I’m an absolute sucker for focaccia, especially when it’s homemade. It has a perfect combination of textures with a crunchy exterior and a soft yet chewy interior. Its flavors are both simple yet rich thanks to a liberal use of olive oil and salt all over it’s top. And best of all focaccia is one of the easiest breads to make at home.
Honestly, it’s pretty hard to mess up focaccia.
And in my experience even when it doesn’t turn out perfect you will still be left with an incredibly delicious bread.
So how is it made?
Well, you start by mixing and kneading together a simple dough made out of flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and water. Then you let the dough rise two times for a total of 2 hours. And finally, you poke some holes in the dough, pour on some olive oil and salt, and bake the dough for 20 minutes.
That’s it!
So if you’re ready to make some focaccia then let’s get into the recipe.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- Once you have mastered this basic focaccia you will find that it’s pretty easy to add other topping besides rosemary. Some of my favorites include cherry tomatoes, basil, cheese, and even potatoes. So get creative with it!
- What pan is best to bake the focaccia bread in? Well, today I will be using a 9 x 13 baking pan which I like because it results in a thick bread. However, you can easily use a cookie sheet if you want a thinner bread, or even a cast-iron skillet if you want a round-shaped bread.
- Making the dough the same day vs. making a day ahead of time? Honestly, this is completely up to you. I prefer to make my focaccia dough the same day I plan on baking it because when I’m in the mood for focaccia I want focaccia. However, if you have the patience you can easily make the dough and let it do it’s first rise overnight in your fridge.
- Focaccia is a bread that needs to be kneaded. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment then lucky you. However, if you don’t own a stand mixer you can still kneed the dough the old fashioned way, by hand. That being said if you have never kneaded dough by hand before then check out this video which explains how to do it.???????
- Try out some of our other bread recipes like no-kneed dutch oven bread, southern style corn bread, Irish soda bread, and pumpkin bread.
Focaccia Bread Recipe
Prep time: 2 hours (mainly for rising the dough)
Cook time: 20 minutes
Servings: 15
Ingredients
For the dough:
4 1/2 Cups of all-purpose flour, plus some extra for the kneading process
2 ¼ Teaspoon of active dry yeast (should be about one packet)
2 Cups of warm water
2 Teaspoons of brown sugar
¼ Cup of extra virgin olive oil, plus some extra for the first rise
1 Tablespoon of salt
For the pan:
2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Topping:
2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon of fresh rosemary
Pinch or two of coarse salt
Instructions
- Proof the yeast: Get out a large bowl and pour in some water that’s between 105 and 115 degrees Fahrenheit to it. Add the salt, brown sugar, and yeast to it, mixing it all together. Wait 5 to 10 minutes, if little bubbles start to form then your yeast is activated.
- Make the dough: Add the flour, and olive oil to the same bowl, and mix with a wooden spoon until all of the ingredients are incorporated together.
Then sprinkle some flour onto a flat surface and place the dough on it. Then kneed the dough for about 5 to 10 minutes. 
You can also do this step in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment if you want to go the easy route.
- Let the dough rise: Get out another large bowl and pour 1 tablespoon of oil into it. Place the kneaded dough into the bowl and pour another tablespoon of oil over it. Then roll the dough in the bowl so that it is coated in oil.
Cover the bowl with either plastic wrap or a damp towel and let the dough rise on your counter for 1 to 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
You can also place the dough in your fridge and let it rise overnight.
- Spread the dough into a cookie sheet/baking pan: Get out either a large cookie sheet or baking pan. Pour two tablespoons of oil into it and use your hands to spread the oil along its surface. Place the risen dough into the pan and spread it out so that it fills into the corners.
- Poke holes into the dough: Get out a small bowl, fill it with water, and dip your fingers into it. This will make sure that your fingers don’t get stuck to the dough while you poke it. Then quickly poke holes into the dough, and make sure you are poking all the way down to the cookie sheet/baking pan.
Keep poking holes into the dough until you have covered its entire surface with dimples.
- Cover the dough and let it rise a second time for roughly 45 minutes.
- While the dough is rising a second time preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake the bread: Pour the 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top of the dough and sprinkle on the rosemary and coarse salt.
Then place the dough in your oven and let it bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Let the focaccia bread cool: Take the focaccia bread out of your oven and let it cool in the cookie sheet/baking pan for about 5 minutes.
Then transfer it to a wire rake and let it finish cooling down for another 15 minutes.
- Cut up the focaccia bread into squares, pour on some more olive oil and enjoy!
Focaccia Bread Recipe
Servings: 15
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 4 1/2 Cups of all-purpose flour plus some extra for the kneading process
- 2 ¼ Teaspoon of active dry yeast should be about one packet
- 2 Cups of warm water
- 2 Teaspoons of brown sugar
- ¼ Cup of extra virgin olive oil plus some extra for the first rise
- 1 Tablespoon of salt
For the pan:
- 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Topping:
- 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon of fresh rosemary
- Pinch or two of coarse salt
Instructions
- Proof the yeast: Get out a large bowl and pour in some water that’s between 105 and 115 degrees Fahrenheit to it. Add the salt, brown sugar, and yeast to it, mixing it all together. Wait 5 to 10 minutes, if little bubbles start to form then your yeast is activated.
- Make the dough: Add the flour, and olive oil to the same bowl, and mix with a wooden spoon until all of the ingredients are incorporated together. Then sprinkle some flour onto a flat surface and place the dough on it. Then kneed the dough for about 5 to 10 minutes. You can also do this step in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment if you want to go the easy route.
- Let the dough rise: Get out another large bowl and pour 1 tablespoon of oil into it. Place the kneaded dough into the bowl and pour another tablespoon of oil over it. Then roll the dough in the bowl so that it is coated in oil. Cover the bowl with either plastic wrap or a damp towel and let the dough rise on your counter for 1 to 2 hours or until it has doubled in size. You can also place the dough in your fridge and let it rise overnight.
- Spread the dough into a cookie sheet/baking pan: Get out either a large cookie sheet or baking pan. Pour two tablespoons of oil into it and use your hands to spread the oil along its surface. Place the risen dough into the pan and spread it out so that it fills into the corners.
- Poke holes into the dough: Get out a small bowl, fill it with water, and dip your fingers into it. This will make sure that your fingers don’t get stuck to the dough while you poke it. Then quickly poke holes into the dough, and make sure you are poking all the way down to the cookie sheet/baking pan. Keep poking holes into the dough until you have covered its entire surface with dimples.
- Cover the dough and let it rise a second time for roughly 45 minutes.
- While the dough is rising a second time preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake the bread: Pour the 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top of the dough and sprinkle on the rosemary and coarse salt. Then place the dough in your oven and let it bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Let the focaccia bread cool: Take the focaccia bread out of your oven and let it cool in the cookie sheet/baking pan for about 5 minutes. Then transfer it to a wire rake and let it finish cooling down for another 15 minutes.
- Cut up the focaccia bread into squares, pour on some more olive oil and enjoy!
Check out some of these other creative focaccia bread recipes
Tomato Focaccia from Recipe Girl
Potato Focaccia From An Italian in My Kitchen
Onion Focaccia from Kitchen Stories
