This Grain Free Flatbread may change your life
I know, that’s sounds like an extreme claim. But if you follow a restricted diet, then you know just how liberating it is to have a never-fail staple recipe in your culinary arsenal. This grain free flatbread, a healthy bread alternative, fits the bill when you crave something–for lack of a better term–bready. Even better, it requires only about 5 minutes of prep!
If you are on a grain free diet, then you know how comforting it is to have something that can be used for sandwiches. That’s one reason why I’m so excited about this recipe! It works for sweet (think jam or honey) or savory (like guacamole and sliced turkey) sandwich fillings.
I’ve been enjoying these for breakfast, with raw honey. I’ve even used these as a bun replacement for hamburgers! Although I haven’t tried it (because I can’t eat tomatoes or cheese) these would work for mini pizza crusts. Bake completely, then top with a thin layer of sauce and cheese and broil until the cheese is melted. It won’t make a crispy crust, but it is a healthy alternative to a wheat crust and an easier option than the labor-intensive zucchini/cauliflower pizza crusts.
Grain Free Flatbread ingredients
Grassfed gelatin – and I recommend this option – may sound like a strange addition to flatbread. You may be familiar with my love of gelatin, as I sing its praises in my popular recipe for Coconut Flour Pancakes… With Gelatin! As with those pancakes, the gelatin is important to the texture here. It provides some pliability and a slightly chewy texture and prevents a crumbly result.
“I don’t have gelatin,” you may be thinking, “can I leave it out?” Yes, I’ve made these without the gelatin. It works in a pinch, but they don’t hold together as well and aren’t as pliable.
Real eggs crucial to the integrity of the texture. I have not tried this with egg substitutes, and my guess is that it will not work without the real egg.
Butternut squash provides the base for this flatbread, as well as a hint of natural sweetness. I highly recommend using squash you have baked until tender and then mashed. Canned butternut squash puree will also work, however. If you don’t have the butternut squash, you could use mashed acorn squash or mashed sweet potato to make this grain free flatbread.
How to get your free coconut flour
Thrive Market is my favorite online health food store, and I’ve taken advantage of the steep discounts and the occasional free products they offer members. This is not a sponsored post, and I would like to pass on one of those freebies to you today: Thrive is offering a FREE 1 lb. bag of organic coconut flour, with orders over $50 here.
Like Costco, Thrive offers wholesale prices to their members, and this gift is available to both new and returning members. Membership starts with a month-long free trial. The membership fee is worth every penny – I saved so much on my first Thrive order that it canceled out the cost of my yearly membership.
Ready to start baking with coconut flour, and 25-50% on healthy living essentials? Click here to get your free coconut flour at Thrive.
- 2 Tbs. coconut flour
- 2½ tsp. grassfed gelatin, available here
- ¼ cup plus 2 Tbs. well cooked and mashed butternut squash or sweet potato
- 2 Tbs. butter, ghee or coconut oil
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- ¼ tsp. sea salt (more or less to taste)
- Have all ingredients at room temperature. (If the squash and butter is cold, you can stir them together in a saucepan over low heat to bring them to room temperature.)
- Preheat the oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir together the coconut flour and gelatin.
- Stir together the squash and the butter until smooth. Stir in the coconut flour/gelatin mixture until combined, then stir in the egg and sea salt.
- Spoon into rounds on the baking sheet. You can make these thinner or thicker-- experiment and find what you prefer! I made them about ¼ inch thick for the picture here, but I usually make them a bit thicker.
- Bake for about 12 minutes, then carefully peel them off the parchment paper and flip. Bake for another 5 minutes (or longer), until they are dry to the touch and pliable. (They will take longer to cook if they are thicker and they will cook faster if they are thinner... you know the drill.) Let cool completely, then enjoy within an hour or so of baking for the best texture.
delivered weekly
Can I use almond flour instead of coconut flour?
can these flat breads be fried like a pancake
ruby wach
No, they require slower baking in order to cook all the way through.
Hi Lauren,
Can you please confirm the quantity of squash. I am trying to convert to metric, so a USA cup = 237mls. A quarter cup is approx. 60 mls which doesn’t seem enough?
Thanks
Do you think these would be ok to freeze?
I haven’t tried freezing them, but I believe it would work. Place parchment paper in between the slices so they do not freeze together.