Sourdough Focaccia Bread (2024)

What's a bowl of soup without something to mop up the last drops? How can you satisfy a group of hungry guests waiting for the final touches to be added to your thoughtfully prepared dinner creation?

Sourdough focaccia is a hands-off bread that will round out just about any dish you are preparing. Maybe you don't have a ton of time and attention to devote to making a delicious "breaking bread" element to your evening meal. And your favorite grocery store doesn't have just the right loaf to go with your meal...

With this breads ease, versatility, and insanely delicious flavor, there is no need to settle for anything less than a perfect sidekick to whatever you're dishing up.

What is focaccia?

Focaccia is basically a deconstructed sourdough loaf. So it's the same ingredients but with a different shape, and you don't actually need to put any effort into shaping it like a traditional sourdough loaf.

And an added bonus...there's no need to knead this dough.

You mix all the ingredients together thoroughly, and leave it to proof. When it's done proofing, you simply transfer it to your oiled pan, add your toppings, bake and viola!

Are you sold on trying this focaccia yet?

With bellies satisfied, your dinner guests are thoroughly impressed. And you are now their crazy friend that goes above and beyond to deliver a special, handmade meal. (When you and I know that it only took you about 10 minutes of hands-on work total to make that meal "extra special").

Some helpful tips and modifications if you need to do the process a little differently...

Some recipes will recommend you proof a second time after placing it into your baking pan, I don't do that because I think it turns out fine without that extra proof. But of course, you can try it and see if there is a difference.

You can personalize focaccia flavor by changing up the toppings

Some combinations to try...

  • olives and rosemary
  • spice it up with some dried chili flakes, maybe a sprinkle of cheese
  • garlic, salt and parmesan atop is sure to be a crowd favorite with any Italian dish

If you're serving it as an appetizer, consider putting out a plate of olive oil, maybe with some vinegar or garlic mixed in as a bread dip.

minimal prepping, slightly more planning

You'll need to consider the timing of preparing your focaccia bread ahead of baking and serving time. Consider the timing of activating your sourdough starter, and the timing of proofing your bread. Factor that into when you need to prep your dough and you should be good to go.

Your sourdough will need to be fed about 4 hours before you mix your focaccia dough. Your focaccia dough will need to be mixed together about 8 hours before you are going to bake.

There are a couple of ways you can do this...

Say you want to do all of your preparation on the same day and you want your bread to be ready for a 6 o clock dinner. You'll need to feed your sourdough starter at 6am, mix the dough at 10am.

Say you want to prepare the bread the day before you plan on baking. You're refrigerator will be your new best friend.

The refrigerator is a great tool to slow down the process of proofing if you want to have a little more flexibility. You can feed your sourdough starter around 6pm the day before you are baking focaccia. Mix the dough together and stick it in the fridge overnight. Pull it out in the morning to finish proofing for a few more hours before prepping to bake (maybe around noon-ish).

You can really plan it around your schedule. Your timing doesn't have to be exact.

Mine certainly is not.

check out the full recipe at thevanessabarnett.wordpress.com

Sourdough Focaccia Bread (2024)
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