Sourdough Focaccia with Rosemary and Garlic
Looking for the best, most foolproof sourdough focaccia recipe? This is it!
With a soft chewy interior and crispy edges, this sourdough focaccia bread is topped with fresh rosemary and roasted garlic for an explosion of flavor in every bite!
Are you ready for another ridiculously easy sourdough recipe? You are going to love this recipe!
The inside is soft and chewy and the bottom and edges are nice and crispy. Perfect for dipping in your favorite sauce or flavored oil!
Not only is focaccia great to serve alongside breakfast, lunch or dinner, you can actually make it a meal by changing up the toppings. Think, "focaccia pizza".
We've gone old school Italian with this basic focaccia recipe by using roasted garlic and rosemary, but feel free to use any topping your heart desires!
Step by step instructions
Let's go over the basic steps needed to make the best sourdough focaccia bread ever!
- Mix the ingredients in a batter bowl. Cover and let rest 30-60 minutes.
- Use your hands or a bowl scraper to stretch and fold the dough for one minute, while in the bowl. (The dough will be very wet.)
- Use your hands to coat an 8" x 8" baking dish with olive oil.
- Dump the dough into the baking dish and use your oiled hands to gently press it in the pan. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 12-14 hours.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Add roasted garlic and rosemary on top of dough and bake for 40 minutes.
HOW TO ROAST GARLIC
- Preheat your oven to 425°. Cut off the top of the head of garlic. Place the head of garlic on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Wrap the garlic in the foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove and let cool until ready to bake focaccia.
Don't forget to roast your garlic while the dough is fermenting. It can be roasted ahead of time and stored in the fridge until you are ready to bake!
Tips for success
Make sure your sourdough starter is active when mixing the dough. It's best to feed your starter up to 12 hours prior to mixing depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
Don't skimp on the olive oil when greasing the pan. The dough needs the oil to get that crispy crust you're looking for!
Use regular olive oil if you can find it. It has a higher smoke point at 468 degrees, then extra virgin olive oil, which is 410 degrees. I find it better for baking because it can handle the higher heat.
This is a very wet dough. Because of this, you will not be able to make the traditional "indentations" in the top of the dough before baking. However, the dough will still bake up perfectly!
The focaccia is ready to bake when the dough has risen halfway up the side of the pan and there are bubbles on the surface and edges of the dough.
Don't have a kitchen scale to measure flour?
Use the scoop and level technique to measure your flour if you do not have a kitchen scale. To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour in the bag. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until it is heaped on top. Take a butterknife and level off the top. This should give you the most accurate measurement for flour.
Because flour is measured by weight in these recipes, if the flour is scooped straight out of the bag with the measuring cup, there will be more flour than is called for in the recipe.
Tips for baking in warm and/or high humidity areas - When baking in high humidity and/or warmer areas, it's often a good practice to use less water and bake a little longer than the recipe calls for. Reduce the water by 50 grams in the initial mix and then slowly add the remaining water until you achieve the correct hydration level. You may need to bake the focaccia a few minutes longer than called. This will take some trial and error!
How to store and freeze for later
You can keep leftover focaccia bread stored at room temperature for up to 2 days before it will start to get stale. Just keep it in a plastic bag or a container with a lid.
Focaccia is best served the day it’s made, however, you can easily freeze leftover focaccia.
After the focaccia has completely cooled, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then in a layer of foil. It can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Allow to thaw at room temperature, then reheat in a 325°F oven until warmed through and crispy, about 10-15 minutes.
Sample baking schedule
- Friday 6 PM: Feed sourdough starter.
- Saturday 6 AM: Mix dough. Cover and let rest at room temperature.
- Saturday 7AM: Stretch and fold dough for 1 minute. Dump into oiled pan. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 12-14 hours. (Roast garlic in the meantime.)
- Saturday 7PM: Add toppings and bake.
Other recipes you may like:
- Sourdough Pizza Crust
- Olive and Walnut Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough Country Loaf
- Sourdough Discard Crackers
We hope you love the ease and versatility of this recipe as much as we do! Leave us a message in the comment section below!
Sourdough Focaccia Bread Recipe
INGREDIENTS
Ingredients to make ¼ cup (50 g) of Active Sourdough Starter
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) sourdough starter
- 3 tablespoons (25 g) all-purpose flour
- 5 teaspoons (25 g) water
Focaccia Dough Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups + 1 teaspoon (325 g) water
- ¼ cup (50 g) active sourdough starter
- 1 ½ teaspoons (8 g) fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) olive oil
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
Other ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil (for coating baking pan and roasting garlic)
- 1 head roasted garlic
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
INSTRUCTIONS
Feed Your Sourdough Starter
- 12 hours before you plan to mix the dough, add the ingredients to make ¼ cup (50 g) of active sourdough starter to a clean jar. Stir until combined, loosely cover the jar and let the starter rise at room temperature. (This will create a total of 60 g active starter but some of it will stick to the sides of the jar during the transfer, so we are making a little more than needed.) The sourdough starter is ready to use when it has doubled in size and there are plenty of bubbles on the surface and sides of the jar.
Make the Dough
- Add the water, active sourdough starter, salt, 1 tablespoon olive oil and all-purpose flour to a large mixing bowl and use a stiff spatula or your hands to mix thoroughly. (Dough will be very wet.) Cover and let rest 30-60 minutes.
- Leave the dough in the bowl and use your hands or a bowl scraper to stretch and fold the dough for one minute.
- Use your hands to coat an 8" x 8" baking dish with olive oil. Dump the dough into the baking dish and use your oiled hands to gently press it in the pan. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 12-14 hours. (It's ready to bake when it's risen halfway up the side of the pan and there are bubbles on the surface and edges of the dough.)
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Add garlic and rosemary on top of dough and bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and serve warm.
Roasted Garlic
- Preheat your oven to 425°. Cut off the top of the head of garlic. Place the head of garlic on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Wrap the garlic in the foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove and let cool until ready to bake focaccia.
NOTES
- Use the scoop and level technique to measure your flour if you do not have a kitchen scale. To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour in the bag. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until it is heaped on top. Take a butterknife and level off the top. This should give you the most accurate measurement for flour.
- Tips for baking in warm and/or high humidity areas - When baking in high humidity and/or warmer areas, it's often a good practice to use less water and bake a little longer than the recipe calls for. Reduce the water by 50 grams in the initial mix and then slowly add the remaining water until you achieve the correct hydration level. You may need to bake the focaccia a few minutes longer than called. This will take some trial and error!
- Make sure you roast the garlic while you're waiting for the dough to ferment. The garlic can be roasted ahead of time and stored in the fridge until ready to bake.
- Sourdough focaccia bread is best served warm on the same day it's baked.
- Store leftovers at room temperature in a plastic bag or container.
- Freeze leftovers for up to 3 months wrapped in plastic wrap and foil.
Another great recipe! I room temp fermented for closer to 16 hours and it was so light and fluffy! Half was made with pizza toppings and half with fresh strawberries and blackberries, I’ll wait to add pizza toppings until halfway through the bake next time, but it was pure deliciousness. And EASY!
Every time I make this focaccia bread it gets better and better. I put it in the refrigerator after first stretch and fold.
HI!!!
I wanted to know, if you have had any experience with making smaller individual focaccias instead of in a pan? I'm thinking almost personal pizza size.... With the dough being kind of wet, my concern would be if it would "run" if not placed in a pan..
Hi Tina, this is a very wet dough so it would definitely "run". But if you have smaller pans such as mini loaf pans, that would probably work great. Just keep an eye on them as they bake because they won't take as long as the original recipe.
Hi there! What would the weight measurements be for the sourdough? Thanks so much!
Hi Hannah, which measurements are you referring to?
Hi Amy, sorry! I Meant to write for the 50g sourdough starter. Thanks:)
Hi Hanna, I just updated the recipe card. It's 10g starter, 25g water and 25g flour. 🙂
Oh thanks so much - very helpful!
The garlic was overcooked by the end of the bake but left flavorful little dents where I picked off the pieces. I'd try another tactic next time, or experiment with different flavors. The focaccia itself is delicious-- soft, chewy, and has a nice sour tang.
This bread was delicious! Question for next time I make it: how much oil do you put in the dish? I think I overdid it.
I added halved sweet cherry tomatoes lots of them, pepperoni,and dime sized chunks of Italian sausage to me garlic and rosemary made two of them like this dinner for 4 barely.
I use quite a lot never can have to much makes olive oil makes the bottom nice and crunchy so go ahead and bathe it good.
This recipe was amazing! A big hit at today’s Sunday lunch! Thank you for all the super accurate, foolproof recipes 😍
You are very welcome Gabriela 🙂
It used to be such a pleasure making this and other items without having to scroll back and forth between the ingredient list and the instructions. I am disappointed that you've rewritten recipes and no longer include the amount of ingredients when describing what to do with them. Please don't lose these little touches as you grow. Thank you!
Hi Cathy! Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. Sometimes it takes a kind comment like yours to realize what will serve my readers the best. I went back to look at what you are referring to and you are correct! It is much easier to make the recipe when the amounts are included within the instructions. I will definitely be going back and updating each recipe as part of my ongoing maintenance and updating process. Thank you again! 🙂
Hello, once I leave this to rest for 12-14 hours, can i put it in the fridge and bake the next day?
Yes you can.
There is no need to worry about left overs there won't be anyone
Really enjoyed making this. However it came out almost twice as thick as what yours looked like in the video and a little gummy. Any suggestions?
Sounds like you may want to bake maybe another 4 or 5 minutes