About This Recipe
What is focaccia?
Focaccia is a type of Italian bread known for its dimpled surface, which helps infuse the olive oil and seasonings throughout the bread. It is similar to pizza dough, but typically thicker and softer. Focaccia can be enjoyed plain or with various toppings such as olives, tomatoes, onions, or cheese. It’s a versatile bread that can be served as an appetizer, snack, or alongside a meal.
What I love about this recipe:
With focaccia comes ease and versatility. This bread is light, bubbly, and full of flavor (thank you olive oil and toppings!). It can be used as a based for pizza, or cut open and used to make the most flavorful sandwiches. With focaccia, it is nearly impossible to go wrong.
Why this recipe works
Bread flour
Bread flour is such an important component that cannot be skipped over! Flour affects the dough and end result so much. Because this dough has a hydration of over 80% (that means it has a good amount of water!) it needs a strong flour to lend the best results. The flour will help the gluten develop through folds, and will give the loaf its beautiful air bubbles. My personal favorite is King Arthur Bread Flour, but any bread flour should do.
Hydration
This is a wet dough, resting at a hydration of approximately 82%. The wet batter is an important contribution to the final crumb and texture of the loaf. Read more about dough hydration here.
Gluten Development
This dough does not include any sort of enrichments, so the gluten is easily developed by hand. Here, I use a series of intervaled folds to gently work the gluten, creating the structure and elasticity needed for the focaccia to hold in air bubbles beautifully.
Bulk Fermentation
I shorten bulk fermentation for this recipe in order to increase time for my final proof. Only ferment the dough up to 50% size increase before transferring to the final proofing container. A longer final proof means less hands on time during the development of air bubbles.
Cold Proof
Though placing the dough in the fridge isn’t necessary, I find it creates a deeper flavor and adds flexibility to the baking timeline. Do not bake the dough from cold, rather let it continue to rest and puff up on the counter before dimpling and baking.
Shaping
Focaccia is beautiful in that it requires no shaping efforts. Simply dump the dough into the desired baking dish, lightly stretching if necessary.
Room Temperature Dough
For this recipe, a room temperature dough is essential to obtaining the proper oven spring. The combination of room temperature dough + a very hot oven will create an exploding effect that will help the bread expand and create a beautiful open and even crumb.
Olive Oil
Olive oil all over the bottom and top of the focaccia is a major flavor booster for this dough. In addition to a beautiful flavor, it also helps the top and bottom of the loaf brown and crisp beautifully.
toppings
Focaccia is incredibly versatile in that it can be topped to your heart’s desire. Get creative or keep it simple. Either way, you’ll come out with a delicious treat.
Suggested Baking Timeline
8 AM (Day 1)
+Mix the dough
8:30 AM - 10 AM (Day 1)
+Coil fold the dough
10 AM (Day 1)
+Bulk ferment the dough
1-3 PM (Day 1)
+Dump into baking dish
+Transfer to refrigerator overnight
8 AM (Day 2)
+Remove from refrigerator
+Final proof
1-4 PM (Day 2)
+Top and dimple
+Bake and enjoy!
Suggested All-In-One Day Baking Timeline
8 AM
+Mix the dough
8:30 AM - 10 AM
+Coil fold the dough
10 AM
+Bulk ferment the dough
1-3 PM
+Dump into baking dish
+Final proof
3-7 PM
+Top and dimple
+Bake and enjoy!
Sourdough Focaccia
Course: Lunch, Dinner, Snack, SideCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Beginner25
minutes36
hours30
minutes1
loafFocaccia is a type of Italian bread known for its dimpled surface, which helps infuse the olive oil and seasonings throughout the bread. It is similar to pizza dough, but typically thicker and softer. Focaccia can be enjoyed plain or with various toppings such as olives, tomatoes, onions, or cheese. It's a versatile bread that can be served as an appetizer, snack, or alongside a meal.
Ingredients
500 g bread flour (4 cups) * [see note]
400 g water (1 ⅔ cups)
100 g active starter (½ cup)
10 g salt (1 ½ tsp)
Olive oil, for drizzling
Toppings of choice
Directions
Mix together the flour, water, starter, and salt. Cover the dough with a lid, damp towel, or plastic cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Strengthen the dough: Thirty minutes after mixing, begin four sets of folds, spaced thirty minutes apart. I prefer coil folds for this bread, as it is a fairly wet dough.
- To coil fold the dough: Pull the dough up from the middle, stretching up as far as it will go. Then, fold the dough under itself in each cardinal direction before covering the dough and allowing it to rest once more.
Bulk fermentation: After folds are complete, allow the dough to rest until it has increased in volume by about 50% and is showing nice bubbles on top.
Shape: Oil a 9X13 baking dish generously with olive oil and dump the proofed dough into it. (I also use parchment paper underneath the oil and the dough, as my dough likes to stick to the sides of my baking dish, but this is not necessary.) If needed, stretch the dough out slightly to mostly fill the container.
At this point, you can refrigerate the dough until the next day or let it rest once more until it is finished proofing.
Final proof: The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it rest until it is very puffy, bubbly, and filling up the pan. The dough should approximately double in size, 5-8 hours. I let mine proof for 7 hours at a room temperature of approximately 70 F. If you did not place your dough in the refrigerator, this will only take 2-4 more hours.
Preheat your oven to 450 F.
Generously pour olive oil over the top of the focaccia. You can top the focaccia with your toppings before or after you dimple the dough, depending on the toppings you choose. (I find smaller toppings, like rosemary and sea salt, are best topped before dimpling while larger toppings, like cheese cubes or olives are best pressed in after dimpling.) Dimple the dough all over with your fingertips. Do not worry about being careful or messing anything up. Dimple every spot you can find. If you did not already top the focaccia, press the toppings into the dough. TIP: Oil the toppings to keep them from burning in the oven.
Bake the focaccia for 30 minutes. The internal temperature should reach 190 F.
Cool for 15 minutes before slicing.
Enjoy!
How to store: This bread is best enjoyed fresh and may or may not store well, depending on the toppings. Sea salt will dissolve if any moisture makes it into the container it is being stored in, and certain toppings will not keep on the counter. Use discernment when choosing how to store your focaccia. Store on the counter, in the fridge, or sliced and in the freezer, depending.
To reheat: Toast 2-3 minutes from room temperature, or 4-5 minutes from frozen. I do this in my air fryer at 400 F.
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Notes
- This recipe is relatively high in hydration. Because of this, bread flour is incredibly important for success. If your dough is not coming together through folds, it is likely that your flour is not strong enough. Bread flour works wonders in this type of dough. If bread flour is not an option, add more flour than what this recipe calls for.
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Is this active starter?
Yes! For this recipe, a starter fed within the last 12 hours is best ♥️
I will update this on the recipe! I just checked and realized I missed this keyword. Thank you!