Focaccia bread recipe: The essential recipe for beginner bakers

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Focaccia is an Italian yeast bread with a low profile, similar to breaded bread, but with a distinctive, dimpled appearance. It is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside with a chewy texture.

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It is one of the most delicious breads because it captures the flavors of all the ingredients you add to it. It can be served on its own, added to a bread basket, used in a sandwich, or as an accompaniment to a salad or a steaming bowl of soup. My favorite way to serve focaccia bread is as a light dinner. All it takes is a side dish of fruity extra virgin olive oil, thinly sliced ​​prosciutto, burrata cheese, a simple arugula salad – and a bottle of red wine, of course!

Focaccia bread is one of my favorite breads to bake at home. Not only is it easy to make, but it’s also relatively forgiving compared to some other artisan breads. In its most basic form, focaccia bread requires just five ingredients: water, sugar, yeast, flour, and olive oil.

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It does not require any special shaping or scoring techniques; your fingers are enough to create its pretty pillow top shape. And instead of having to deal with a hot Dutch oven, it’s cooked in a rimmed skillet. These reasons alone make focaccia bread one of the best breads to try at home for the novice baker.

The focaccia bread is tasty and delicious. One of the reasons I love focaccia is the endless list of toppings you can add to it, creating a different flavor each time you make it. A simple focaccia bread is normally topped with, at the very least, a pinch of flaked sea salt. However, if you’re looking to up your focaccia game, there’s an endless list of ingredients you can add on top of your batter before baking. They include fruits and vegetables like black and green olives, sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, peppers, asparagus and artichokes, as well as meats and cheeses like bacon and salami, mozzarella , parmesan and even blue cheese.

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When it comes to preparing your focaccia dough, a stand mixer is highly recommended. It is important to note that the dough is rather soft and sticky, which makes it difficult to knead by hand. Unlike most bread doughs which retain their shape somewhat after the kneading process, focaccia dough remains soft and somewhat shapeless. It’s supposed to look like this, so don’t add extra flour to support it.

This is my basic focaccia bread recipe. I’ve had it for so long I can’t remember where I found it and have adapted it over the years. But that’s what I use whenever I crave focaccia bread. This recipe creates crispy bread with a golden crust and deliciously moist. It’s rich in olive oil flavor, punctuated with aromas of garlic and rosemary, and has the perfect amount of saltiness. On special occasions or if I’m giving bread as a gift, I’ll make it with pickled olives, like Kalamata or Greek olives, and rosemary; and for those who aren’t into olives, I’m going to make a bread with parmesan cheese and sun-dried tomatoes instead.

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Focaccia bread with garlic and rosemary

1 1/4 cups (300 ml) warm water, about 110 degrees Fahrenheit

2 teaspoons (10g) granulated sugar

2-1/4 tsp. 1/2 tsp yeast (7g or 1 packet) instant yeast

3 1/2 cups (420 g) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 tsp. 1/2 tsp (7.5 mL) fine sea salt

1 C. 1/2 tsp (5 mL) freshly ground black pepper

Garnish

3-4 tablespoons (45-60 ml) extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

1 C. 1/2 tsp (5 mL) flaked sea salt

For the olive and rosemary focaccia bread, add:

20-24 black or green olives, such as Kalamata or Greek olives, pitted and halved

For the sun-dried tomato and parmesan focaccia bread, add:

1/4 cup (60 mL) sun-dried tomatoes in oil, julienned

1/2 tsp. 1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) dried Italian seasoning

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1/4 tsp. 1/2 tsp (1 mL) red pepper flakes

8 to 10 large chunks of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Fresh basil leaves for garnish

In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add warm water, sugar and yeast. Let the yeast develop for about 5 minutes.

Then add the flour, olive oil, garlic, sea salt and black pepper. Mix on low speed until flour is almost incorporated.

Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for about 5-6 minutes until the dough forms a loose ball but is still soft and sticky.

Oil a large salad bowl with a little olive oil. Scrape and transfer the dough to the oiled bowl. Pull the dough underneath, forming a smooth surface. Turn dough to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place the bowl in a warm place to rise for 60-75 minutes or until doubled in size.

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Oil a rimmed 9×13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Degas the dough. Then transfer the dough to the oiled baking sheet. Using your fingers, press the dough down so that it fits in the pan.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place the pan in a warm place to rest for about 10 minutes.

Remove plastic wrap, drizzle remaining olive oil over dough. Using your fingertips, create deep indentations in the dough by pressing into the dough so that your fingertips meet the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle chopped rosemary and flaked sea salt over the dough.

Leave the dough to rise, uncovered, in a warm place, for another 20 to 30 minutes, until it is well puffed.

Meanwhile, place the oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven. Let the bread cool slightly before transferring it out of the pan and onto a cutting board to slice. Serve warm or at room temperature.

For the Olive and Rosemary Focaccia Bread, when you drizzle the olive oil over the dough, sprinkle the olives at the same time. Using your fingers, create deep indentations and push some of the olives into the dough. Garnish with chopped rosemary and sea salt. Let the dough rise as usual.

For the Sundried Tomato and Parmesan Focaccia Bread, omit the rosemary. Instead, sprinkle julienned sun-dried tomatoes, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes over the batter. Half the amount of flaked sea salt that the Parmesan cheese will add salt to the bread. Place pieces of freshly grated parmesan on the dough, then let the dough rise as usual. Once baked, top the focaccia bread with freshly torn basil leaves.

Makes 1 loaf.

Karen Gordon is a food blogger from North Vancouver who shares her recipe creations online at karentologie.com and on Instagram at @karen.t.ology

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