Here is an easy focaccia recipe that you can make at home. Learn how to make the best focaccia with crispy golden crust that's chewy on the inside.
When it comes to bread, I like mine homemade and fresh. Whether it's classic Persian barbari or pita bread, you can always make magic in the kitchen using simple ingredients such as flour, water and yeast. Today I'm going to show you how to make classic focaccia, which you can enjoy on its own or as an appetizer on the side of a freshly made caprese salad.
Table Of Contents:
What Is Focaccia?
Focaccia, pronounced foh-kah-chee-a is an Italian bread that can be made into a round, rectangle or square shape. It's a leavened bread that you can enjoy as a side or a sandwich base.
Focaccia has a crispy crust thanks to the olive oil and is soft on the inside with bubbles that have formed through a few sets of stretch and fold.
One interesting fact about focaccia is that it's very versatile and you can use different toppings such as rosemary, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and so much more.
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy: You don't need to knead the dough and with a few sets of stretch and fold and rest you will have the most perfect focaccia every time.
- Simple Ingredients: Like many other bread recipes, focaccia calls for a handful of ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.
- Customizable: Get creative and add all the toppings you like including rosemary and olives!
Ingredients To Make Focaccia
- Flour: You can use bread flour or all purpose flour. I don't recommend using whole wheat flour to make this recipe.
- Yeast: I opt for instant yeast, but active dry works too. If using active dry, you need to bloom it in the water that's used for the recipe.
- Water: Use water that's a bit warm, but not hot. Hot water would kill the yeast and cold water won't activate it.
- Salt: Coarse kosher sat works best in this recipe.
- Olive oil: You need a good amount of olive oil for the focaccia to get that famous crispy exterior.
How To Make Focaccia
- Mix the ingredients: In a large bowl mix the bread flour, instant yeast, sugar, salt, olive oil and water using your hands or a spatula. There is no need to knead the dough. It's going to be sticky and that's okay. Scrape the sides, cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and fold: After 30 minutes, uncover the bowl, wet your hands and grab one side of the dough, stretch it and fold it onto the dough. rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Do this 2 more times so all sides of the dough are stretched and folded. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough sit for 15 minutes. Then repeat the stretch and fold again. Let it sit for another 15 minutes, do another set of stretch and fold. You will do a total of 3 sets of stretch and fold.
- First dough rise: After the last stretch and dough, cover the bowl and let it rise for one hour.
- Second dough rise: Cover the bottom of a 13x18 sheet pan with olive oil. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet. Using both hands, flip the dough so it's coated with olive oil on both sides. Cover with another baking sheet. Let the dough rise for one more hour.
- Dimple and third rise: Uncover, drizzle with more olive oil and dimple the dough using your oiled fingers, making sure to gently spread it as well. Top with some coarse Kosher salt. Cover with another baking sheet and let it sit for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 440 degrees F.
- Bake: Bake the focaccia in the oven for 25 minutes until it's crispy and golden.
Variations
There are so many ways to jazz up focaccia and give it your own spin. Here are a few suggestions:
- Red onions and roasted garlic
- Green and black olives
- Sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary
- Cherry tomatoes and sage
Serving Suggestions
This classic Italian bread makes a great side for soups such as minestrone or red lentil soup. It also goes well with dishes such as Italian meatballs or balsamic chicken as well as vegetarian dishes such as ratatouille or caponata.
You can also serve it the simplest way possible, with some garlic scape pesto, olive oil and balsamic glaze mix or some whipped ricotta.
Storage
Store the bread in a sealed plastic bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also freeze focaccia for up to 1 month. To freeze focaccia, wrap the bread pieces tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. To serve, thaw at room temperature or the oven.
Frequently Asked Question
Gluten free baking is very different and I have not tried making this recipe as such. I recommend searching and trying a gluten-free focaccia instead of simply changing the flour in this recipe since the timing and procedure could be very different.
Yes, that's one of the things I love about focaccia. If you're short on time, you can cover and refrigerate the dough overnight for its first or second rise. Once you're ready to proceed, take the dough out of the fridge, let it come to room temperature and proceed with the remaining steps.
It should have a crispy and golden crust, with soft and chewy interior. It should be 1 to 2 inches thick and have a slight crunch.
More Bread Recipes
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Step-by-Step Recipe
Easy Focaccia Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups bread flour
- 1 Âľ cup warm water about 100 degrees F
- ½ tbsp instant yeast
- ½ tsp granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- ÂĽ cup olive oil plus more for topping
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients: In a large bowl mix the bread flour, instant yeast, sugar, salt, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and water using your hands or a spatula, you don't need to knead the dough, it's going to be sticky and that's okay.Scrape the sides, cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and fold: After 30 minutes, uncover the bowl, wet your hands and with one hand grab one side of the dough, stretch it and fold it onto the dough. rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Do this 2 more times so all sides of the dough are stretched and folded. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough sit for 15 minutes. Then repeat the stretch and fold again. Let it sit for another 15 minutes, do another set of stretch and fold. You will do a total of 3 sets of stretch and fold.
- First dough rise: After the last stretch and fold, cover the bowl and let it rise for 1 hour.
- Second dough rise: Cover the bottom of a 13x18 sheet pan (lined with parchment paper if desired) with the remaining olive oil. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet. Flip the dough so both sides are coated with olive oil. Gently spread the dough just a little bit. Then cover with another baking sheet and let it sit for 1 hour.
- Dimple and third rise: Uncover and top the dough with more olive oil. Dimple the dough using your oiled fingers and gently spread it as well. Top with some coarse salt, cover with another baking sheet and let it sit for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 440 degrees F.
- Bake: After the 30 minutes, uncover the dough and make more dimples if desired. Bake the focaccia in the oven for 25 minutes until it's crispy and golden.
Video
Notes
- You can use bread flour or all purpose flour for this recipe. Whole wheat flour would make the bread denser.
- Be generous with the olive oil, that's how the focaccia will have the crispy exterior.
- You can jazz up this recipe by topping the focaccia with cherry tomatoes, sliced red onion, olives or rosemary.
- Store the leftovers in a sealed bag for up to 2 days at room temperature or one month in the freezer.
Maryam
Thanks for sharing this yummy and easy to bake, bread recipe! I have tried and loved it! Absolutely, recommend anyone with any/or none level of baking experience to give this recipe a try!
Thanks again! Looking forward to trying your other recipes soon! Nov. 2023
Shadi HasanzadeNemati
Thank you so much Maryam for your comment, I'm happy you enjoyed this recipe!