Easy Focaccia Muffins
These Focaccia Muffins are the easiest way to make delicious focaccia. The focaccia gets a perfectly crispy exterior while remaining fluffy and chewy on the inside. These focaccia muffins are brushed with a garlic herb olive oil, then topped with juicy ripe cherry tomatoes. The muffins are fully customizable. You can add mini pepperoni and cheese to create mini pizzas, fresh herbs for a delicious, savory side, or some of your summer produce, like juicy ripe cherry tomatoes.
Ahh, is there anything better than sinking your teeth into warm, fresh out of the oven bread? Homemade bread is one of my favorite things. However, with three little boys running around, I often feel I can’t make homemade bread as easily as I used to. This certainly is not the case, as bread recipes are some of the easiest to make with family. You simply mix the dough, let it rise, then shape it into its final form and let it rise one more time before baking in the oven. Still, my 2 year old keeps my hands full, so I tend to gravitate towards bread recipes that are a little bit easier and faster to make.
Enter these Focaccia Muffins. These are EASY to make, take only 25 minutes to rise, and are fully customizable. We actually ate these as a dinner one night! You can add pizza toppings to these (like mini pepperoni and cheese, or buffalo chicken and cheese), to create a fun pizza night. You can also use some of your fresh summer herbs and tomatoes for a delicious savory side.
The details
making the dough
To make these Focaccia muffins, you will need a muffin tin, olive oil, garlic, fresh herbs, yeast, flour, salt and honey. That’s it! These muffins use pantry staple ingredients, which I love.
I suggest making this bread in your stand mixer, as the dough is very soft. The key to a good focaccia is having a soft dough. The hydration of the focaccia (the amount of water in the dough) is key to creating the perfect airy, chewy focaccia texture.
To make the dough, you simply add all ingredients for the dough to your mixing bowl, then let the mixer knead the dough for 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, then drizzle the top of the dough with olive oil to prevent the dough from getting stuck. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temperature for 45 minutes. Alternatively, if you’re like me and in a time crunch, you can turn your oven on to 200F. Once it reaches this temperature, turn your oven off. Place the covered dough in the warm oven and allow it to rise for 25 minutes.
make the garlic herb olive oil
This garlic herb olive oil is one you don’t want to skip. It adds so much delicious flavor the focaccia. In a small saucepan, add the olive oil, garlic and herbs and cook over medium heat for a few minutes, until the garlic becomes fragrant. This cooking step releases the flavors in the garlic and herbs, which infuses into the olive oil.
Drizzle half the olive oil into a 12-count muffin tin, then use a pastry brush to brush the oil up the sides of the muffin wells. This olive oil will coat the exterior of the focaccia muffins, adding a delicious flavor to the crust. It also helps create that crispy exterior.
The remaining olive oil will be drizzled over top of the muffins before baking.
divide the dough
The beauty of this Focaccia dough is that it doesn’t need to be shaped. Simply divide the dough into 12 roughly equal pieces and place into prepared muffin tin. Cover the dough and allow it to rest/rise while the oven preheats.
preheat oven and second rise
I use the oven preheat time as the second rise time. While the oven preheats, set the muffin tin on top of the oven. The warm oven will help the focaccia muffins rise a bit faster. This step typically takes around 15 minutes, which is sufficient for the muffins second rise.
bake, serve and enjoy!
Once the oven is preheated, you’ll drizzle the remaining olive oil over the focaccia muffins. Use the tips of your fingers to indent the dough, then place whatever toppings you want on top. You can even leave them plain with just the fresh herbs – rosmeary and sea salt are always a winning combination.
Bake the muffins in a 425F oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool a few minutes, serve and enjoy!
here are some other tasty recipes to try:
If you make these Focaccia muffins, let me know what you thought below in the ratings and comments. I always appreciate your feedback!
Also, make sure to tag me on instagram @simplebakingwithpep if you make these. I love seeing your creations! For more fun behind the scenes and to stay up to date on all of my latest recipes, follow me on instagram, youtube, facebook and pinterest
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Focaccia Muffins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
These Focaccia Muffins are the easiest way to make delicious focaccia. The focaccia gets a perfectly crispy exterior while remaining fluffy and chewy on the inside. The muffins are fully customizable. You can add mini pepperoni and cheese to create mini pizzas, fresh herbs for a delicious, savory side, or some of your summer produce, like juicy ripe cherry tomatoes.
Ingredients
- 3 cups bread flour (or all-purpose) (360 grams)
- 1 1/4 cup warm water (284 grams)
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon salt (7 grams)
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (1/4 ounce)
- Garlic Herb Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary)
Toppings
- Cherry tomatoes, halved
Instructions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add all ingredients for the dough and knead for 5 minutes. The dough will be soft. Transfer dough to a greased bowl. Drizzle olive oil over top of the dough, rubbing over dough to cover the entire surface, then cover with plastic wrap.
2. Turn your oven on to 200F. Once it reaches this temperature, turn your oven off. Allow the dough to rise for 25 minutes. Alternatively, you can allow to rise at room temperature for 45 minutes.
3. In a small saucepan, add olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs. Stir over medium heat until the garlic becomes fragrant, a few minutes. Drizzle olive oil into the well of each muffin tin. Use a pastry brush to brush the olive oil mixture up the sides of the muffin tin.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased surface. Divide the dough into 12 roughly equal pieces, being careful not to handle the dough too much as you don’t want to deflate it. Place the dough into the prepared muffin tin.
5. Cover the dough and place the muffin tin on top of the oven while it preheats.
6. Preheat oven to 425F.
7. Once the oven reaches temperature, drizzle the remaining herb olive oil over top of the muffins. Use your fingertips, indent het dough, creating dimples on the surface of the dough. Top with cherry tomatoes, if desired. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
8. Allow to cool a few minutes in muffin tin, then serve and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 45
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
