Simple Sourdough Focaccia: A Beginner’s Guide
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Sourdough is having a moment. Longtime sourdough bakers may cringe at this proclamation, just as our grandparents likely roll over in their graves when they hear “toast” is a thing.
But it’s true. I cannot open a magazine without seeing a feature on a bakery and its naturally leavened loaves; I cannot scroll through Instagram without seeing a crumb shot of a halved sourdough miche, a beautiful web of irregular holes, or an intricately scored, thick-crusted boule being presented like Simba to the animal kingdom.
My interest in sourdough in recent months has been spurred by a number of requests about how to make my mother’s peasant bread with a sourdough starter. Initially, I thought why? The beauty of the peasant bread is that it doesn’t require a starter or a long rise or any fussy techniques; it can be on your table start to finish in three hours. Everyone will rave.
Over the years, I’ve been able to answer questions relatively easily about how to make the peasant bread morph into something else: a boule with a thick crackling crust — thank you Jim Lahey — or a thinner round to use for pizza or something palatable for the gluten-free crowd.
But achieving that sour taste — even a subtle sour taste — is something yeast, even with a long slow rise cannot achieve. And, moreover, natural leavening is natural leavening — no yeast allowed.
So I began experimenting. I tried reviving my old starter, long neglected in my fridge, and when it proved altogether spent, I ordered one from Breadtopia. I followed the instructions to activate it, and within a day, I had a vibrant, bubbling starter.
After a bit of trial and error, I soon found a nice rhythm, mixing the dough in the afternoon, letting it rise all evening, splitting the dough into two portions and plopping each into a buttered Pyrex bowl in the morning. By early afternoon, the bread was ready to bake. The resulting loaves looked just like the peasant bread, golden crusted, soft crumbed, but with a nice subtle sourness. (Photo below.)
Using the sourdough peasant bread proportions, I decided to make focaccia, my favorite, a bread I love for so many reasons: its versatility — sandwich bread, appetizer, dinner bread — and its flavor and texture: the oil-crisped crust, the generous amount of salt, the chewy crumb.
I also think focaccia is an ideal bread with which to begin a sourdough journey. Why?
- First, it requires no special equipment — not a Dutch oven or a Baking Steel to create a thick crust; not two Pyrex bowls to create a golden, less-thick crust. You likely have a 9×13-inch pan somewhere in your kitchen. This is all you need.
- Second, it requires no tricky shaping technique on a floured work surface. Shaping free-standing sourdough boules is an art and it takes practice and repetition. It’s a beautiful thing when you get the hang of it, but it can be frustrating until you do.
- Third, it requires no scoring. With focaccia, you don’t need a razor sharp lame — you use your fingers to dimple the dough.
For those intimidated by sourdough bread baking, this recipe, as well as this simple sourdough bread recipe, are the recipes I suggest making first, both for their simplicity and flavor. Another great beginner’s bread recipe to try is this overnight, refrigerator focaccia, which requires minimal effort but yields spectacular results.
Curious about Sourdough? Let’s Start From the Top.
You need a sourdough starter, and you can make a sourdough starter from scratch in just about a week. I only recommend doing so if it currently is summer (or a very warm fall) where you are. While it is immensely satisfying to build a starter from scratch, there is no shame in buying one for a few reasons, namely: when you purchase a starter, you are guaranteed to have a strong, vigorous starter from the start.
I’ve purchased sourdough starters from King Arthur Flour and also from Breadtopia. Both were easy to feed and activate. Once your starter arrives, follow this guide on How to Activate, Feed, and Maintain A Sourdough Starter.
Four Reasons to Buy (or Procure) a Starter
- First, if you’re curious about sourdough, get to it! Making a starter from scratch takes weeks. I did it once many years ago following the instructions in Tartine Bread, and after nearly losing my mind, I literally jumped for joy when I dropped a spoonful of my starter into a cup of water, and it floated. Making a starter from scratch is a really cool exercise, and it’s something to be proud of should you succeed (or not!), but why not start experimenting with an active sourdough starter while you build a starter from scratch on the side?
- Second, feeding a mature starter will help you understand how to build one from scratch. You’ll observe how a starter rises and falls, what happens when you feed it more regularly, what happens when you neglect it, how it smells at various stages, etc.
- Third, they’re relatively cheap (or free if you get one from a friend).
- Fourth, maybe you embark on a sourdough journey and decide it isn’t for you. Why go through the trouble of building a starter till you know you enjoy the process of sourdough baking?
Begin with an Easy Recipe
As noted above, I think focaccia is a perfect sourdough-bread-baking starting point. It will teach you the fundamentals of working with sourdough without the potentially frustrating steps of shaping, scoring, and baking with a Dutch oven. The recipe below also can be baked in a loaf pan, another great option if you do not want to deal with shaping and scoring and Dutch ovens.
PS: Whole Wheat(ish) Sourdough Bread recipe
PPS: Essential Equipment For Sourdough Bread Baking
How to Make Sourdough Focaccia: A Step-by-Step Guide
Get a starter. If you don’t have a starter and don’t have a friend who can lend you one, I recommend buying one. I bought mine from Breadtopia, and I’ve managed to keep it alive for 6 months now. Score!
I store my starter in this quart container. When I’m ready to use it, I discard some of it, and add about 45 g flour…
… and 45 g water. You don’t have to be exact, but when you’re getting started, I think it’s helpful to weigh both the water and flour. Depending on how long the starter has been in the fridge, it may need one or two feedings before use.
If you stick a rubber band around your starter vessel, you’ll know when …
… it has doubled and is ready for use.
If you need reassurance as to if it’s ready, you can do the float test: drop a spoonful of starter into a glass of water. If it floats, it’s ready.
As with all bread, when mixing sourdough doughs, it’s best to weigh everything with a digital scale. Start with 100 g starter.
Add 10 g kosher (or other) salt.
Add 440 g water. (See recipe notes: If you live in a humid environment, you may want to use less.)
Stir to combine.
Add 512 g bread flour.
Stir to form a sticky dough ball.
Cover with a towel or bowl cover, and let rise for 8 – 18 hours at room temperature (times will vary depending on the time of year and how warm your kitchen is … in the summer, this may take only 4 hours):
When it doubles …
… drizzle it with some olive oil.
Deflate the dough by pulling the sides into the center.
Dough, ready to make it’s second rise, which will take 5-6 hours. Love this USA Pan.
After 5-6 hours, the dough is ready to be dimpled and stretched and salted. Bake at 425ºF for 25 minutes.
Just-baked sourdough focaccia:
Simple Sourdough Focaccia
- Total Time: 24 hours 25 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf
Description
Adapted from my favorite yeasted, slow-rise focaccia recipe — overnight refrigerator focaccia — this recipe replaces the yeast with a sourdough starter.
UPDATE: Video guidance is here! Watch up above or click the link below in the recipe card.
What you need to make this recipe…:
- …a sourdough starter. I bought mine from Breadtopia. It was easy to activate. There are no instructions on the package itself; follow the instructions on the video here.
- …time. Once your starter is ready to go, this recipe requires an initial 4- 18 hour rise, followed by a second 4- to 6-hour second rise. After the initial rise (depending on the time of year and temperature of your kitchen), you can deflate the dough, and stick it in the fridge for 8 to 10 hours (maybe longer), which might help you regarding your schedule. Keep in mind, when you remove the dough from the fridge and transfer it to a pan, it will still need to rise for another 5- to 6- hours.
- …water. Apparently, chlorine in water can adversely affect sourdough. Leaving water at room temperature for 24 hours will allow most of the chlorine to escape.When I am in the habit of making sourdough bread, I fill a large pitcher with water and leave it out at room temperature. I use this for my sourdough breads and starter. Truth be told, I’ve used water straight from the tap and have not noticed a difference.
Water quantity: Depending on where you live and the time of year, you may need to cut the water back. If you live in a humid environment, for instance, I would suggest starting with 430 g water. If you are not using bread flour, you also may need to cut the water back a bit.
Timing:
The more I make sourdough, the more I realize so much depends on the time of year and the temperature of my kitchen. In the summer, because it is so warm, the first rise (bulk fermentation) takes between 4 – 6 hours; in the winter the first rise takes 12 – 18 hours.
The key with this recipe is to make sure the first rise doesn’t go too long — you want the dough to nearly double. A straight sided vessel (as opposed to a bowl) makes gauging the first rise easier. (Note: If your dough rises above double, don’t despair … recently my dough tripled in volume during an overnight rise, and the resulting focaccia was still delicious, light, airy, etc.)
A few thoughts: If you are making this focaccia in the summer (northern hemisphere), use 50 g of starter and check the dough every couple of hours. If you are making this in the winter, use 100 g of starter, and plan for a long first rise.
Troubleshooting: If you have issues with your dough being too sticky, please read this post: Why is my sourdough so sticky? The 4 common mistakes.
Flour choice:
- I’ve been using King Arthur Flour’s special patent flour — bought a 50-lb. bag of it at Restaurant Depot. Its protein content, 12.7%, is the same as the protein content of its bread flour. I also have used all-purpose flour (11.7%) with success, but I recommend bread flour, which seems to be more reliable for people especially those living in humid climates. If you only have ap flour on hand, you may consider reducing the water a bit — bread flour absorbs slightly more liquid than all-purpose flour.
Ingredients
- 50 g – 100 g (1/4 to 1/2 cup) active starter, see notes above
- 10 g (about 2.5 teaspoons) kosher salt
- 430 – 440 g water (1.75 cups – 1.75 cups + 2 tablespoons), room temperature, see notes above*
- 512 g (about 4 cups) bread flour, see notes above
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for drizzling
- Nice, flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
Instructions
- Place the starter, salt, and water in a large bowl. Stir with a spatula to combine — it doesn’t have to be uniformly mixed. Add the flour. Mix again until the flour is completely incorporated.
- If time permits, perform one “fold”: 30 minutes after you mix the dough, reach into the bowl and pull the dough up and into the center. Turn the bowl quarter turns and continue this pulling 8 to 10 times. See video for guidance.
- Drizzle with a splash of olive oil and rub to coat. Cover bowl with a tea towel or bowl cover and set aside to rise at room temperature (70ºF/21ºC) for 4 to 18 hours (the time will vary depending on the time of year, the strength of your starter, and the temperature of your kitchen — in summer, for instance, my sourdoughs double in 6 hours; in winter, they double in 18 hours. Do not use an oven with the light on for the bulk fermentation — it will be too warm. It is best to rely on visual cues (doubling in volume) as opposed to time to determine when the bulk fermentation is done. A straight-sided vessel makes monitoring the bulk fermentation especially easy because it allows you to see when your dough has truly doubled.).
- When dough has doubled, place 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a 9×13-inch pan. (I have been using this USA Pan, which I love. I have had no sticking issues. If you are using a glass pan, you may, as a precaution, want to butter it it first — I have had disasters with bread sticking when I’ve used oil alone with other baking vessels.)
- Drizzle dough with a tablespoon of olive oil. Use your hand to gently deflate the dough and release it from the sides of the bowl. Gently scoop the dough into the center of the pool of oil in your prepared pan. Fold dough envelope style from top to bottom and side to side to create a rough rectangle. Turn dough over so seam-side is down. Video guidance here.
- Rub top of dough with oil. Leave alone for 4 to 6 hours, uncovered, or until puffy and nearly doubled.
- Heat oven to 425ºF. Rub hands lightly with oil, and using all ten fingers, press gently into the dough to dimple and stretch the dough to nearly fit the pan. Sprinkle generously with sea salt. Transfer pan to the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden all around. Remove pan from oven and transfer bread to a cooling rack. Cool at least 20 minutes before slicing.
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Incidentally, this same recipe can be used to make sandwich bread. You need one large loaf pan, 10×5-inches, such as this one.
As noted above, this same recipe can be baked, like the original peasant bread recipe, in buttered Pyrex bowls. More on this soon.
Just-baked sourdough peasant bread.
Sliced sourdough peasant bread.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
1,250 Comments on “Simple Sourdough Focaccia: A Beginner’s Guide”
Like many Americans during pandemic, I’ve been working on honing my sourdough craft. I stumbled across your recipe in my search for a sourdough focaccia, and dear, sweet Jesus do I wish I never found it. This recipe yielded the most crispy, chewy, delicious pan of bread I’ve ever created. I ate way too much. Thank you, I guess.
So nice to hear this, Sara 🙂 🙂 🙂 This focaccia is one of my favorites … no-effort, big reward! Thanks for writing.
Amazing focaccia, thank you for the recipe 😁
Great to hear, Olga! Thanks for writing 🙂
After the first bulk rise, do you think I can store it int he fridge for the next day?
Yes! I do this often. Just be sure the dough is in a sealed container or covered with plastic wrap to ensure a crust doesn’t form. I always slick the dough with olive oil, turn it to coat, and place it in a sealed Rubbermaid or Tupperware.
Can the focaccia bread be frozen after baked?
Yes! Let it cool completely; then transfer to an airtight bag and freeze for as long as 3 months (probably longer).
I love this recipe! I got a sourdough starter for Christmas and this has been my go to recipe! Its so freaking easy and turns out delicious. I’ve made it the past three weekends and everyone I’ve had try it loves it too! Last weekend I even mixed in some roasted garlic and topped it with caramelized shallots right before baking… so good!
Great to hear this, Devyn! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes: those mixins/toppings sound outstanding!
Wow… so easy and so good. Not at all too oily like some focaccias. This one recipe makes a huge loaf… next time I would divide into two smaller ones.
Great to hear, Lilu 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks for writing. Baking it in two smaller pans works great.
Absolutely the easiest and best bread recipe I’ve used. My wife said to just keep making this bread. I halved the ingredients exactly and added some chopped olives and dry oregano and it was fantastic. Let it proof in the oven with the light on and start to finish was 9 hours. Thank you!
So great to hear this, Joseph 🙂 🙂 🙂 Olives + oregano sound fabulous. Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes!
Wonderful recipe!! I’ve used this recipe for the last 2 years with no issues, but all of a sudden my bread is getting so puffy in the oven! Still tastes great, but now it’s a puffy round top bread and all the dimples are gone when it comes out 🙁 what am I doing wrong?
Hi Jenny! Are you doing anything differently? Different pan? Different starter? Different proof time?
A few thoughts: be sure to dimple the bread aggressively — it sounds as though your dough can handle it. Play around with different proofing times — try extending it by an hour and see if you get different results.
It was really good but needs more salt inside. It stuck to my aluminum pan even though it was greased well. I will use a nonstick pan next time. The texture and crust were perfect. I used grapes gorgonzola and rosemary
Wonderful recipe that always gets rave reviews from friends and family. I think it’s the extra crispy edges that are the favorite. I love it because it’s simple and very hands off compared to a regular sourdough loaf. My most requested variation is when I top it with browned butter instead of olive oil, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Super delicious and almost reminds me of a cinnamon roll because it gets gooey in between the bubbles. Currently I’m making a pizza version for the first time… it’s parbaking as I type 🙂 Thank you and now I’ve gotta try your sourdough ciabatta!
Wow, amazing! Browned butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar sounds absolutely divine!! And so funny you’re making a pizza version, because I have been on a big Sicilian-style pizza kick, and I’ve been parbaking the yeasted variation of this recipe; then topping it. Soooo good. Was trying to get my method down before venturing to the sourdough version. Anyway, thanks for writing!
Love this recipe! Made it twice as a beginner sourdough-bread maker.
Great to hear, Hanna! Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
I live in California and it’s raining right now. Should I use like 70 g sourdough starter?
You can or you can use the 100 grams … if it’s very humid, using 70 grams or reducing the total amount of water is a good idea.
Awesome bread…
Great to hear, Shanthi!
Why do you use grams for measuring liquids like water. Usually these are measured in mls or cups. You have included the cup measurement for the starter but not for the water?
Hi Helen,
Mls is a volume measure whereas grams is a weight measure, and I think it’s so important to measure by weight as opposed to volume when making bread. I just added volume measures for the water, but the reason I left it out initially is that it’s such an awkward amount — it’s much cleaner in grams. Hope that makes sense.
My go to recipe! The best I have tried out in the past year of experimenting.
Great to hear Susan 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks for writing.
Ali,
I have used the recipe time & time again. I add Parmesan cheese and thyme before I dimple & bake. I am planning to gift several focaccias to people for Easter, and I was wondering if you’ve had any luck with freezing the dough? My guess would be to freeze it after the bulk rise? Then remove from freezer, and allow extra time for it to rise again at room temp? Usually my second rise takes about 5 hours. Or would you suggest removing from freezer & letting it dethaw in the fridge for 36 hours? If you have any tips, I would love to hear your thoughts!
Thank you for posting these sourdough recipes & videos. They’ve been so helpful for me!
Hi JuJu! Great to hear all of this. Yes, you can freeze this dough. And you can do it either way you suggest. After the bulk rise, I would deflate it and shape it into a ball; then freeze it. Either of the paths you suggest from there will work.
Thank you for your kind words. Happy Easter!
Can this dough be put in fridge for cold rise after first rise and taken out later put on pan and rise again? I realized by the time the first rise is done I may not have time for the second. ☺️
Yes! Apologies for the delay here, Ann. Just be sure the dough is in a container with a lid to ensure the dough doesn’t dry out. It can stay in the fridge for 24-48 hours.
Since it’s my first time making focaccia bread, I want to thank you for this simple and delicious recipe. This recipe will be my base for future focaccia concoctions, and it will also make me exercise harder, lol.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 Totally. So happy to hear this 💕
Hi! Thank you for a wonderful recipe- your insight at each step was so helpful. I made this recipe a couple weeks ago and at that time, it had honey in the ingredients. It seems like there has been an update since then, and the honey is now missing? I believe the amount in the original recipe was 20 g. Could it be included in the recipe as written now at the first step? Thank you!
Hi Amy! I’ve actually never used honey in this recipe … it must have been a different sourdough focaccia recipe? I actually don’t use any sweeteners in any of my sourdough bread recipes. I know of several yeast-leavened focaccia recipes that also call for honey. Hope you find the recipe you’re looking for!
Amazing. You have the best recipes and I really like how easy they are to follow. Good job!
Thanks so much, John 🙂 🙂 🙂 So glad you liked this one.
This is a proven winner in my household. On the first day it is focaccia plain and simple. On the second day it makes its way into panzanella pleasingly achieving a new purpose.
The recipe is simple and work every time.
Note that the dough is pretty wet but do not be put off by that. The result is a thin crisp/chewy crust and a soft/chewy interior. Bite Perfection.
Great to hear all of this Renee! Love that you use it for Panzanella 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing.
LOVE this recipe!!! I almost gave up on sourdough completely…. But this recipe is so approachable, I nailed it the first time and it helped rebuild my confidence and desire to keep trying. Now I bake all kinds of sourdough every week!!!
I do have a question! I’d love to start adding toppings to my focaccia (like tomatoes or cheese and rosemary) but I am nervous they will burn in the oven. Do you have any tips or tricks for when to add toppings and the best way to go about it? Thank you in advance!!!! Also I love your whole blog 💯💯💯
Hi Kristin! You can add rosemary on top when you add the sea salt. Tomatoes do well as a topping. Things like onions and olives can burn, so with olives I like to mix them directly into the dough. With onions, you can toss them with olive oil or nestle them under tomatoes to ensure they don’t burn. I prefer mixing cheese directly into the dough as well — as with the olives, just toss the cheese with the flour; then proceed.
Thank you for your kind words!
Hi, there! If I wanted to add dill and cheddar cheese, what step of the process would I do it in? Thank you!
Hi! You can add the dill with the flour. Fold in the cheddar, after you do one set of stretches and folds and let it rest again for 30 minutes. Add the cheddar and fold again… you may want to add another set of stretches and folds to more evenly disperse the cheddar.
Always such an easy and delicious recipe! For some reason the last two times I made it, it didn’t rise much on the second rise. Am I letting it rise too much in the first rise?
Hi Tina! Yes, that is possible. If you have a straight-sided vessel, use it for the first rise and really monitor the rise. End the bulk fermentation before it has doubled in volume.
I’ve made this probably 5 times now and it is a crowd pleaser!!! It’s probably my favorite thing I’ve baked and I could eat a whole loaf by myself.
So nice to hear this, Maddie 🙂 🙂 🙂 Same re whole loaf 🤣
Mine stuck to my Pyrex baking dish despite oiling. Any tips?
Yes, oil alone with some pans is not enough. Butter your baking dish first or use parchment paper and the bread will not stick.
Another amazing recipe. The bread turned out amazing. Thank you!
Great to hear, Louisa! Thanks for writing 🙂
The video doesn’t match the text ingredients or directions.
Dear Alexandra,
I mixed the ingredients, performed a fold and then placed the dough in the fridge ovwrnight cause it was too warm in the house. Thia morning noticed it didnt really budge, maybe just a bit, so I toook it out of the fridge and left in on the counter.
Do you think my focaccia will still raise and make it?
Thank you!
Flora
Hi Flora! Yes. Sourdough doesn’t change much visually in the fridge. I’m a little late here … did the bread rise at room temperature OK?
Gorgeous bread: a feast for the eyes and the tummy. I scaled down the recipe to fit a 9″ X 2″ cake pan. added sliced olives and rosemary sprigs on top. Bulk ferment went quickly on my sunny window sill.
I took photos pre and post bake, wish I could attach them–just a beautiful bread.
Thank you.
Wonderful to hear all of this, Elaine 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. I wish we could post photos here, too 💕💕💕