Focaccia Bread
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This crisp and salty focaccia bread has the perfect chewy texture, and is surprisingly easy to make! It’s absolutely delicious!
I bake a lot of yeast breads (like, a LOT of yeast breads) but focaccia has always been really intimidating to make. It just seems fussy and difficult to make, and it’s a lot of time to invest in a bread recipe if it doesn’t turn out. Since I really love to eat focaccia bread, figuring out how to make it was a necessary step. A year or so ago I found this recipe from Female Foodie and decided to give it a try, and it came out totally fantastic! It was seriously the best focaccia I’ve ever had. I’m thrilled (and shocked!) that I managed to make it at home. Since then I’ve made it countless times, and it never disappoints!
This bread is crispy, chewy, soft, pillowy, salty, tender… everything you could want in a focaccia bread! You can obviously add things like garlic or herbs to the top of you wish, but I think it’s pretty fantastic with just flaky salt on top. (Maldon salt is my favorite and I could basically eat it by the spoonful.) This bread is fantastic as a side with soup or salad, but it also makes amazing sandwiches. Since the recipe makes a huge sheet pan of focaccia, we usually serve it with tomato soup or tortellini soup the first night, then make cold cut or caprese sandwiches with it the next day.
The recipe does take a while to make, but most of the time is hands-off. I usually start it in the evening, let it chill in the fridge over night, and then prep it and bake it in the late afternoon. Easy peasy! This bread is so delicious and makes focaccia easy!
Focaccia Bread
Print Recipe
Ingredients
for the bread:
- 6 1/2 cups bread flour
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon yeast
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 cup olive oil divided
- flaky sea salt
for the brine:
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Add the flour, salt, and yeast to a large bowl. Pour the water into the bowl and mix using her hand until all of the flour has been incorporated. Let rest for 10 minutes. Oil another large bowl or a dough container with two tablespoons of the olive oil, then transfer the dough to the container. Drizzle the dough with an additional tablespoon of oil, cover, and let rise until doubled.
- After the dough has risen, pour two tablespoons of the olive oil onto a baking sheet, and use a pastry brush or your fingers to spread it all over the pan and up the sides. Tip the dough out onto the baking sheet and gently stretch it with your hands to fill the sheet. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes, then stretch it again to fill the sheet. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, and up to 72 hours.
- When you are ready to bake the bread, remove the dough from the fridge and let it warm up and rise for about an hour. Toward the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 450.
- Mix together the kosher salt and water to make the brine, and stir until the salt is dissolved. Pour two tablespoons of olive oil over the top of the dough, and use your fingers to make indents all throughout the dough. Pour the brine over the top of the dough, evenly distributing it. Sprinkle the sea salt over the top of the dough.
- Bake the bread for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the bread from the oven and brush with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.
