Sourdough Focaccia

Sourdough focaccia is dimpled and golden on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside! It’s a simple bread where sourdough starter and olive oil shine.

Bread making is experiencing a renaissance right now, and for good reason. There’s something about combining water, flour, and salt, using only time and your hands to guide the process towards a fully formed loaf.

This sourdough focaccia recipe takes that process a step further. The luscious notes and texture of a good olive oil, plus your favourite toppings, create a simple flatbread worthy of sitting meal side, or eating as an afternoon snack.

Essential Tools To Make Sourdough Focaccia

Sourdough Starter

First things first. In order to make sourdough focaccia you need a sourdough starter. We’ve got a great post called How To Make A Sourdough Starter, so check it out if you don’t have one already. If you don’t have a starter ready to go be prepared to wait at least a week before you can make bread, and maybe longer! It’s worth the wait, we promise.

A Scale

Baking with a scale by weight ensures accuracy and consistency. We highly recommend baking sourdough recipes, and baking recipes in general, using a scale.

Patience

If you’re new to sourdough baking you will soon learn that 95% of your time will be spent waiting! Slow down, let the bread work its magic, and savour the process.

What’s The Best Flour To Use In This Recipe?

We prefer bread flour when making sourdough bread, however all-purpose flour will work too since we don’t need the structure of a shaped boule. We haven’t tested it, however we think alternative wheats like spelt or kamut would also work!

How To Make Sourdough Focaccia Step-By-Step:

• Add the starter a large bowl. Stir in the water, honey, and 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil, mixing to combine.
• Add the flour and salt to the bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms.
• Rest the dough for about 10 minutes before doing a round of stretches and folds (see this video for an example). Repeat this a couple more times if you have time, once every 10 minutes. This is optional but will improve the structure of the loaf.
• Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and a large plate. Let it sit out at room temperature overnight, or for 12-18 hours. It should be doubled in size after this time.

Shaping And Baking The Loaf:

• Add the second 1/4 cup (60ml) of olive oil to the base of a baking sheet and place the dough onto it. Fold the dough into a rough rectangle, lifting and pulling one side toward the centre and repeating with each side until all 4 have been folded in.
• Flip the dough seam side down onto the pan, making sure there’s oil under the dough. Use your hands to press the dough out to the edges of the pan until the pan is almost filled or the dough is about 3cm (1 inch) thick.
• Cover the dough, or place it into the oven with the door closed, and rise a second time for at least 1 hour or until almost doubled in size again. Mine usually needs an hour in a warm oven but you may need up to 4 hours depending on how active your starter is.
• Once the dough has risen again, preheat the oven to 425F / 210C. Oil your hands and use the tips of your fingers to gently press into the dough to create dimples all over the surface.
• Top the dough with anything you’d like (I used roasted garlic), drizzle with olive oil, and add a sprinkle of salt.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top and sides of the bread are a dark golden colour. Top with finely chopped herbs as soon as it comes out of the oven, and remove from the pan as soon as you can to cool on a rack for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Focaccia Topping Ideas

We’ve got a list of 40 Focaccia Topping Ideas you can check out. Here are a few of our favourites:

• Bacon
• Blue cheese
• Capers
• Dukkah
• Fresh herbs
• Grapes
• Prosciutto
• Roasted Garlic
• Za’atar

More Sourdough Bread Recipes You Might Like:

Sourdough Dinner Rolls (No-Knead)

Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread

25% Whole Wheat Sourdough Loaf

Easy No-Knead Honey And Oat Spelt Sourdough

If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.

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