Homemade Focaccia Bread (2024)

Tomato Focaccia Bread is an easy-to-make, no-knead focaccia bread. Topped with fresh tomatoes, rosemary, and roasted garlic. Not only is it gorgeous, but everyone loves it! You will seem like a five-star artisan baker.

This bread recipe is ready to bake in about 3 hours if you want to bake it the same day. I’ll also show you how to build even more flavor into your bread by cold-proofing the dough. The slow fermentation method is optional but highly recommended.

Even if you’ve never madehomemade bread, this focaccia recipe is easy to follow and even easier to eat.

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Ingredients You’ll Need

To make focaccia bread, you’ll need a few simple ingredients. The ingredients for this focaccia dough can be used for any focaccia bread recipe.

• Bread flour: High gluten flour is needed to get that tender but chewy texture. You want to use flour that is 12-14% protein.
• Instant yeast: Make sure your water is warm but not too hot. If you have a thermometer, your water should be no hotter than 110℉.
• Water: Use lukewarm water. Focaccia bread is a high-hydration dough. At around 80-88% hydration, this dough will be sticky. The high hydration allows for the large air pockets when rising.
• Kosher salt:Kosher salt or sea salt.
• Olive oil: This recipe requires lots of extra-virgin olive oil.

Ingredients for focaccia topping

Try a variety of focaccia toppings like rosemary or tomatoes and roasted garlic.

• Olive oil: Focaccia is traditionally finished with extra virgin olive oil on the bread.
• Flaky sea salt: Flake salt adds flavor and a nice crunch to freshly baked focaccia bread.
• Roasted garlic cloves: You can roast the garlic cloves yourself or use pre-roasted garlic cloves available in the produce section.
• Fresh rosemary: Top with rosemary, flakey salt, and olive for a beautiful herb focaccia.
• Cherry tomatoes: Tomato focaccia bread is baked with fresh tomatoes. The tomatoes roast and caramelize during the baking and add a sweet but savory element to this focaccia bread recipe.

Step By Step Instructions

Step 1—Combine the Ingredients:

Add all the bread ingredients to a bowl. If you have a scale, weigh the ingredients directly into the bowl.

Step 2—Mix the Dough:

Mix the dough with a wooden spoon. The dough will be very wet and sticky.

Step 3—First Rise:

We will be using the pull-and-turn method to develop gluten and large air pockets. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, use hands moistened with water to pull one corner of the dough to the opposite side. Turn the bowl one-quarter, and repeat 3 more times. Recover the bowl and let it sit for another 30 minutes. You will repeat this process 3 times for a total of pull-fold-turns.

Step 4—Preheat your oven:

Set the racks in the oven to the lower middle position. Use a bread stone, if you have one. Set the oven to convection bake and preheat 500℉/260℃.

Step 5—Second Rise:

Prepare a 9×13-inch baking pan. Generously oil a 9×13 baking pan. Gently dump the dough into the baking pan. Drizzle more olive oil onto the top of the dough. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and cover with a kitchen towel OR an inverted, rimmed baking sheet. Allow the bread to rise for one more hour.

After one hour, drizzle the top of the dough with even more olive oil. Cover your fingertips in olive oil and press your fingertips into the surface to dimple the dough. You want to press and jiggle to encourage the air to rise to the surface of the dough.

Add your toppings to the top of the dough. Make sure the toppings are oiled so that they don’t burn. See below for suggestions on the best toppings for focaccia bread.

Step 6—Bake:

Bake the focaccia for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

Rest the bread for 10 minutes in the pan and then transfer it to a baking rack to cool. Cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

Tips For Homemade Focaccia Bread

• Use high-quality bread flour: I recommend King Arthur Brand in the US. The high amount of gluten protein is essential for creating a pillowy dough with deep air pockets. The high-protein flour also gives you the right texture and chew, for which focaccia bread is famous.
• Measure the ingredients with a scale: Measuring accurately with a scale will always give you the most reliable and consistent results when making bread.
• Get the right hydration: The bread structure is built on hydration percentage. This is the ratio of flour to water. Focaccia bread should be 80-88% hydration.For example: [grams of bread × 0.80 = grams of water needed for 80% hydration]
• Use warm water: Warm water helps to ensure the bread rises properly. I usually microwave the water for about 1 minute in the microwave and then measure the temperature. Shoot for 100-110℉. If the water gets too hot, add a little cool water to decrease the temperature.
• Get the proper dough rise: Giving bread enough time to rise is essential to get the right texture. If the dough is underproofed, it will be dense and feel dry. If the dough is over-proofed, the bread will go flat.
• Lots of olive oil. Focaccia bread loves olive oil. Be generous with it. Add olive oil to the bottom of the pan, and then drizzle olive oil over the top of the dough.
• Bake using convection: I highly recommend using the convection fan if you have a convection oven.
• Use a bread stone: The hot bread stone adds an extra boost of heat when the bread is first put into the oven. This causes rapid air expansion and creates larger bubbles in the bread dough.

You can read more aboutthe science of gluten and flour hereif you are as geeky as I am.

Troubleshooting Focaccia Bread

Focaccia bread is meant to have a light, chewy texture punctuated by its signature air pockets. Focaccia dough is made with a high-hydration dough. This extra moisture in the dough contributes to the light, airy texture and large air pockets.

• Dough texture: After mixing, the texture of the dough should be relatively wet and very sticky. Use well-oiled hands to touch it so it doesn’t stick to you.
• Proofing: Focaccia dough requires two stages of proofing or rising.
• The First Rise: The first rise is done in a covered bowl. For same-day baking, the first rise is done at room temperature or in a proofing drawer set to 100℉. The first rise can also be performed as a cold-proof. The cold-proof is done in the refrigerator overnight (up to 3 days). Cold-proofing the dough develops considerable flavor and is well worth it if you have the time. If you cold-proof, make sure the dough is slathered with olive oil and is covered with plastic wrap.
• The Second Rise: The second rise is done in the baking pan. For same-day baking, the second rise takes about 30 to 40 minutes. If you’ve cold-proofed the dough, the second rise will take about 3 to 4 hours. Since the dough has been taken out of the refrigerator, it takes longer to come to room temperature and then develop air bubbles.
• Bubble: The temperature in your kitchen and the temperature of the dough play a huge role in how long it takes to get the right rise. The yeast releases CO𝟮 into the dough. The CO𝟮 is responsible for the formation of air pockets. If the dough is too cold, it will take longer for these bubbles to develop. Making bread is all about learning to detect the right textures in the dough.

Recipe Variations

Keep in mind that the basic recipe for the bread can be made plain without all of the focaccia toppings. The great thing about making focaccia bread, besides its so easy, is that you can make it however you want. You can make it on the thicker side if you like a soft and fluffy chunk of bread, or you can roll the dough out a bit thinner, which is usually my preference.

Use your imagination and get the kids involved. Teaching kids to cook is a life skill they will thank you for later, and it’s a fun project to bond over. You get to teach math and science and have fun. Plus, you get a delicious reward in the end.

• Everything Bagel Seasoning
• Fresh herbs like rosemary for a classic rosemary focaccia bread
• Caramelized onions and ricotta
• Kalamata olives and fresh oregano

Serving Focaccia Bread

• Focaccia bread makes great sandwich bread: You can make a loaf and then cut it into sandwich-sized squares before you slit it in half bun style.
• Foccacia bread pizza: This easy recipe also makes a fantastic pizza dough for the grandma-style pizza you make on a sheet pan.

FAQs

Hungry For More Bread Recipes?

Check out our in-depth Focaccia Bread tutorial for a deeper dive into making bread and topping for focaccia.

Then try more of our bakery-style breads like French Bread, Grissini Bread Sticks, and Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls.

What To Serve With Focaccia Bread

A big green salad or savory dishes like Pork Ragu or Braised Short Ribs perfectly match freshly baked bread.

**Recipe update: My foccacia bread post was updated and improved on Oct 21, 2023. Updates include using grams instead of only cups in the recipe card. The amount of water was increased to yield a higher hydration bread, which allowed more air bubbles in the bread.