Basic Focaccia Recipe

This recipe is a rework of an old post, Sourdough Buckwheat Focaccia published in 2017 that I took down to simplify and quicken the process. Using ready made sourdough starter and quick rise yeast, you can significantly shorten the wait time to crunchy, salty, olive oil goodness!

What follows is a basic recipe that yields great results and allows you to customize with your own flavor combinations.

Basic Focaccia Dough:

Place 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour in a large bowl

Add 1/2 cup sourdough starter, stirred and straight from the fridge*

Add 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 package) quick rise yeast to one side of the bowl

Add 1 teaspoon salt to the other side of the bowl

Add 1 teaspoon granulated sugar or honey

Add 3/4 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit-or fingertip warm)

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil

Mix with mixer fitted with dough hook, or by hand until well combined.

Add additional flour 2 tablespoons at a time until it comes together in a mass and clings to the dough hook, or until it can no longer be worked by hand.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Tuck dough into a ball, cover with a bowl and let rest 20 minutes.

While dough is resting,  grease a baking sheet (8×11 or 9×13) with 2 tablespoons olive oil.

In a small bowl, mix 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper and 1 teaspoon freshly chopped rosemary. Dust the oiled pan with half of the spice mixture.

When dough is done resting, press it down and out gently with your hands.

Transfer dough to the oiled pan and press and stretch it out as far as it will go. Let it rest in the pan for 15 minutes.

Press and stretch a little more, if necessary. Coat the top of the dough with another 2 tablespoons olive oil and dust with remaining spice mixture.

Press your fingers into the dough to dimple it, creating craters for the olive oil to settle into.

Let rise 30 to 45 minutes, preheating oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 10 minutes of rising time.

Bake for 15 to 22 minutes, or until Focaccia is baked to the level of crunchy deliciousness you desire.

Remove from oven and let cool before eating…if you can wait that long!

For my original Sourdough Buckwheat Focaccia, sub-in 1/2 cup buckwheat flour and 1/2 cup white wheat flour for one cup of the all-purpose flour and you’ll have a wonderfully chewy, nutty, lighter textured version of classic Focaccia.

Feel free to add some decorative touches to your Focaccia. I had peaches ripening on the kitchen counter and some leftover Vidalia onion sliced in the fridge to decorate my Focaccia (leave the fuzzy skin on and toss the peach slices with a little lemon juice to preserve the color). Then I added some sprigs of fresh lemon thyme for extra flavor.

If you happen to have any Focaccia leftovers at the end of the day, slice it up and freeze it. Thaw at room temperature, or warm it in the oven when ready to eat. Lightly toasted, it gets a lighter, crispier texture.

Here I’ve used it for dipping into hummus (I perked up plain hummus by adding 1/3 cup cooked mashed carrot and a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg).

For lunch the next day, I piled on some smoked bbq turkey and Dragon Cayenne Ketchup that I changed up by adding one skinned chopped fresh ripe peach and a handful of cherry tomatoes from my garden. I call this new invention Peachy Pimento Sauce!

*If you don’t have your own sourdough starter, now would be a great time to start! Check out King Arthur Flour’s Sourdough Starter Recipe and follow the instructions.

I store mine in a quart sized jar (I like the convenience of having measurements along the side of jar) in the back of my fridge. I feed it every 7 to 10 days and have added fed starter to my weekly bread baking, pizza dough and now Focaccia!

Here’s what it looks like unfed and fresh from the fridge:

And here it is a couple of hours after it’s weekly feeding:

I leave it out until it almost tops the jar, then I stir it down and tuck it back in the fridge for another week.

*If you don’t want to use sourdough starter, simply add 1/3 cup warm water and 1/4 cup flour to the above recipe in it’s place.