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Easy Focaccia Recipe

This easy focaccia recipe is the best! Just mix, rest, stretch, and chill the dough overnight to let all that amazing flavor develop. Take it out of the fridge and bake it fresh with rosemary and flakey salt.
Course Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Resting 1 day 25 minutes
Servings 24 servings
Calories 168kcal

Equipment

  • Stand mixer with a dough hook
  • 9" x 13" sheet pan

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces warm water (110ºF) divided into two bowls 2 cups
  • 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 7 grams active dry yeast (2 ½ teaspoons)
  • 2 ounces olive oil ¼ cup
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon flakey salt
  • 24 ounces bread flour or all-purpose flour (5 cups spooned and leveled)
  • 4 ounces olive oil for the pan and for drizzling on top of the focaccia after rising (½ cup)
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary chopped

Instructions

Easy Focaccia Recipe Instructions

  • Combine 8 ounces of your warm water (110ºF or 43ºC), yeast, and sugar and set it aside for 5 minutes or until it’s foamy.
  • Put your yeast mixture and one cup of flour into the bowl of your Bosch stand mixer with the dough hook attached. Mix to combine. You can use a bowl and a spoon and then knead it by hand if you want to, but it will just take longer.
  • Next add in the rest of your water, the olive oil, and the salt, and mix to combine.
  • Then, keep adding in the rest of your flour while mixing on low until your dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
  • Take the sticky dough out of the bowl and finish kneading it on the table with a tiny bit of flour until the dough looks smooth and bounces back when you touch it with your finger.
  • Next, put the dough into a bowl greased with olive oil.
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place the covered bowl in a warm area for 1-2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size. I put my bread in my oven turned OFF with just the light on to proof my bread, or in a proofing drawer.
  • Then, prepare your baking pan by covering the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of olive oil. I know this looks like a lot but trust me, you need it. You want it to be a swimming pool of oil!
  • Take your very soft dough out of the bowl and stretch it with your hands to make it longer.
  • Next, place it into the pan with the oil and use your hands to stretch it out to the edges. If the dough shrinks back, let the dough rest for 20 minutes then come back and stretch it some more. Letting the dough rest relaxes the gluten and keeps it from shrinking. Keep doing this until you can get the dough all the way to the edges of the pan.
  • Cover the pan with some plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight. The yeast will continue eating those sugars and rise very slowly. The next day, you should have some nice bubbles on top of the dough.
  • Preheat your oven to 450ºF (232ºC) and take your dough out of the fridge.
  • Use your fingers to pop the big bubbles and press dimples into the surface of the dough.
  • Drizzle olive oil onto the top of the dough so that it settles in those dimples.
  • Sprinkle a healthy amount of flakey sea salt and chopped rosemary on top of the dough.
  • Bake the dough in a preheated oven (450ºF or 232ºC) on the middle rack for 25 minutes or until it’s golden brown!
  • Finally, brush the baked focaccia with more olive oil before serving.

Video

Notes

Important Things To Note Before You Start
  1. Use a scale to weigh your ingredients (including liquids) unless otherwise instructed (Tablespoons, teaspoons, pinch etc). Metric measurements are available in the recipe card. Scaled ingredients are much more accurate than using cups and help ensure the success of your recipe. 
  2. Practice Mise en Place (everything in it’s place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.
  3. I place my dough near my oven set to 170ºF (77ºC) to help the dough rise. Mine usually only takes about 1 hour if my room is warm.
Tips For Success
  • If your yeast does not start growing it may be dead so make sure you have fresh yeast before starting.
  • I put my bread in my oven turned OFF with just the light on to proof my bread, or in a proofing drawer.
  • If your yeast does not start growing it may be dead so make sure you have fresh yeast before starting
  • I put my bread in my oven turned OFF with just the light on to proof my bread, or in a proofing drawer.
  • If the dough shrinks back, let the dough rest for 20 minutes then come back and stretch it some more. Letting the dough rest relaxes the gluten and keeps it from shrinking. Keep doing this until you can get the dough all the way to the edges of the pan

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 168kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 31mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg