bread comes out of the oven, dribble the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil all over its surface (or more if you want, the bread will soak it right up), then transfer your focaccia onto a cooling rack
- Let the bread cool for 10-15 minutes (if you can!) and then cut it into 12 pieces.
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
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56 Comments on “Olive and Rosemary Faux’caccia”
This looks wonderful! I can see how it would make excellent croutons 🙂
loving the look of this focaccia.. love all the different flours that you used too!
Well I sure am impressed! It’s not easy to make healthy breads taste good let alone look so gorgeous! The possibilities are endless with this focaccia errr faux’caccia ;} I’m thinking bread crumbs for that salad you were talking about!
Why thank you so much, Gwen. That is incredibly nice of you to say! 🙂
Can’t wait to try this! I really miss artisan bread but with recipes like this who needs it! For the croutons do you let the bread go stale or do you make them right away? Do you put the chopped up pieces back in the oven? Never tried making my own before so sorry if a silly question.
I didn’t let it go stale, Ann, I simply pan-fried it in a generous amount of ghee. Best croutons ever! I’ll be posting the complete instructions when I post the recipe for my Caesar Salad. It shouldn’t take too long…
WOW – I just made this. It is fantastic! I am really impressed. (I NEVER ever write comments but I HAD to on this one!!) I have been GF for quite a while now and many. many things come out like cardboard – right into the trash. But NOT this – wow, really, really tasty! Alittle bit of work with the cauliflower but well worth it! Keep up the good create lady, thank you!
Thank you so much for leaving this amazing feedback, JK. I take it as a MAJOR compliment! Real glad to hear that my faux’caccia was to your liking, and don’t you worry, I’m not about to stop coming up with new recipes. My brain would never let me… 😉
Hey, I made a lot of your recipes already and most turned out great. I love your site, thank you very much 🙂
My fauxcaccia tastes great but it is very moist, I really squeezed that cauliflower and left the bread 10 minutes longer in the oven and it still is very moist?
I really don’t know what to tell you, Lena. I would think that either your bread was too thick or your oven temperature is off… A bread this thin should definitely be cooked after spending a half hour in the oven!
ooh, looks yummy. I crave bread all the time, unfortunately. I wonder if a dehydrator would work to get all the excess water out of the cauliflower?…
You really don’t need a dehydrator, Tonya. Just squeeze it out real dry, it will suffice.
Sounds like this would be great with the crockpot “pizza” I’m planning on making Thursday. Been wondering what to serve with it since it’s just tomatoes and toppings, no crust! Thanks!
Hmmmm… sounds heavenly, Steph! Enjoy that meal! 🙂
Ok Sonia, I made this yesterday and while I wasn’t really prepared for the texture, I couldn’t stop eating it. I had minor oven issues so next time I will know how to correct those. I cannot wait to make croutons out of what is left!!
*Even though I am not supposed to have coconut, I said, “to hell with it, I must make this bread!”
Thanks for the recipe.
What were you not really prepared for texture-wise, Beth? Were you expecting something entirely different? I’m curious!
I hope the coconut won’t be giving you a hard time (like your oven apparently did…) Fingers crossed! 😀
It was more “wet” than I expected. I do believe that was because of my oven though as it never really got golden on the top. So far the coconut has not affected me. I just know I cannot overdo it. 🙂
I find that home ovens sometimes have a hard time handling hotter temperatures. That really is a bummer. This foccacia should definitely not have a wet feeling to it, and it turns the most beautiful shade of golden. Have you ever checked it for accuracy?
Oh yeah, it definitely runs hot. I have a thermometer inside to gauge the temp but I have to guess at what dial temp will give me the right oven temp. This works great for things that are baked at a single temp but with this recipe the temp needed to be turned lower and that caused my oven to cool too much. I turned it back up but didn’t really get the best results.
I will pay closer attention to determine exactly where the dial needs to be to achieve the right temp and then I will make this again.
Ok, made it again with careful attention paid to the oven temp being right. I also made sure I REALLY squeezed out every drop of liquid out of the cauliflower and guess what? PERFECT!! It is so delicious, thanks Sonia.
HIGH FIVE!!!! So happy to hear, Beth! 😀
Dang! I neglected to grease the parchment paper–hope it does not stick too badly… 🙁
I love your recipes Sonia, so easy to follow–even for an inexperienced “cook” like me-and your recipes are so forgiving!
mmm….very good! Although, mine is a wee bit wet-guess I did not squeeze the cauli good enough-will definitely make again!
YAY! Real happy to hear, Debbie! So glad this recipe worked out for you and was to your liking. Cauliflower can be tricky to squeeze completely dry. It needs to be squeezed and squeezed and squeezed again. It seems water is always coming back as if by magic! As for greasing the parchment paper, it’s in fact the baking sheet that you want to grease so that the parchment paper adheres to it. Parchment paper in itself is highly “non-stick”. I’ve yet to see something cling to that stuff!
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to leave such great feedback and thanks for your kind words, too. I greatly appreciate that! You totally rock! 😀
oh! and it did NOT stick at all!! 🙂
Seeing your recipes and pictures makes me want to try these ‘food changes’ for the very first time! Lover of all things white potato and bread….i have always balked at the cauliflower substitute. This one gives me hope to try it. One question: do you HAVE TO use a microwave to cook the cauliflower? what would be an option for the micro? And, can the cauliflower be cooked and then grated or must it be first grated, then cooked? Thanks…I am actually looking forward to trying! And, I found this one after exploring your offal offerings. 😉
Thanks a bunch for all your kind words, Jayne, I am truly flattered. To answer you question, no you don’t absolutely have to use a microwave, you could also steam the cauliflower, like I did in this post)
Hope this helps, and please do let me know how the bread turned out if you end up trying it! 🙂
I just finished making another batch of this. It fills a need in me like nothing else. 🙂
I do not think I have mentioned, but I have over 35 years of professional food experience. I had a partner once that said to me, “You need at least one lazy person working for you, because they will always show you the easiest way to do things.” Well I never forgot that and through out my career I have found it to be absolutely true.
Anyway I have a couple of tips. I am not sure why you grease and line with parchment paper but parchment paper is absolutely sufficient, unless you do that for another reason.
I don’t always (hardly ever) have fresh rosemary so I have a trick. Just use the same amount of dried (still needs to not be old) and blanch it. Yep, just toss it in some boiling water for a few seconds and the strain it with a fine sieve. It is amazing how much that reinvigorates the oils and softens the leaves.
I mainly grease and line with parchment paper because greasing helps in keeping the parchment paper in place and makes it adhere real good to the entire surface of the baking sheet, which prevents the batter from sliding underneath. Plus, it doesn’t take all that long and saves me so much aggravation, I don’t think I could ever skip it.
As for fresh rosemary, it happens to be one of my favorite fresh herbs, one that I almost constantly happen to have on hand. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever even tried the dried stuff. Maybe I should give your technique a go and see what it says! 🙂
Its always good to understand why someone does something, so I get that.
As far as rosemary goes, yes the fresh is heavenly. I didn’t used to even like it but recently bought some because I loved its fragrance. Too bad I didn’t have this recipe then. I do not have much access to fresh and was offering the tip to others that might not. It is a great second option! 🙂
I love your blog! Would very much like to try this but I too don’t have a microwave. If I steamed the cauliflower, grate it first then steam it? I feel like that will fall through the holes in my steamer basket. Will the mesh sieve squeezing break it up enough?
Thank you!
No need to grate it first, Ali. Just steam it and then squeeze in the fine mesh sieve. You’ll need to break it down with a fork while squeezing to get as much water out as possible, so it will become plenty small. Hope this helps!
Made this extraordinary bread, thanks so much. really hits the bread spot. I used a silpat liner in my tray and it worked great. The husband went nuts over it, especially when toasting the leftovers. I just happened to have some riced cauliflower, which I make by toasting in the oven ala Melissa Joulwan, 1 head cauliflower riced, mixed with 1 tbl coconut oil, a splash of salt, spread out in a sheet in a 425 oven for 20 minutes, best cauliflower rice ever. After steaming it, still squoze out about a half cup of water. !! But there was no wetness to the bread, it cooked up great. I’m going to try a smaller tray next time for a little thicker bread. Thanks so much for sharing!
Real happy to hear, Wendy and thank you so much for taking the time to leave such amazing feedback. I sincerely appreciate that! Now I’m really curious about that thicker bread you’re wanting to try. If you ever do go forth with the experiment, please do let me know how it turned out! 🙂
This recipe looks AHHHHMAZING! Definitely want to have a go! 🙂
If you don’t like coconut milk, could you use water or chicken broth? I have to go back and read about how to squeeze water out of the cauliflower. Loved that cauliflower rice recipe someone mentioned. This bread sounds awesome. Definitely going to try it. I’m going to use garbanzo flour (aversion to all things coconut) and MCT oil…
Cauliflower: Do you have more details somewhere in your website about fixing cauliflower like this? I know how to grate it (Vitamix) but how long do I have to cook it? (I would usually cook pieces of cauliflower in my pressure cooker for one minute). Do you use those nut butter bags to squeeze it in? Could I do all this the day before and put it in the refrigerator?
Thanks!
Cameron, you can check out this post, this explains how I usually go about squeezing my cauliflower dry… although I now prefer to grate it first and microwave it for about 5 minutes, or until it’s really tender. All I do is put it in a microwave safe bowl, cover with plastic film, punch in time and hit start! And of course, you could very well deal with the cauliflower ahead of time and put it in the refrigerator.
Now, with regards to using chicken broth, I really wouldn’t know. I figure it should work, although you’d probably want to use less since it’s so much thinner…
Hope this helps!
Wow, super fast reply! I only found your website by accident, as a friend sent me your classic meatloaf recipe. Should I have strained the water out of the cauliflower for that one, too? Anyway, thanks for this. Now I have to cook the fritters. I really love the layout of your recipes…
I just made this and the olives and rosemary really make this excellent. The saltiness of the olives is just perfect. Toasted and served with cheese, salami extra stuff olives some cream cheese stuff jalapeno, grated reggio-parm cheese, some drizzle of olive oil and a beautiful glass of red wine. Now that what I call a great meal.
I am also using these for croutons, and going to make my holiday stuffing with them crisped up in the sausage fat for the stuffing.
Hi, love your site and can’t wait to try this bread (I am new to Paleo). Just wondering, does this bread freeze well ? I am alone to follow Paleo in my household, so I wouldn’t want to eat all of it in one day and I have the feeling I might want to keep it all to myself 😉
It does freeze very well, Elizabeth. No need to eat the whole thing to yourself in one day! 😉
Thanks for your quick reply. Hihi, now I can’t wait too bite into a piece.
This turned out wonderful, i went a bit heavy hand with olive oil…(couldn’t help it ????) thank you so much for the recipe!
You are very welcome, Emma! Thank you very much for the great feedback! 🙂
Looks absolutely delicious, is there a way to do it without the almond flour? can I replace the almond floor with more tapioca floor for instance?
Tapioca flour definitely would not work… and unfortunately, I can’t really tell with absolute certainty what other kind of flour would work, without trying first.
I don’t have a scale. Could you give a rough estimate of the amount of cauliflower?
Thanks!
Sorry Caroline, I really wouldn’t know… Besides, with this recipe, it’s best to be precise and weigh the cauliflower.