Hey guys! Been a while since we’ve done bread, amirite? And listen, if you haven’t made bread before, or if you’re having issues making bread at high-altitude, focaccia is a great place to start. It’s simple, and even though you’ve got to commit a lot of rise time, it’s easy! Plus, if you don’t want your kitchen to smell like fresh bread, I just don’t know if I even know you anymore.
Focaccia is a chewy, fragrant bread that is often packed with herbs and topped with a salt and olive oil before baking. It’s the kind of bread you can serve alongside pasta, or just as an appetizer. Or if you’re like me, you might eat the whole loaf before bread as a cook’s snack-type-situation. I’m not sorry.
How to Make Focaccia Bread
Bread can be really difficult at high-altitude. But luckily recipes like this, (and the similar no-knead crusty-loaf breads) are super easy to adapt, and to work with in general. It’s a great intro to bread making. The dough is super simple, with few ingredients at it’s base, and you simple stir everything together until a wet dough has formed in your bowl. Here’s what that looks like:
After you’ve put the dough together, go ahead and cover your bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge to rise. This is a lengthy process- there’s not much yeast in the recipe. Plus, the longer rise helps to develop the flavors, and create the chew that we all know and love. You’ll want to let the dough rise in the fridge for 8-12 hours, which can easily be done overnight. Here’s what it should look like when you’re ready to move forward:
From there, lightly oil a 9-inch cake pan with olive oil. Place the dough into the pan, and drizzle the top generously with more olive oil. Cover the dough, and let it rest for about 20 minutes while you preheat your oven.
Then, go ahead and use your fingers to press the dough down and create those little dimples with your fingers in the dough. Oil can pool up in these areas, and it gives the bread even more of that fruity olive oil flavor in the end! Sprinkle the top with a little bit of salt as well.
You want to bake this bread at a pretty high temp- 425- until it’s golden brown and toasty on top.
And that’s it. You don’t have to go through a lengthy kneading process, or really even worry much about getting anything exactly right. This dough is so simple that it really is fail-proof. You’re going to end up with beautiful bread no matter what! Enjoy!
Focaccia Bread
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt (plus more for sprinkling)
- 1 tsp. dried rosemary
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
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In a small bowl, stir together the yeast, sugar, and warm water. Set aside to let the mixture bloom and become foamy.
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In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, rosemary, and thyme until combined. Once the yeast mixture is just foamy, pour it into the dry ingredients and stir together with a spatula until a wet dough forms.
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Cover the dough tightly in plastic wrap (using the same bowl) and place in the fridge to rise for 8-12 hours, or until the mixture is puffy, has bubbles, and has grown dramatically in size.
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Lightly grease a 9 inch cake pan with about 1 tbs. of the olive oil. Place the dough in the pan, and cover with plastic to let the dough rest for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
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Once the dough is rested, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top of the dough, and use your finger to press the dough out to the edges of the pan, creating dimples all over the top of the dough. Lightly sprinkle some salt over the top.
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Bake in the preheated oven for 20-22 minutes, or until the top is a medium golden brown. Cool for a few minutes before serving warm. Enjoy!
Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!
This was excellent! I adapted to Gluten Free by subbing Bob's All Purpose Gluten Free flour and adding 2.5 tsp xanthan gum. Thank you for this recipe! I have almost entirely stopped baking since moving to Denver area 4 years ago. I also have never really made bread, so it was especially nice to have success with this.
This was delicious, and seriously so easy! I had to add in a couple tablespoons of water to my dough and it turned out amazing at 7500 feet. Cannot recommend this enough and I may just make another loaf tomorrow.
This bread sounds amazing.. Such an esay recipe for Foccocia 'm going to try it tomorrow.
This is my second time making your focaccia recipe. They both have come out delicious.
I live in high desert climate, altitude about 6500. My problem is my dough is not rising much in the refrigerator after 12 hours (about 1/3 rise). My yeast is brand new – Fleischmann’s. It did expand a little more when resting before placing in the oven, but not enough to my liking.
Do you have advice on how I can make the dough rise at least double in size?
Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! If you want more rise, you can increase the yeast by 1/4-1/2 tsp in this recipe, and let the dough rise at room temp instead of in the fridge. That should do the trick! You may want to watch it more closely at room temp so it doesn't go over-board though!
Did you use all purpose flour or bread flour?
Hi- this recipe uses all purpose flour.