Homemade Focaccia Bread
Deliciously soft bread with a golden crust. This focaccia bread is definitely proof that good things take time.
Sometimes the simplest ingredients will create the best recipes!
Just a few simple pantry staples this homemade focaccia bread is both budget friendly and absolutely delicious.
This bread has a golden and slightly crispy outside. The inside is super soft with bubbles all the way through. You can keep it simply flavored with olive oil and salt or customize it with your preferred toppings.
This bread dough is slowly risen in stages with no kneading at all. In fact you there is no need to get your hands dirty until you are spreading your dough into the tray. And then again when you create the iconic dimples of focaccia bread.
Absolutely perfect on its own or serve it as part of a meal.
Focaccia is great as a dipping bread, alongside a soup or stew. I recommend my creamy pea soup recipe!
It goes perfectly alongside a salad or as a side to saucy dishes.
If you want the best sandwiches ever, cut your focaccia into 6 pieces and then slice each one through the center. Fill with your favorite sandwich fillings and enjoy!
Ingredients
Flour – I usually use all purpose flour for this recipe as it gives the softest results. High grade flour will work well too and will result in a slightly denser loaf with bigger bubbles.
Yeast – Active dry yeast use 2 teaspoons or 1 packet.
Oil – Olive oil is the best choice for focaccia. You will use oil in the dough, to grease your pan and drizzled on top. The oil contributes to the flavor of the focaccia and gives it a nice golden color. If you are keeping costs down, you can absolutely use a cheaper oil like canola or sun flour and get great results.
Salt – Don’t forget to add salt your dough! Add a teaspoon of salt into your bread dough and sprinkle some on top just before baking for perfect, simple flavor.
Water – You will use warm water for this recipe. Water should ideally be between 35-40 degrees celsius.
Focaccia making stages
You can break the process of making focaccia down into a few simple stages.
- Mixing the dough. This is the most hands on part of the process. Activate your yeast in the warm water and sugar. Then mix in half of your flour. Mix really well for a couple of minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and them mix really well again. The dough will be sticky, smooth and elastic when it is ready.
- Rise, stretch and fold. Your dough will rise 3 times before you transfer it into your baking dish. Between rises you will use a spatula or dampened fingers to stretch and fold the dough. To do this first lift a section of dough from the outer edge of the bowl, pull upwards and press it down towards the center of the bowl. Continue this process until you have worked your way around the bowl 2-3 times. After the 3rd rise transfer the dough into your prepared baking dish.
- Prepare to bake. Grease a lined baking dish with a little extra oil then place the bread dough into the center. Use dampened fingertips to press it outwards to evenly spread it out in your dish. Leave to rise one final time, then drizzle over some oil and use your fingertips to make deep indentations all over the surface of your dough. Sprinkle over some salt and rosemary and you are ready to bake.
- Baking. Bake your focaccia in a preheated 170 degree oven (fan bake) for 25 minutes or until golden and baked through. Cool slightly before slicing and serving.
Focaccia making tips
Choose the baking dish that works best for you. I like to use a glass baking dish, lined with baking paper and greased with oil. This gives a very soft and lightly fried texture without having a thick crust. If you prefer a thicker crust then use a metal pan of a similar size. When making a double batch make sure you cook your focaccia in 2 regular sized dishes instead of one larger one. When you cook it in a bigger dish the middle will not have enough time to heat up and get crispy before the edges have browned and dried out.
Making overnight focaccia. Focaccia is a long, slow bread which makes it perfect for overnight prepping! The easiest way to do this is to complete your first few rises in the evening and then, after transferring your dough into a baking dish, cover and store in the fridge for the night. Remove from the fridge 1-2 hours before you are ready to bake and then drizzle, dimple and bake as you normally would.
Start early for the best focaccia. If we are having focaccia with dinner I like to start mine at about 10am. This puts the first stretch and fold at 12 the second at 130 and transferring the dough to the pan at 3pm. the dough would be in the oven at 5pm, baked by 530 and cooled and sliced up for dinner at 630.
Cold weather bread making.
When the weather is cold your bread will take a lot longer to rise then when the weather is warmer. To combat this you have a few options
– Give your dough more time to rise. Increase your rise time from 1-2 hours up to 2+ hours. Use the growth of your dough as the guide and not the clock.
– Create a warm space for your dough to rise. A hot water cupboard is a good option. An oven with only the light on will work for some, so does placing the bowl into a larger bowl of warm water. My favorite cold day trick is to place the bowl into the microwave with a large mug of freshly boiled water beside it. This creates a warm and humid environment that will rise your dough really well.
– Cold rise in the fridge. Alternatively you can simply accept the cold and place your dough in the fridge. Mix your dough and leave to rise on the bench top for about an hour (the warmth of the water will provide the warmth for this step. Stretch and fold then cover and store in the fridge for about 12 hours. Stretch and fold again or transfer it to your pan and give it another half a day to rise again. Remove it from the fridge 2 hours before baking then you can bake as usual.
Focaccia
Ingredients
Method
- Combine the warm water, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Set aside for 10 minutes or until the yeast is fuzzy and active.
- Add in half of your flour and mix until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
- Add in the remaining flour, oil and salt. Mix well for about 2 minutes. The dough will be smooth, sticky and elastic when it is ready.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with a little bit of oil or water. Place your dough into the bowl and cover with a piece of greased cling film. Leave your dough to rise in a warm place for about 1-2 hours or until well risen.
- Once your dough has risen to at least double its original size remove the cling film and use a spatula or dampened fingers to stretch and fold the dough. To do this first lift a section of dough from the outer edge of the bowl, pull upwards and press it down towards the center of the bowl. Continue this process until you have worked your way around the bowl 2-3 times. Cover the dough again and leave it to rest for at least 1 hour.
- Stretch and fold your dough again, then cover it and leave it to rise for another hour. While your dough rises you can prepare a baking dish to bake your bread. To do this, line a baking dish (approx 20x28cm) with greaseproof paper and lightly grease the paper with a thin layer of your cooking oil. I find it easiest to grease the dish a little bit as well to stop it from slipping around.
- When your dough has risen transfer it into your prepared baking dish. You can simply dump the dough into the center of the dish and then use dampened fingertips to press it outwards to evenly spread it out in your dish. Leave your dough to rise for 1-2 hours or until well risen .
- Before you are ready to cook your focaccia, preheat your oven to 170 degrees, fan bake.
- Drizzle 2-3 teaspoons of oil over the surface of your dough. Use your fingertips to make deep indentations all over the surface of your dough. Sprinkle over some salt and rosemary (or any other toppings that you like).
- Bake in your preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the surface is golden and your bread is baked through.
- Cool slightly before slicing and serving.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read through my Focaccia recipe. I hope you enjoy trying this out for yourself. Please feel free to add any questions or comments below. I am happy to help out wherever possible and I would love to hear how this recipe worked out for you.
