Homemade Focaccia Bread

Have you ever dreamed about baking homemade  bread, fresh out the oven?

You only need four ingredients to make a delicious loaf of bread; flour, yeast, water, and salt. These four ingredients are the base for any bread recipe and focaccia is no exception.

Focaccia bread comes from the Mediterranean region and is usually flat and relatively plain, which makes it a highly versatile bread recipe. In this recipe, we’ll keep it simple brushing it lightly with olive oil and fresh herbs.

I understand that bread making can be intimidating for a beginner baker, so today I’ll break it down so it’s easy to follow along so you can also be successful at home. I’ll give you my best tip and tricks about handling yeast, kneading the dough, proofing in any environment and baking perfectly.  

What’s unique about this focaccia bread is how you can use it to make a fresh Panzanella Caprese Salad. It’s a simple process that’s really impressive.

Panzanella Caprese Salad is a homemade rustic bread salad tossed with crisp vegetables, creamy mozzarella, and fresh basil. This rosemary focaccia bread is insanely delicious in this salad.

This Panzanella Caprese Salad is perfect for summer entertaining, you can get the salad recipe here.

Before we begin, it’s important for you to understand that bread making is a slow process that’ll take a fair amount of patience. It could be difficult to wait it out (especially when you want bread) but trust me it’ll be worth the wait!

Today, we’re making Rosemary Focaccia Bread that’s studded with fresh rosemary and has golden edges. You can easily customize it by adding some minced garlic or kalamata olives on top before baking making it your own. This rosemary focaccia bread tastes fantastic out of the oven on its own or serve it as a gourmet sandwich for lunch!  

Before we begin, make sure to read through the recipe before starting this way you can see the reason behind each step.

I can’t wait anymore, let’s get started!

How to Make Rosemary Focaccia Bread

In a stand mixer bowl, combine the warm water heated to 110 – 115°F (anything hotter will kill off the yeast, and your bread won’t rise properly. Next, sprinkle the dry active yeast over the top the water. Let stand for a few minutes until the yeast begins to activate. It’ll start to look frothy.

Next, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of the chopped rosemary, sugar, and half the all-purpose flour. Stir gently with a rubber spatula to combine with the warm and yeast.

Then attach the dough hook onto the stand mixer and begin mixing on low speed. Gradually add the remaining half of all-purpose flour, salt, and pour in ½ cup of olive oil. (The reason why we don’t incorporate the salt and olive oil in sooner is that we don’t want to smother the yeast and kill it before starting).

Continue to mix on low until the flour begins to fully incorporate, slowly increase the speed to medium-high and knead for 5 to 6 minutes, or until smooth and soft. If the dough is sticky, add in another tablespoon or two of all purpose flour. You know you’re on the right track when the dough begins to come together on the dough hook and pull away from the sides of the bowl.  

At this stage, transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl this prevents the dough from sticky to the bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap (you don’t want to suffocate the dough) or you can use a clean kitchen towel.

Then let it rise, or proof, in a warm place to double in size, for at least 1 hour. Note that it can take more or less time depending on the environment your in. The reason we let it rise, or proof, is to have the bread light and fluffy when it bakes.

Time For Some Helpful Tips

Helpful Tip # 1: After you have covered the bowl loosely in plastic wrap draw an outline with a sharpie on the plastic of the dough ball. This tip helps you see when the dough has doubled in size. I do this every time I make bread so I can see it doubled in size. This way I don’t have to remember what it looked like before.

Helpful Tip # 2: If you are in a colder place, preheat your oven to 180°F or the lowest temperature on your oven for 30 minutes. Then turn your oven off and place the dough bowl in the oven to rise and double in size. I leave the oven door slightly ajar so it doesn’t get too warm and deflate your dough. Another way to proof the dough is to place the bowl of dough outside in the sunlight to rise in size naturally.

Getting Ready to Bake

Now that your dough has doubled in size, coat a 13” by 18” baking sheet pan with the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil (or you can divide the dough in half and bake in 2 smaller 9” by 13” baking pans).

Place the focaccia dough onto the baking sheet pan(s) and gently begin to press out the dough with your fingertips to fit the size of the pan. Carefully coax and stretch the dough to fit the entire pan or most of the pan. Spread your fingers to make little holes all the way through the dough. This process gives the focaccia its signature look.

Now cover the dough with plastic wrap one more time (or clean kitchen towel) and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Remember this may take more or less time depending on your environment. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°F. We’re almost there!

After the dough has doubled in size once again, brush the focaccia dough with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle liberally with coarse finishing sea salt and the remaining rosemary leaves.

Place into the preheated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before cutting and serving.

For serving, I like to serve the focaccia bread with a dipping oil like olive oil mixed with balsamic vinegar or olive oil with garlic and crushed red pepper flakes.

One of my favorite ways to eat this bread is to make it into a sandwich since this focaccia bread gets light and fluffy when baking you can slice it in half and stuff it with Italian meats, cheese and maybe a bright green basil pesto.

You May Also Enjoy:

• How to Make Perfect Cake Pops (free training) 
• How to Cut & Serve Cake (free guide)
• Common Baking Mistakes & How to Avoid Them (free ebook)
• Cake Planning Checklist (freebie)
• How to Decorate Your First Cake (free course)

No matter if your a skilled baker or a newbie this rosemary focaccia bread is a recipe that everyone will thoroughly enjoy!  

Happy Baking!

Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out, Cake Decorating Creator Program, my online cake program. I coach you on everything I teach on these cake tutorials so that you can uplevel your baking and decorating skills. We 10x it so you get the results you want most. Like any new skill, it’s important to learn from the ground up to build a foundation, so you can take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/creator-program. I will see you there!

 

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