How to Make Focaccia Bread

This cherry tomato, watermelon radish and rosemary no-knead focaccia bread is a simple flat baked bread that is crispy on the outside and airy and delicious in the inside. It is the perfect bread to pair with soups , make sandwiches with, or enjoy on its own.

Focaccia bread can be topped with anything: olives, caramelized onions, herbs, sun-dried tomatoes or spinach. Today, I am sharing a simple focaccia bread recipe that is crispy on the outside and airy, fluffy in the inside. I used only bread flour for this recipe but feel free to use all-purpose or whole wheat flour. I have made focaccia bread with various toppings: red onion, slices of watermelon radish, dried and fresh herbs, cherry tomatoes, black and green olives etc. You can honestly top the bread with anything!

Dough

Same Day Dough : If you would like to make and bake the dough the same day, let the dough rise for about 5-8 hours covered in a warm place. The longer you allow the dough to rise, the more air and spongy the bread will be.

Overnight Dough: Proofing the dough for 9-14 hours overnight in the fridge is my preferred method, because of the slower fermentation. This process yields a better focaccia texture and taste. If I am doing an overnight rise, I like to make the dough the night before and place it the fridge covered to rise for anywhere between 9-14 hours.

Print Recipe

5 from 5 votes

How to Make Focaccia

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer

Keyword: Bread

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 3 &3/4 cups Bread Flour
• 8-10 tablespoons extra Virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
• 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey or sugar
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 teaspoon salt plus more for topping I used flakey salt
• 5 sliced garlic cloves optional : you can top the bread with anything you like
• sliced red onion
• 2 spings fresh rosemary

Instructions

• In a large bowl, pour 1/3 cup of warm water, honey, and yeast. Wait 5 minutes until the the mixture froths. This step is optional to check if the yeast is alive.
• Next, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the remaining water, salt and mix with a wooden spoon. Add the flour and mix.
• Continue to mix the dough until you form a semi smooth ball. The dough will be sticky so do not worry. Depending on the brand and type of flour, you made need to add additional 3-4 tablespoons of water or flour. Note: You are looking for a semi sticky dough that you can form into a dough ball.
• First Rise –

  Same Day : Coat a large bowl with olive oil, place the dough and cover with a large plate or tea towel and set aside in a warm place for at least 5-6 hours.

  Overnight: Proofing for 9-14 hours overnight in the fridge is better because of the slower fermentation, which yields a better focaccia texture and taste. I like to make the dough the night before and place it the fridge to rise for anywhere between 9-14 hours.
• Second Rise –

  Coat a large rectangle or round baking pan with 4 tablespoons of olive oil ( maybe even more depending on the size of the pan. Be generous with the olive oil) and lightly spread the dough. Do not try to spread the dough to all the corners of the pan. I lightly spread the dough and cover the pan and place in a warm place to rise again for about 2 hours. The dough will rise and spread.

  *if you placed your dough in the fridge to rise overnight, the dough will be cold when spreading it out for the second rise in the pan. If you are having trouble spreading the dough out, cover and allow to rest for a couple of minutes to relax the gluten and then come back and spread it out again.
• After about 2 hours, drizzle some olive oil over the dough and using your fingers, imprint your fingers throughout the dough to create indents. Top the dough with any kind of toppings – garlic, red onion, rosemary etc. Make sure to drizzle some extra olive oil and flakey sea salt before and after you bake the bread.
• Preheat oven 450 F
• Once the oven has been preheated, place the pan in the oven on the middle rack for 37-45 minutes or until the edges and top is golden.
• Let the bread cool completely before cutting into it. Enjoy the focaccia bread with soup or on its own.

Notes