I must give credit to a member on LowCarb Friends (SherrieLee) for her inspirational Artisan Flatbread recipe that I discovered on Linda Sue Genaw’s recipe site. I must also give credit to Jennifer Eloff on her blog, Splendid Low Carbing, for her wonderful gluten-free bake mix I trialed in this recipe. Both were my inspiration for this first version of a low-carb focaccia bread. It comes out perfect every time I make it! My major change here is eliminating the bulk of the almond flour (which I’m not that fond of used by itself) by substituting Carbquik. This brings my final bread closest to the focaccia I’m used to. Not quite as “crusty” but pretty good I think.
This bread has a very nice flavor. It is soft and slightly chewy, particularly the outer edge slices. It’s delicious right out of the oven with butter!! I’ve cut it into bread sticks to serve with soup or salad. I’ve found it’s great for eating hummus or with tabouleh salad. You can turn it into a nice olive bread with chopped black olives added to the batter before cooking.
Most often I just use it for regular sandwich bread, cutting the pan into 12 regular size slices. For sandwich bread use, I omit the Italian herbs and garlic powder on top. Or just sprinkle those on just one end of the pan. You can brush the finished top lightly with olive oil if desired, but I only do this when using with a bruschetta or herb dip. Generally I omit the olive oil as I find this bread oily enough on its own (probably from all the cheese). This recipe is not suitable until the grains rung of the Atkins Phase 2 OWL carb re-introduction ladder.
INGREDIENTS:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten-Free Bake Mix
½ c. CarbQuik bake mix (or more of the above GF mix above)
2 T. grated Parmesan cheese
¼ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 c. Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 tsp. Italian seasoning (mixture of oregano, basil, rosemary)
DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º. Soften cream cheese in a medium bowl and beat in the eggs. Add Parmesan and jack cheese and stir well. Now add in all dry ingredients and stir until well blended. Dip batter onto cut-to-fit parchment lined 12½x17½” sheet pan and using a rubber spatula, spread to the edges carefully, trying to avoid holes or any thin spots. Fairly uniform thickness is desired. Pop into 350º oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and cut into 12 equal slices.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 12 slices, each contains:
185 cals, 16g fat, 6.26g carbs, 3.66g fiber, 3.1g NET CARBS, 10.31g protein, 201 mg sodium
Buttoni's Low-Carb Recipes 
I was wondering can I use a normal baking mix like bisquick. I am not on low carb or gluten free diet but this looks amazing. If I can us bisquick do I leave out baking powder, soda, and salt. I hope I get an answer I would like to make tonight. Thanks Tammy
I would bake it exactly as written and just sub in Bisquick for the Carbquick. Both mixes are similar with leavening and fat ingredients, so it should be a 1 for 1 swap. Leave the other ingredients in there.
Can I use all CarbQuik or does it have to be part CarbQuik and part the homemade baking mix? Thanks!
All Carbquick will work fine. You’ll want to recalculate your number of carbs though, as that will change slightly, likely down a wee bit (it has more fiber), but not much.
Can you shed any light on what differences there will be in finished results when using one over the other?
Thanks!
All Carbquick will render a smoother texture and a fluffier bread than one made with predominantly Jen’s mix. Flavor will be about the same.
Thanks Peggy!
Can I just sub more of your baking mix instead of the carb quick?
Delicious!
Thank you for the recipe.
Glad you like it, Olga!
Wow that is a lot of cream cheese! 🙂 Do you think the oily-ness could be cut down by using some flax meal ( like the non-carb-quik GF version you posted in 2013?) and reducing eggs or cream cheese?
Trust me, this bread isn’t the slightest bit oily. I’m afraid if you change the ingredients on this you won’t end up with the same bread. Of course, you can always try any subs you prefer, but I wouldn’t think flax would keep this the uniquely non-flax tasting bread it has become famous on my low-carb forums for being. It was to avoid the taste of flax (which I’m not fond of) that gave birth to this recipe.
I’ve been looking for a low carb bread to make, and this sounds great. When you use this bread for a sandwich, do you take one of the 12 pieces and slice it in half to make two bread-size slices or just use two of the thicker slices? At 185 calories for each slice, I was just curious.
I slice a 1/12th batch slice in half laterally to make it two thin pieces. First time I baked it, I tried using two 1/12 slices for a sandwich and it was just too much for me to finish. Only time I’ll maybe use two pieces is when I use it to make a stromboli, which is so salty with all the salami and cheese the bread tones the sodium down. 🙂 But then I can’t finish a whole stromboli sandwich by myself. 🙂
Hello Buttoni,
What size sheet pan do you use?
TBipp (Teresa)
Teresa, mine are all 12½” x 17½”. I’ll add that in the recipe so nobody else wonders. Thanks so much for bringing that omission to my attention. I consider that size sheet pan standard nowadays. But I have seen slightly smaller ones. 🙂
Someone actually wants to market the bake mix for me, but I mean why sell it, when someone can make it in their kitchen for less? – not sure if the convenience factor warrants it? He (low-carb internet store) was going to sell it for me in exchange for advertising. Thanks for the compliment. The GF Bake Mix helps baked goods taste more like what we are used to. I prefer it now to the Splendid Low-Carb Bake Mix mainly because DH can’t have gluten.
I’m really excited that you are exploring the bake mix and I hope you will veer more and more into the gluten-free (and, of course, low-carb) arena in time. You have awesome talent and people love you – I can tell.
I think subconsciously I AM slowly moving towards a grain/gluten free and more Paleo way of eating. Giving up bread is much easier for me than dairy, however, I have to admit. I mostly get out your mix and my CQ to make the desserts and baked goods for my husband. He’s so stubborn and just not willing (most likely ever) to totally give up his breads and goodies. Though I haven’t seen him eat a real doughnut or real sweetroll in probably over a year. I’m proud of him for giving up that much even. He at least tastes and willingly eats most of my low-carb cakes, muffins and pastries. And I see that as a step in the right direction. He’s not losing tons of weight, but I know he’s healthier for eating what I am cooking him now. Takes my husband YEARS to change, anything. He hates change. But I’m workin’ on it. 🙂
You’re makin’ me blush, Jen. “You have awesome talent and people love you – I can tell.” Right back at you, my friend. Your site has been recommended to me so many times for bake mix help and baking recipes and tips. You can bake circles around me! But I think cooks tend to excel at what they enjoy most and I’ve always been one who enjoyed the main meal more than dessert, even when I was younger. For me, I eagerly skipped dessert for another helping of the main dish or mashed potatoes. 🙂
Hey, Peggy, you’ve been such a busy bee and I’m tickled pink that you use my bake mix too!
I’m really liking your bake mix, Jennifer. Are you going to start marketing it soon? I think it would sell, girl! It really does wonders for baked goods. 🙂
Just got this out of the oven…smells soooo good. Can’t wait for it to cool down a little so I can butter and eat a piece!
I think my favorite way to have it is buttered, hot out of the oven. Mmmmmm. My favorite way for ALL breads, really. Do let me know how you liked it.