Easy Focaccia Recipe

This Easy Focaccia recipe is extra pillowy and bubbly. The recipe only requires 5 ingredients, and roughly 10 minutes of hands on time. If you like extra bubbly focaccia, this recipe will produce that result every single time.

Easy Focaccia Recipe

Focaccia is one of my favorite breads to make. It’s easy, yet it feels fancy. Plus, it’s fully customizable. You can make the focaccia savory, or sweet. I recently tried a cinnamon roll focaccia and let me tell you, it was divine!

Focaccia is a great bread to use for making sandwiches, or to serve as a side for dinner. Serve with bread dipping oil for the focaccia to soak up and mmm, you’ve got yourself a delicious side. It’s also great for dunking in soup. Okay, it’s just delicious all around, in my opinion!

This Easy Focaccia recipe requires an overnight rise, but it’s worth it! The overnight rise allows for the focaccia to develop the big airy bubbles. The long rise time also contributes quite a bit to the flavor of the focaccia. I actually like the overnight rise, because the bread does all the hard work while you are peacefully sleeping. That way, you don’t have to wait around for your bread to rise during the day.

The thing I really love about this easy focaccia recipe is that it requires very little hands on time, like 10 minutes or less. The bread is practically foolproof and always delivers delicious results.

Here’s How to Make This Easy Focaccia Recipe

Okay, so the first thing you need to do for making this easy focaccia recipe is to mix the dough. Simple enough, right? Truly it is as simple as it sounds. Add all your ingredients to a large bowl, then mix with a wooden spoon, or danish dough whisk, until a shaggy dough forms. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

coil folds

This easy focaccia recipe requires three coil folds. This is crucial to allow for the formation of the big bubbles, as it helps provide structure in the dough. A coil fold is incredibly easy and truly takes less than a minute of your time. The hardest part is that you have to wait in between coil folds for 20 minutes. The rest period is important because it allows for the gluten structure to relax before it gets stretched and folded again. Overworking dough can lead to a tough dough and while a coil fold is very gentle, it is still important to allow for this rest period.

To perform a coil fold, make your hands wet, then scoop your hands underneath the dough. Lift the dough straight up out of the bowl until one end releases from the side of the bowl. Gently place the dough back down in the bowl so that the end that lifted up is underneath. That’s it!

In between each coil fold, wait for 20 minutes, then perform another coil fold. Okay, if you perform each fold a minute or two early, it’s not a big deal. Once you do the coil fold, it’s easy peasy! Just cover the bowl then allow to rise overnight in the refrigerator.

Overnight rise (12-24 hour rise)

I like to allow my focaccia bread to rise in the refrigerator overnight. You can allow this dough to rise up to 24 hours, so if you want to bake it fresh for dinner, you can plan it to fit into your schedule. The dough does need 1-2 hours to rise and become ultra puffy after removing from the refrigerator, so keep this in mind.

after rising

Once the overnight rise for the focaccia is done, your dough will have expanded quite a bit. Very gently, using a bowl scraper or rubber spatula, scrape the dough out into an oiled 9×13 pan. Carefully flip the dough over so that the entire dough is covered in the oil. Focaccia bread loves oil! Plus it makes it taste delicious, because it contributes to the crunchy golden texture after it has baked

Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot for 2 hours. The dough should be very puffy. It may take a bit longer than 2 hours, if your house is cooler. Alternatively you can turn on your oven until it reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the oven reaches this temperature, turn the oven off. Place your covered pan in the warm oven and allow to rise for 1-2 hours in the warm oven, or until very puffy.

indent the dough, then bake

With oiled fingertips, indent the dough. This simply means you will press your fingertips into the dough. Top the dough with your desired toppings. I used fresh cherry tomatoes, rosemary and sea salt.

Bake the focaccia bread in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and crisp around the edges. Allow the bread to fully cool before slicing.

Storage

After cooling, store leftover focaccia in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature, or 10 days in the refrigerator.

Can this focaccia bread be frozen?

Yes! After allowing the focaccia bread to completely cool, wrap in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer safe zip-top bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.

When you are ready to eat the focaccia, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat your oven to 350F. Lightly mist the focaccia with water, then wrap loosely with aluminum foil. Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until heated through. For a crisper crust, you can place the focaccia bread directly on the baking sheet, and just loosely cover the top with aluminum foil.

What are some common toppings for focaccia?

  • Fresh rosemary
  • Sea salt
  • Olives
  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • Fresh herbs
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Cherry tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes

FAQ

  1. What type of flour is best for focaccia? You can use either all-purpose or bread flour. I typically prefer bread flour when I make focaccia, due to the higher protein content. The higher protein content allows for a stronger gluten formation, which helps the bread rise taller and create bigger bubbles/air pockets. Bread flour also creates a chewier texture. With that being said, the all-purpose flour produces equally delicious results, and I actually prefer using this flour with my cinnamon roll focaccia.
  2. How do you make focaccia crispy? Oil is the key to a crispy crust. Make sure you oil your pan with plenty of oil. Drizzling a touch extra oil on top of the dough also helps crisp up the top of the dough. The other thing that helps the focaccia get crispy is the high oven temperature.
  3. How long does focaccia bread have to rise? This can vary from recipe to recipe. In my Easy Focaccia recipe, I used an overnight rise. The overnight rise allows for exceptional flavor development and also helps to create that big bubbly focaccia dough, that is desired. After the overnight rise, the dough is place in the oiled pan and allowed to rise an additional 1-2 hours to get puffy and warm up from the cold refrigerator temperature.
  4. What is focaccia? Focaccia is an Italian flatbread, seasoned with olive oil, salt and often times fresh herbs. My favorite seasoning for focaccia is a simple fresh rosemary and sea salt. You can also add additional toppings, such as cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, garlic, and other fresh herbs.

Here are a few other bread recipes I think you will love

Check out these easy dinner roll recipes

Let me know what you thought!

If you make this Easy Focaccia recipe, let me know what you thought in the ratings and comments below. I absolutely love reading all of your comments!

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Easy Focaccia Recipe


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  • Author: Jolene
  • Total Time: 12 hours 30 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x

Description

This Easy Focaccia recipe is extra pillowy and bubbly. The recipe only requires 5 ingredients, and roughly 10 minutes of hands on time. If you like extra bubbly focaccia, this recipe will produce that result every single time.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 2 3/4 cups water, warmed to 110F
  • 5 1/2 cups bread flour
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, add yeast and warm water. Whisk together and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until a rough, shaggy dough ball forms. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

2. Wet your hands with water, then do a coil fold (scoop your hands under the dough, then pull the middle straight up, until one end of dough releases from the bowl. Gently lower the dough to allow the loosened end to tuck under the middle. Turn 90 degrees and repeat. This is one coil fold. Allow the dough to rest 20 minutes, then repeat with coil fold number 2. Allow the dough to rest 20 more minutes, then do coil fold number 3.

3. Place the dough in the refrigerator overnight (12-24 hours).

4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Place in a 9×13 pan that has been generously oiled with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap.

5. Allow dough to rise 2 hours at room temperature OR, preheat oven to 200F. Once oven reaches this temperature, turn oven OFF. Place covered dough in warm oven and allow to rise for 1 hour. Remove from the oven.

6. Preheat oven to 450F.

7. Generously oil the top of the dough with olive oil. Using the tips of your fingers, press into the dough to make indents in the dough. Add whatever toppings you like (rosemary, cherry tomatoes, etc.).

8. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown in color.

Notes

  1. What are some common toppings for focaccia? Rosemary, sea salt, cherry tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, fresh herbs, sliced onions, olives, parmesan cheese
  2. Storage: This can be stored for 5 days at room temperature in an airtight container, or up to 10 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. 
  3. Freezing instructions: You can freeze this focaccia up to 3 months after it has cooled to room temperature. Wrap the focaccia in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer safe zip-top bag.
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Rise Time: 12 hours
  • Cook Time: 20
  • Category: Bread
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

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