Overnight, Refrigerator Focaccia = The Best Focaccia Bread Recipe
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Cold, refrigerated dough is the secret to making delicious focaccia! Allowing the dough to rest 18 to 48 hours in the fridge will yield extra-pillowy and airy focaccia, though if you are pressed for time, you can make this start-to-finish in 3 hours. This 4-ingredient recipe requires only 5 minutes of hands-on time. Video guidance below!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review:
“Love this recipe! I’ve made this so many times that I’ve lost count. Super simple and delicious. My family loves it. Whenever someone asks me for a focaccia recipe, I always show them this one. This recipe is awesome. Thank you for sharing!” — Lucy
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: focaccia is the bread recipe for beginners. Why? Because:
- The no-knead, 4-ingredient dough takes 5 minutes to mix together.
- It requires no special equipment, no tricky shaping technique, and no scoring.
- If you have a 9×13-inch baking pan and your fingertips (for dimpling), you’re good to go.
- It emerges soft and pillowy, olive oil-crusted, golden all around, and it’s completely irresistible.
In sum, it’s hard to beat focaccia (pronounced foh-kah-chuh) in the effort-to-reward category. If you are intimidated by bread baking, this is the recipe I suggest making first, both for its simplicity and flavor. After all, this focaccia bread recipe is adapted from my mother’s simple peasant bread recipe, a recipe that has removed the fear of the bread baking process for many.
For the past few months, I’ve been making the focaccia bread recipe from my cookbook Bread Toast Crumbs, but changing the method: using more yeast, using less yeast, doing longer, slower rises at room temperature, doing longer, slower rises in the refrigerator. Find the results below.
This post is organized as follows:
- What Makes The Best Focaccia
- Four Tips for Success
- How This Focaccia Recipe Differs from Others
- Focaccia Bread Ingredients
- How to Make Focaccia, Step by Step
- Adding Rosemary, Herbs and Other Toppings to your Focaccia Dough
- How to Make a Focaccia Bread Art
- Tomato Focaccia
- How to Make a Focaccia Bread Sandwich
- Can I Skip the Overnight Rise?
PS: Once you master this simple focaccia, try your hand at this simple sourdough bread recipe, another recipe that requires minimal effort but yields spectacular results.
What Makes The Best Focaccia?
I’ll spare you all the details of the various experiments and skip straight to what I’ve found creates the best focaccia, one that emerges golden all around, looking like a brain, its surface woven with a winding labyrinth of deep crevices: high-hydration, refrigerated dough.
This is nothing novel—many bakers extol the virtues of the cold fermentation process—and it came as no surprise to me either: it was, after all, past-prime Jim Lahey refrigerated dough that showed me how easy focaccia could be: place cold, several-days-old pizza dough in a well-oiled pan, let it rise for several hours or until it doubles, drizzle with more oil, dimple with your fingers, sprinkle with sea salt, then bake until done.
Employing a refrigerator rise requires more time because the cold environment slows everything down initially, and during the second rise, the cold dough takes time to warm to room temperature. The overall effort, however, is very hands-off, and the result — a light, airy, pillowy dough — is well worth it.
As important as refrigerating the dough is using a high hydration dough, meaning a dough with a high proportion of water relative to the flour. The high proportion of water will create a dough with beautiful air pockets throughout. (Incidentally, this is the secret to making excellent pizza dough as well as light, airy sourdough sandwich bread.)
How This Focaccia Recipe Differs from Others
There are lots of focaccia bread recipes out there, so why make this one? This one differs from many of the recipes out there in two ways:
- The long, cold, refrigerator rise.
- The absence of sugar or honey or any sort of sweetener.
Why isn’t there any sweetener in this recipe? Simply stated, a sweetener is just not needed — the yeast, contrary to popular belief, does not need sugar to activate or thrive. Sugar will speed things up, but when you’re employing a long, slow rise, speed is not the name of the game.
Moreover, and this is getting a little scientific, but during the long, cold fermentation: enzymes in both the flour and the yeast will break down the starches in the flour into simple sugars, which will contribute both to flavor and to browning, again rendering sugar unnecessary. Cool, right?
Four Tips for Success
- Allowing the dough to rest 18 to 24 hours in the fridge yields the best results. (You can leave the dough in the fridge for as long as 72 hours.)
- A buttered or parchment-lined pan in addition to the olive oil will prevent sticking. When I use Pyrex or other glass pans, butter plus oil is essential to prevent sticking. When I use my 9×13-inch USA Pan, I can get away with using olive oil alone.
- Count on 2 to 4 hours for the second rise. This will depend on the temperature of your kitchen and the time of year.
- After the second rise, dimple the dough, then immediately stick the pans in the oven — this has been a critical difference for me in terms of keeping those desirable crevices. If you dimple and let the dough rise again even for 20 minutes before popping the pan in the oven, the crevices begin to dissolve.
Ingredients
- Flour: bread flour or all-purpose flour will work equally well here. If you live in a humid environment or abroad, I suggest trying to get your hands on bread flour. King Arthur Flour is my preference.
- Yeast: SAF Instant Yeast is my preference, but active dry yeast works just as well. See recipe box for instructions on how to use active-dry yeast in place of instant.
- Salt: I say this all the time, but a big part of making a good loaf of bread comes down simply to using the right amount of salt given the amount of flour you are using by weight. It’s like anything: bread has to be well seasoned. At a minimum, use 10 grams (2 teaspoons) of salt for every 500 grams (4 cups) of flour. I highly recommend investing in some good, flaky sea salt for sprinkling on top of the focaccia dough — it tastes better than the more finely ground varieties of salt. I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt for the dough, but any salt you have on hand will work just fine for the dough.
- Water: There is a lot of water in this dough — it’s 88% hydration — and all of that water helps produce a light, airy, pillowy dough.
- Olive oil: Olive oil both in the bottom of the pan and on top of the dough is essential for encouraging nice browning, flavor, and that quintessential oiliness we all love about focaccia.
- Rosemary or other seasonings: Rosemary is a classic focaccia topping, and you can either sprinkle it over the dough before baking or you can chop it up and add it to the dough. Many people love sun-dried tomatoes and olives in their focaccia. See below for how to incorporate these other ingredients into your focaccia dough.
How to Make Focaccia Bread, Step by Step
Gather your ingredients: 4 cups (512 g) flour, 2 teaspoons (10 g) salt, 2 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast (SAF is my preference), 2 cups (455 g) water:
Whisk together the flour, salt, and yeast first:
Add the water:
Use a spatula to stir the two together.
Slick the dough with olive oil:
Slick the surface of the dough with olive oil; then cover the bowl. You all have one of these, right? Stick the bowl in the fridge immediately; leave it there to rise for 12 to 18 hours (or longer—I’ve left it there for as long as three days). NOTE: It is important the dough really be slicked with olive oil especially if you are using a cloth bowl cover or tea towel as opposed to plastic wrap or the lid pictured in the photo below this one. If you are using a tea towel, consider securing it with a rubber band to make a more airtight cover. If you do not slick the dough with enough oil, you risk the dough drying out and forming a crust over the top layer.
Another option: the lid that comes with the 4-Qt Pyrex bowl. This is handy for fridge storage because you can stack things on top of it.
Remove from fridge, and remove the cover:
Deflate the dough and transfer to a prepared pan. I love this 9×13-inch USA pan. If you don’t have one you can use two 8- or 9-inch pie plates or something similar. If you are using glass baking dishes be sure to grease the dishes with butter before pouring a tablespoon of olive oil into each. (The butter will ensure the bread doesn’t stick.) Don’t touch the dough again for 2 to 4 hours depending on your environment.
After two to four hours, or when the dough looks like this…:
… it’s time to dimple it! You can use simply olive oil and salt — I recommend good, flaky sea salt for this. Note, the dough in the photo below spent three days in the fridge, and the dough was super bubbly!
if you are using rosemary, sprinkle it over the dough. Then pour two tablespoons of olive oil over the dough, and using your fingers, press straight down to create deep dimples. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt — again, something like Maldon is great here.
Transfer to oven immediately and bake at 425ºF for 25 minutes or until golden all around. Remove focaccia from pans and place on cooling racks.
How to Incorporate Rosemary, Herbs, and Other Ingredients & Toppings into Your Focaccia Dough
One of the most frequently asked questions I get is: How can I add other toppings or ingredients to my focaccia bread? You can do this in two ways:
- Add them on top as you would rosemary or other herbs. The key is to make sure the ingredients are slicked lightly with olive oil to ensure they do not burn in the oven. I like to sprinkle the rosemary over top of the dough, then drizzle it with olive oil, then dimple the dough.
- You can add them directly to the dough. In step one, when you whisk together the flour, salt, and instant yeast, add your ingredients — chopped olives, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic — to the flour and toss to coat; then add the water.
How to Make a Focaccia Bread Art
Pictured above is my “Ode to Spring” (🤣) Focaccia Bread Art (or Garden Scape). As noted above, the key with adding toppings is to slick them lightly with olive oil to ensure they don’t completely char. Keep in mind that some items will char, and a little charring is not a bad thing.
To make a focaccia bread art:
- Follow the recipe through the step in which you dimple the dough just before baking. Arrange your toppings — sliced peppers, asparagus, scallions, olives, tomatoes, onions, etc. — over top and dimple again, pressing the ingredients into the dough to embed them — you can be more aggressive than you think.
- Brush the entire surface with olive oil; then sprinkle with sea salt.
- Bake as directed.
Tomato Focaccia
Pictured above is a cross between pissaladière and tomato focaccia. I love the addition of tomatoes to pissaladière because it adds a freshness and brightness, a hit of acidity to offset the sweet caramelized onions and salty anchovies, olives, and capers.
You can use any summer tomatoes you have on hand — diced cherry tomatoes, Roma, plum, sliced beefsteak tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, etc. If you choose to dice up Roma or plum tomatoes, there is no need to seed them, but leave any juices lingering on the cutting board behind.
Top the unbaked focaccia with a thin layer of tomatoes; then bake as directed.
How to Make Focaccia Bread Sandwiches
One of my favorite things to do with either the rounds of focaccia or the 9×13-inch slab of focaccia is to make a giant sandwich: simply halve the whole finished loaf of focaccia in half crosswise; fill it as you wish, close the sandwich; then slice and serve.
Here’s one of my favorites: Roasted Red Peppers, Olive Tapenade, & Whipped Honey Goat Cheese
Can I Make this Overnight Focaccia Without the Overnight Rise?
Yes, you can. In fact, in my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs, I do not employ an overnight rise. Start-to-finish it can be made in about three hours. The finished bread will not be as pillowy, but it will still be light, airy, and delicious.
To skip the overnight rise, simply let the mixed dough rise at room temperature until doubled, about 1.5 to 2 hours. Then proceed with the recipe, knowing the second rise will only take about 30 minutes.
The Best, Easiest Focaccia Bread Recipe
- Total Time: 18 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves
Description
Cold, refrigerated dough is the secret to making delicious focaccia! Allowing the dough to rest 18 to 24 hours in the fridge will yield extra-pillowy and airy focaccia, though if you are pressed for time, you can make this start-to-finish in 3 hours. This 4-ingredient recipe requires only 5 minutes of hands-on time. Video guidance below!
Adapted from the focaccia recipe in Bread Toast Crumbs.
A few notes:
- Plan ahead: While you certainly could make this more quickly, it turns out especially well if you mix the dough the day before you plan on baking it. The second rise, too, takes 2 to 4 hours.
- If you are short on time and need to make the focaccia tonight: Let the mixed dough rise at room temperature until doubled, about 1.5 to 2 hours. Then proceed with the recipe, knowing the second rise will only take about 30 minutes.
- You can use various pans to make this focaccia such as: two 9-inch Pyrex pie plates. (Use butter + oil to prevent sticking.) One 9×13-inch pan, such as this USA pan — do not split the dough in half, if you use this option, which will create a thicker focaccia . A 13×18-inch rimmed sheet pan — this creates a thinner focaccia, which is great for slab sandwiches.
- As always, for best results, use a digital scale to measure the flour and water.
- I love SAF instant yeast. I buy it in bulk, transfer it to a quart storage container, and store it in my fridge for months. You can store it in the freezer also.
- If you are using active-dry yeast, simply sprinkle the yeast over the lukewarm water and let it stand for 15 minutes or until it gets foamy; then proceed with the recipe.
- Flour: You can use all-purpose or bread flour here with great results. If you live in a humid environment, I would suggest using bread flour. If you are in Canada or the UK, also consider using bread flour or consider holding back some of the water. Reference the video for how the texture of the bread should look; then add water back as needed.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (512 g) all-purpose flour or bread flour, see notes above
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast, see notes above if using active dry
- 2 cups (455 g) lukewarm water, made by combining 1/2 cup boiling water with 1 1/2 cups cold water
- butter for greasing
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
- 1 to 2 teaspoons whole rosemary leaves, optional
Instructions
- Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and instant yeast. Add the water. Using a rubber spatula, mix until the liquid is absorbed and the ingredients form a sticky dough ball. Rub the surface of the dough lightly with olive oil. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel, cloth bowl cover, or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator immediately for at least 12 hours or for as long as three days. (See notes above if you need to skip the overnight rise for time purposes.) NOTE: It is important the dough really be slicked with olive oil especially if you are using a cloth bowl cover or tea towel as opposed to plastic wrap or a hard lid. If you are using a tea towel, consider securing it with a rubber band to make a more airtight cover. If you do not slick the dough with enough oil, you risk the dough drying out and forming a crust over the top layer.
- Line two 8- or 9-inch pie plates or a 9×13-inch pan (see notes above) with parchment paper or grease with butter or coat with nonstick cooking spray. (Note: This greasing step may seem excessive, but with some pans, it is imperative to do so to prevent sticking. With my USA pans, I can get away with olive oil alone; with my glass baking dishes, butter is a must.)
- Pour a tablespoon of oil into the center of each pan or 2 tablespoons of oil if using the 9×13-inch pan. Using two forks, deflate the dough by releasing it from the sides of the bowl and pulling it toward the center. Rotate the bowl in quarter turns as you deflate, turning the mass into a rough ball. Use the forks to split the dough into two equal pieces (or do not split if using the 9×13-inch pan). Place one piece into one of the prepared pans. Roll the dough ball in the oil to coat it all over, forming a rough ball. Repeat with the remaining piece. Let the dough balls rest for 3 to 4 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen (Note: no need to cover for this room temperature rise).
- Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 425°F. If using the rosemary, sprinkle it over the dough. Pour a tablespoon of oil over each round of dough (or two tablespoons if using a 9×13-inch pan). Rub your hands lightly in the oil to coat, then, using all of your fingers, press straight down to create deep dimples. If necessary, gently stretch the dough as you dimple to allow the dough to fill the pan. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt all over.
- Transfer the pans or pan to the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the underside is golden and crisp. Remove the pans or pan from the oven and transfer the focaccia to a cooling rack. Let it cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving; let it cool completely if you are halving it with the intention of making a sandwich.
- Prep Time: 18 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
4,184 Comments on “Overnight, Refrigerator Focaccia = The Best Focaccia Bread Recipe”
Can’t believe it’s taken me 67 years (and your recipe and video ; ) to realize that I too can make focaccia.
As you say, so easy and delicious! Now trying again and noticed the written recipe, unlike the video, does not say to coat the dough with olive oil before popping it into the refrigerator. Is the oil step optional?
Great to hear this, Maggie! It is optional. If you have an airtight container, coating the dough with oil is not as critical (though it won’t hurt it). If you don’t have an airtight container, adding oil will prevent the dough from drying out.
Amazing recipe!! Absolutely loved how easy it is and the focaccia produced is so amazing! I flavoured mine with basil and garlic and the crumb is so bubbly and open, the bottom is crispy and the inside is soft and chewy. Absolutely perfect!
Wonderful to hear this, Carmen! Thanks so much for writing. Basil and garlic sound lovely 🙂
Hi.. Can i know the reason why no folding is required for this recipe? Thanks..
Hi Halim! It’s such a wet dough that stretches and folds wouldn’t really accomplish much. The gluten is developed over time, during the long, slow, fridge rise.
Thank you. It’s always great to learn something new and thanks to individuals like you who shares your knowledge around….. I really appreciate it…
Absolutely love this recipe. Was a little skeptical at first, by far the best!
Great to hear this, Sam! Thanks for writing 🙂
The first time I had ever tried focaccia was from a restaurant and I loved it! I always thought it was a very difficult thing to bake – turns out it’s super easy! The process was simple and the effort riquired was minimal. I had all the ingredients already at hand. All it took was some time and love 🙂 I am guessing it will become a staple in my kitchen. For this first time I kept it as simple as it could get but in the future I will get more creative with it – the one I tried at the restaurant had fermented potatoes in it! Thank you for this thorough recipe, the pictures and video helped me as well!
Wonderful to hear all of this, Dimitra! Fermented potatoes sound amazing!
The best and so easy! Our house now does “focaccia Fridays” because this recipe is soooo good!
Oh I love that!! I’m going to start instituting Focaccia Fridays as well. So good.
This is such a good recipe, I use it all the time! I often bake one big batch and freeze it in squares, then refresh in the oven when I want one. So good, thank you!
Great to hear this, Genevieve! Thanks so much for writing. I love the idea of freezing this in squares. Smart!
This is the most airy, crisp, and flavorful focaccia I have ever made! It was the star of the show at dinner last night, thanks for sharing! I topped it with dried rosemary which added just a little something!
Wonderful to hear this, Addie! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
After several attempts at focaccia which weren’t bad, I tried this one and finally attained perfection!!
This recipe is the easiest one I’ve tried with best result. I will look no further.
I did use a glass pyrex dish and buttered it first, but it still stuck so will use baking parchment next time. Still after getting it out the pan, it was devoured in no time
Great to hear this, Kate! Thanks so much for writing. Such a bummer about the sticking!! I’m sorry that the butter layer didn’t work. Parchment definitely will, and it’s possible that a nonstick spray could also help. Sticking is the worst!!
Thanks for the recipe and great instructions! I have tried this twice this week and both times the Focaccia is quite pale. I gave it another five minutes the second time and it was only slightly better. If I go an additional 5 minutes, will this dry out the bread too much? Otherwise it’s lovely.
Thanks!
Hi Linda! I might consider increasing the oven temperature a bit. Does your oven run cool? So oftens, ovens are not calibrated correctly — mine consistently runs 50 degrees cooler than what it registers (which is why I love my oven thermometer).
Also: are you using unbleached flour? If not, what kind of flour are you using?
Hi Alexandra,
My oven is calibrated correctly and I used All Purpose Flour. I actually tried it again today for the third time and added a little sugar first to the yeast and increased the temperature 25 degrees to 450. This time it browned correctly and tasted great too, but it didn’t have the bubble pockets inside and wasn’t as crusty as the original. Good thing I have people to keep giving these to…🤣🤣🤣
Interesting! OK, well, I suppose next time you could try omitting the sugar but increasing the oven temperature and seeing if that’s the sweet spot. I’m sure your friends don’t feel burdened by your bread experiments 😂😂😂😂
Never made Focaccia before, followed your recipe, except I added 2 tsp. sugar with the yeast mixture, and added the salt to the bread flour. Left it refrigerated for 20 hours, and wasn’t sure if it would turn out so good, but it was fabulous! Many thanks, would make it again.
Wonderful to hear this, Yoko! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Ooh just found your site and can’t wait to try this. I’ve only ever had success with bread when using a cold rise method.
I only have fresh yeast, will it work with this and how much should I use?
Hi Rebecca! Yes, you can use fresh yeast. Generally the rule of thumb is 3X the amount of fresh yeast as instant yeast, so for this recipe, you’ll need about 24 grams fresh yeast.
I just noticed that in your notes or the recipe there was no mention of kneading the dough to make it elastic and smooth. In fact it’s just pulled together into a rough ball. I’ve put the dough in the fridge to set overnight and I’m serving it to company for lunch!
Any advice?
HI Christine! Kneading is not necessary in this recipe. Gluten is developed by the long rise time. It should not look smooth and elastic, in fact, when you mix the dough. It sounds as though your dough is on the right track! I would watch the video to reference the texture of the dough, but I think you should be just fine!
Awesome!!! Easy and great bread. I made 2 smaller pans.One with lots of toppings and one plain for sandwiches…….Both were perfect! Thanks for the great recipe. I mostly grind my own redfife berries and make a “sponge” style loaf…. so this was super fun and easy peasy!!! Thanks again. May this find you well!!
Wonderful to hear this, Tracy! And good for you for grinding your own wheat berries! So impressed. I haven’t gotten there yet 🙂
Yesterday I left a comment about kneading. . . I just had to let you know that the focaccia turned out perfect! No kneading required. Served it for lunch and enjoyed the fabulous chewy texture. There’s no oil in the dough, but used butter and little oil for the second rise in a 9×13 glass baking dish, and more oil for the baking. Delicious!
Wonderful to hear this, Christine! Thanks so much for writing and reporting back on your experience!
I just love this focaccia recipe. I’ve made several but this is now my permanent one. I’m going to make the Brioche recipe today. Your recipes are easy to follow and your videos are divine. I found your site googling Focaccia recipes. I ordered your book today. I look forward to cooking more of your recipes and learning from you. Thanks Ali.
Oh Sherry!! Thanks so much 🙂 🙂 :). This truly means the world. Really appreciate you taking the time to write and to order my book. Thank you sincerely.
Fabulous recipe! I want to make again and do “focaccia art” on the top with various vegetables, capers, olives and herbs… any advice on how to do this? I.e, should I stretch, dimple, salt and olive oil it before toppings, and then pop it straight in the oven?
Some recipes suggest letting it sit after stretching to rise a bit before topping, and others suggest to oil the top of the veggies to prevent burning. Anyone have experience with this?
Thanks in advance 🙂
Hi Sach! Great to hear this. I would make the focaccia through the step when you dimple the dough, but dimple the dough a little less aggressively. Then, arrange your “art”, and press the ingredients into the dough to nestle them down and to ensure as much as possible they stay in place. Drizzling more oil over the veggies is a great idea.
Thank you so much for this recipe. Have made it a couple of times and love the compliments when I bring it to the table. One problem though, the bottom remains pile while the top and sides have a beautiful crust. I spray the bottom of the glass pans, then place parchment paper and spray again. Am I overdoing it?
Great to hear! Are you putting any olive oil on top of the parchment or are you just using spray?
Thanks for your quick response. I spray the parchment paper with an olive oil spray and add the one tablespoon of oil as per the recipe before adding the dough. Too much?
No, not too much at all! I just wanted to make sure you were adding the oil because that does help with browning. I don’t know how to advise really except maybe to play around with which rack you bake it on. You could try your lowest rack and you could try increasing the oven temperature.
Does the top of your focaccia get nice and golden? Or could it also use a bit more color?
Good Morning- Can my dough remain in the fridge for 48 hours? Thanks!
Yes, absolutely!
Hi may I know if it’s possible to scale the recipe down to half , as I’m only serving for two
Yes, absolutely!
Hi Ali, this recipe is amazing and it’s so easy!! My family loved it and we finished it within a few hours instead of days. Hahah.
Was wondering is it possible to replace half of the flour with whole wheat flour?
Great to hear this, Sylvia! Yes, you definitely can, but please manage your expectations about the texture. Any time you introduce whole wheat flour into a dough, the finished bread will be a little denser. I think this bread will still taste great, and I think texture will still be nice, too 🙂
I made it with 100% organic stone ground whole wheat flour. It came out great – the best focaccia I’ve made. This recipe is fantastic. Stirred the ingredients together at 4 am, and had a great dinner at 8 pm the same day. I halved the recipe, and made 3 small round focaccias with caramelized onions and fresh rosemary. My go-to focaccia recipe now. Thanks Alexandra!!
Wow, wonderful to hear this, Clair! Caramelized onions + fresh rosemary sounds absolutely delicious!
Ok, my mouth is watering!!!! Can this be made with Gluten Free four???? I sure hope so.
Hi Lu! I’m not sure using gluten-free flour 1:1 as a substitute for the wheat flour will work … you might need to add some eggs for structure. I’m just not sure the dimples will hold with gluten-free flour. I have one gluten-free bread recipe on my blog that might serve as some guidance.
Can I use a cake pan to bake focaccia?
I usually don’t leave reviews, but this focaccia bread was so good, I just had to! First off, the video was so super helpful! And I learned it’s a very forgiving recipe because I messed things up a bunch and it still turned out awesome. I halved the recipe and only made one loaf and also did as one reviewer and added 1 tsp of sugar to the yeast mixture. Out of necessity because I forgot about my daughter’s ballet practice that evening (ugh!), I pulled it from the fridge after about 37 hours and let it rise for less than an hour on a pretty warm 80° evening. I also somehow managed to shut the oven off for about 10-15 min while it was baking completely forgetting it was in there and it still turned out amazing (it was a very hectic day, lol)! When I finally got home that night, I enjoyed chunks of the finished product dragged through a plate of olive oil mixed with a dash of balsamic vinegar. Thank you SO much for a recipe that I know I will be making many, many times over. 🙂
Oh yay! Jamie, it’s nice to hear all of this. And I’ve had those days 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing and for sharing. Bread dough is surprisingly forgiving and experiences such as yours are how we learn about ALL of the possibilities, most especially that dough can hang out in the fridge for days and still turn out just fine (if not better!).
I did focaccia bread art using this recipe. This is THE BEST focaccia I have made to date. Hands on time, in the actual making of the bread, is minimal. I wish I could send you a photo of how the bread turned out. And the flavor, the chew……HOLY MOLY!!! So glad I happened on your recipe. Thank you!!!
Oh yay! So wonderful to hear this, Barbara! Thanks so much for writing. You can always email me a photo if you wish: alexandra@alexandracooks.com 🙂
Beautiful, crispy, light and so delicious! Just getting into baking and this is amazing! Thank you for the directions and tips!
Wonderful to hear this, Debra! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Wow – it came up fantastic on my 1st try. Holey airy crumb, tender with great flavour., Easy as 123 to make as well. What’s there not to love about this? It was perfect as-is and made into a sandwich. Thank you for sharing a fab recipe.
Wonderful to hear this! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
This is very easy and extremely tasty. The one thing I would say is that it does stick to the sides so use butter on the sides.
Good tip, Mike! Thanks for writing. Great to hear this!
I bake bread a lot and can’t get over how easy this focaccia is to make. It came out absolutely delicious. I told my husband that I should take a sample over to our favorite Italian restaurant because this is much better than what they are serving! I’m going to try with some roasted garlic next time.
Oh, I love this, Suzanne! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Too funny. Roasted garlic will be amazing!
Hi lovely recipe! Turned out amazing!
Can I use self raising flour instead of plain flour?