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This Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Bread is so easy to make! It has a golden, crispy outside and a tender, fluffy inside! Perfect with soup or pasta.
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We all know focaccia bread as that crispy yet fluffy bread served at Italian restaurants. Overflowing baskets (yet seemingly never enough) of bread and small plates of oil and herbs are presented to us. I have such great memories of dredging my focaccia bread in the oil, dripping it all over myself, but savoring the texture and flavor of the bread and oil. Now you can make this bread and recreate the experience yourself! Our rosemary focaccia bread recipe is easy to make, it’s customizable, and it’s downright delicious.
Focaccia Topping Ideas
- Cheese- sprinkle cheese such as parmesan cheese or Gruyere as your focaccia is baking for a savory twist.
- Tomatoes- whether they are fresh, such as cherry tomatoes, or sundried from a jar, these would make a great addition. The texture and flavor would add a brightness and sweet flavor.
- Olives- add whichever type of olives are your favorite, but be sure to remove the pit. You can keep them whole, even creating a design on top of the bread, or chop them up small and scatter them across the top.
- Caramelized onions- create a smoky sweetness with these. Caramelize the onions ahead of time, and then lay them across the top of your loaf.
- Flaky sea salt- always delicious, different from kosher salt, the larger pieces of salt melt in your mouth as you eat the pieces of bread.
- Fresh herbs- any herbs you want or have such as thyme, basil, dill, or anything you can imagine. Cut and scatter on your bread.
How to Make Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Bread
- This focaccia dough is easy to put together. To begin, you first make a yeast mixture. You do this by adding warm water to a bowl and sprinkling yeast over the top of it. You can let this sit for fifteen minutes, and as it does, the yeast should become a little foamy.
- In a separate, large bowl, you will mix flour and salt. Because this is a focaccia recipe, you are going to use bread flour. Now you will add the yeast/water mixture to this large bowl. Stir it together to combine the ingredients. Drizzle the top of the dough ball with olive oil, enough oil to cover the entire thing. Cover this and place in the fridge overnight.
- The next day, line a 9×13 rectangle shaped dish with parchment paper. Take the dough from the bowl and place it on the 9×13 dish. It will sit here for 2-4 hours at room temperature and the dough should slowly grow to the edges of the pan. You want to allow the dough to rise.
- In a large skillet, you are going to infuse olive oil by adding the extra-virgin olive to the skillet, and then the garlic and the rosemary. Stir this mixture for a minute or two and then remove it from the heat.
- Preheat the oven to 425℉.
- Looking back to the dough in the pan, use your fingers to add dimples into the dough. Pour the infused olive oil over the top of the dough, just enough for a light coating.
- Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
- Place on a cooling rack. Finally you can slice and serve.
What to Serve with Rosemary Focaccia Bread
This Rosemary Focaccia Bread is as versatile as it is tasty. When looking for ways to serve it, start with soup. Cut the bread into long, thin pieces, perfect for dipping into soup, and enjoy. What’s soup without salad? Have squares of your focaccia on the side of an Italian salad full of fresh greens, ripe tomatoes, and a slightly sour dressing. Perfect for pasta, use the bread to sop up extra pasta sauce and enjoy the flavors of the marinara on the focaccia. Another idea, cut the focaccia into sandwich bread by slicing the bread into little bricks and then cutting them open. These make a flavorful sandwich. A final idea, assemble a pizza on top of the focaccia. Whatever toppings you like!
Recipe Tip
You need to let the dough rise in the fridge for at least 12 hours. However, you can keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days. The longer you let it rise, the more bubbly it will be.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sometimes using the wrong flour can cause the focaccia to become dense. The best type of flour to use when making focaccia is bread flour because of its high protein content. The other reason it might not be fluffy- it wasn’t left to rise long enough on the counter. If you keep your house on the cold side or live in a cold climate, you may need to rise longer than the 2-4 hours. The dough should rise to the corners and top of the pan before baking.
You can eat a chopped salad full of vegetables, roasted veggies, soup, and pasta. It would go well with more wet things.
Keep your rosemary chopped coarsely, the smaller it’s chopped the more likely it is to burn and be sure the rosemary is completely coated in oil. In this recipe, the rosemary gets lightly cooked in oil first, so it is less likely to burn.
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Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Bread
Equipment
- 9×13 inch pan
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast 1 packet = 2¼ teaspoons
- 2 cups warm water
- 4 cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped
Instructions
- Add warm water to a bowl and sprinkle yeast over the top. Let sit for 15 minutes. The yeast should become a little foamy.
- In a separate large bowl mix together flour and salt.
- Add in the yeast and water mixture. Stir to combine.
- Drizzle with enough olive oil to lightly cover the top of the dough.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and put in the fridge overnight.
- Line a 9×13 dish with parchment paper. Move the dough from the bowl to the pan.
- Let sit at room temperature, uncovered for 2-4 hours. The dough should spread and grow to the edges of the pan.
- In a large skillet, add ¼ cup olive oil, garlic, and rosemary. Heat to medium low. You aren't trying to brown the garlic, you just want to infuse the flavor. Stir for 1-2 minutes then remove from heat.
- Preheat oven to 425℉. Use your fingers to add dimples to the dough. Pour flavored olive oil over the top of the dough. You may not need to add all of it – just enough for a light coating.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Slice and serve!
Notes
- If you want to keep the topping simple, just use plain olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
- You can keep the dough in the fridge for up to 3 days before adding to the 9×13 pan.
Nutrition Information
Recipe adapted from Our Home Becoming
