Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Focaccia

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Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Focaccia

This lemon blueberry sourdough focaccia is soft, chewy, and loaded with juicy blueberry filling, buttery crumble, and a sweet lemon glaze. It's naturally leavened with sourdough starter and comes together with minimal effort, just mix, rest, and bake. Perfect for brunch, dessert, or an afternoon treat.

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Rising14

Total Time14 35

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: pieces

Calories: 290kcal

Author: Liz Marek

Equipment

1 9"x13" Pan

Ingredients

Focaccia

75 grams Sourdough Starter
400 grams Water Warmed to 90ºF
25 grams Honey
500 grams Bread Flour
10 grams Salt
35 grams Olive Oil

Blueberry Filling

16 ounces fresh or frozen blueberries
1 ounce butter
6 ounces water
2 ounces sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ounce ClearJel
1 ounce cold water
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Crumble Topping

¼ cup all purpose flour
⅛ cup sugar
3 Tablespoons soft butter

Lemon Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

Day 1

12 hours before you want to bake your sourdough, mix together the sourdough starter, warm water, and honey together in a large bowl. I usually do this at li ke 8 or 9pm so I can bake in the morning.
Add in the flour, mix until combined.
Cover the dough and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. This allows time for the flour to hydrate and the gluten begin to activate.
Add in the salt and mix it in thoroughly.
With wet hands, pull the edges of the dough upwards until they won't stretch anymore then fold over onto itself. Repeat on all four sides of the dough. (see the video for a demonstration).
Cover the dough with lightly oiled plastic wrap and place it in a warm place (65ºF-80ºF) for 12 hours (overnight). Keep in mind that if your room is colder or hotter, the bread may rise slower or faster.

Blueberry Filling

Add your blueberries, sugar, water, lemon zest, and lemon juice to a saucepan over medium heat and bring it to a simmer.
Combine the cold water and ClearJel together to make a slurry.
Pour the mixture into the blueberry mixture and cook over medium-high heat until it thickens. Set it aside to cool. Cover and refrigerate to use tomorrow.

Day 2

Cover your sheet pan in a thin even layer of olive oil and melted butter.
Add the dough to the sheet pan and stretch it out into a rectangle.
Spread a cup of the filling over the dough with lemon zest.
Fold the edges of the dough over each other to enclose the filling (book fold).
Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 2 hours or more or until it's very puffy and risen well.

Crumble Topping

Combine your flour, butter, and sugar together using a hand mixer until combined and set it aside.

Baking The Focaccia

Preheat your oven to 425ºF.
Dimple the top of the dough with oiled fingers. Drizzle the top of the dough with more olive oil and melted butter.
Add some more dollops of blueberry filling on top.
Sprinkle the surface with the crumble topping.
Bake your focaccia for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove the bread from the pan after it's done baking and let it cool on a wire rack before cutting into it.

Video

https://youtu.be/AJkAyktFReM

Notes

Ingredient notes

Bread flour vs all-purpose flour. Bread flour produces a chewier crumb with bigger open holes. All-purpose flour produces a softer, denser, more moist crumb. Either works. Bread flour is closer to the bakery-style result.
Active starter is non-negotiable. Your starter should double within 4 hours of a feed. A sluggish starter (more than 6 hours to double) is the single most common reason this focaccia under-rises overnight. Feed your starter the morning of Day 1 and check it's doubled before you mix the dough that evening.
ClearJel vs cornstarch. ClearJel is a modified food starch that stays glossy and stable at 425º F. Cornstarch works as a 1:1 swap, but the filling will be slightly cloudier and softer.
Olive oil quality matters here. It's not just a structural ingredient, it's a flavor ingredient. Use a decent extra-virgin olive oil; the bottom of the focaccia tastes like it.
Honey alternatives. No honey on hand? Corn syrup, maple syrup, glucose, or even just plain sugar all work. The honey is feeding the wild yeast and adding flavor, not doing anything structural.
Fresh vs frozen blueberries. Both work for the filling. If using frozen, add them straight from the freezer into the saucepan, do not thaw first. Frozen berries release water as they cook, so reduce the filling water by 2 ounces if you go frozen.

Pan options

9x13 sheet pan (standard): bake 20 to 25 minutes at 425º F
Quarter sheet pan (9x13): same as above
Half sheet pan (13x18): thinner focaccia, bake 18 to 22 minutes
Two 9-inch round cake pans: split the dough between two pans, bake 18 to 22 minutes
10-inch cast iron skillet: half recipe, bake 25 to 30 minutes for a deeper, breadier focaccia

Avoid glass or ceramic pans for this recipe. They don't conduct heat fast enough to crisp the bottom the way metal does.

Make-ahead and storage

Blueberry filling: make up to 3 days ahead, store in the fridge in an airtight container. Stir before using.
Crumble topping: mix up to 2 days ahead, store in the fridge.
Cold-proof option: after the 12-hour bulk ferment, you can move the dough to the fridge for up to 24 hours before doing the book fold. Pull it 2 hours before shaping to warm up.
Baked focaccia (room temp): wrap loosely in foil or store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. Do not refrigerate, it dries out sourdough fast.
Reheating: place a slice directly on the oven rack (not a sheet pan) at 350º F for 4 to 5 minutes to re-crisp the bottom without drying out the crumb.
Freezing: do not freeze the assembled focaccia, the cornstarch in the filling breaks down on thaw and the bread goes soggy. You can freeze the cooked blueberry filling on its own for up to 3 months.

Substitutions

Off-season blueberries: swap 16 oz fresh/frozen for 6 oz dried (rehydrate in 8 oz warm water for 30 minutes, reduce recipe water by 6 oz) or 3 oz freeze-dried (add 12 oz water to the filling).
Other fruit fillings: any thick fruit filling works (raspberry, blackberry, cherry, peach, apple, cranberry, marionberry, strawberry reduction). Match the moisture to the original blueberry filling.
Lemon out, orange in: sub orange zest and juice 1:1 for an orange blueberry version, especially good for winter.
Bread flour out: all-purpose flour works, see Ingredient notes above for texture difference.
No ClearJel: cornstarch 1:1.
No glaze: dust with powdered sugar after cooling for a less-sweet finish.

Critical do-nots

Do not add hot filling to the dough. Warm filling deflates the dough and breaks the gluten you spent 12 hours building. Cool to room temp or chilled before book-folding.
Do not add salt with the initial mix. Salt slows hydration and gluten development. Hold it back until after the 30-minute autolyse.
Do not skip the butter and olive oil under the dough. That layer is what creates the crisp golden bottom. Skip it and you get soggy bottom focaccia.
Do not refrigerate the finished focaccia. The fridge dries out sourdough fast. Store at room temp.
Do not add whole frozen berries on top after the second rise. They thaw during the bake, bleed purple streaks, and leave wet caverns in the crumb. Use the cooked filling dollops on top instead.

On timing

The warmer your room, the faster the dough rises. If your room is on the cooler side (under 70º F), the overnight ferment may take longer than 12 hours. If your kitchen runs hot (above 80º F), check the dough at the 10-hour mark; it may be ready early. The doubled-in-size visual cue is more reliable than the clock.

Nutrition