This is the simplest focaccia bread recipe ever!
“What is that?”
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Well, focaccia is sort of like a sauce-less, cheese-less pizza.
That sounded a lot less charming that I meant it…I think I can do better.
Focaccia is It’s like a breadstick that is the size of a pizza, but it has all kinds of extra toppings on it, which makes it BETTER than a breadstick, and almost like a pizza.
Only without the sauce and cheese. Capiche?
You need it. You want it.
Say it with me:
Here’s the low down:
Make the easy bread recipe found here…this recipe makes enough for two, so you’ll have dough left over for a pizza or for a couple of small french loaves.
Once your dough is ready to go, you just basically spread it out like pizza dough and top with a blend of savory ingredients.
Our favorite is to spread out sliced onions and garlic, and top with coarse salt, parmesan cheese, and finish off with your favorite spice blend.
Mine is this divine Greek Salad Dressing recipe…I use it as a dry spice as much as I do a salad dressing mix!
Ready to slide into the oven…focaccia with onion, garlic and Greek seasonings.
Slide it, paper and all, into the hot oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Oh, and the no cheese rule? It’s more of a suggestion. Or just something I made up that you can feel free to ignore, like I do. Toasted Parmesan is amazing.
You can cut it like you would a pizza, or into squares or strips…whatever suits your fancy.
If you’d like, you can also drizzle with olive oil, add some fresh feta cheese, or sprinkle on shreds of fresh basil leaves just before you serve it.
<wiping drool off my keyboard…and I may or may not be holding the baby>
I love to make this focaccia bread recipe instead of breadsticks, or as an appetizer…for the times that dinner might be running a tad late, <ahem> and focaccia is also wonderful as a side with your favorite soup.
If you’ve been dreaming of warmer weather like I have, focaccia would be a great, light meal served with a big salad.
Seriously, if you’ve never tried this, it’s really, really good.
Here’s the printable recipe…let me know what you think!
Focaccia Bread Recipe
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This is my go-to foccacia recipe for getting a delicious bread on the table in 20 minutes when we're having soups and stews. Focaccia is It's like a breadstick that is the size of a pizza, but it has all kinds of extra toppings on it, which makes it BETTER than a breadstick, and almost like a pizza.
Author: Gwen
Recipe type: Breads
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
- Easy Bread Dough
- You can make the dough anywhere from 2 hours to 2 weeks before baking your focaccia bread recipe.
Combine the following in a large container (5+ quarts):
- 3 c. warm water
- 1 ½ T. kosher or coarse salt
- 6½ c. of flour
- 1½ T. instant/fast rise yeast (2 packets)
Instructions
- Dough Directions:
- Stir to combine with a wooden spoon until the dough is mixed evenly with no dry spots. Loosely cover the container and allow your dough to rise at room temperature for 2+ hours. It should almost triple in size. You can use the dough now, but it’s easier to work with after it’s chilled for a few hours. You can keep this dough in the fridge for up to two weeks. This makes enough for 2 large focaccia, or you can use the leftover dough to make pizza, loaves of bread, bread sticks, etc.
Focaccia Bread Recipe Directions
- Turn your oven on to heat at 450º.
- Place a baking stone on the center rack of your oven (or just put an upside down pizza pan or cookie sheet in there if you lack a pizza stone.
- Lay out a sheet of parchment paper on a pizza peel (or sub another flat pan that will make it easy to slide the paper and focaccia onto the pan in your oven.)
- Spread out about half of the dough into a circle or rectangle. I use half of the dough for a large focaccia…but you can make it any size or shape.
- Top dough with any of the following:
rosemary
sage
thinly sliced onions
caramelized onions
sliced fennel
chopped garlic
chopped green olives
chopped black olives
sliced mushrooms
olive oil
very thinly sliced tomatoes
crumbles of pesto sauce
parmesan cheese
Greek seasoning mix
fresh ground pepper
coarse ground salt (Kosher or sea salt.) - Slide your focaccia bread onto the hot pan, and bake for 20 minutes, or until nicely browned.You may top with olive oil, freshly shredded basil, or feta cheese just before serving.
- Cut into slices, strips, or squares, and enjoy!
Notes
For more family favorite recipes, or for step by step photos of this focaccia bread recipe, go to: https://gwens-nest.com/family-favorite-recipes/focaccia-bread-recipe
I want to try this recipe, but I didn’t think we could use wheat flour on the THM plan. I’m having a hard time with the texture of the nut flours, so I would love to be able to use wheat flour sometimes and still stick with the plan.
Hi Pat,
You can use whole wheat flours that have been fermented or sourdoughed, and Pearl approved this one as being on plan as a healthy slow carb E! I’m with you on the *real* bread…I haven’t loved any of the subs either, and nut flours are just SO heavy.
So you buy special flours or do something special to the dough to make it on plan for THM? I’m confused, sorry.
Hi Kim! The Easy Bread recipe explains why it’s on plan with THM. You use a majority of whole wheat flour and you let it ferment to make it similar to sourdough, so it’s more blood sugar friendly. 🙂
Great! Thanks so much.
how do you ferment flour…I freshly ground my flour
Hi Danielle,
Check out the Easy Bread recipe for how to do the dough. It’s SO fabulous! I also like to grind mine fresh.
The pictures shown – were they made using the white flour? Because I used the wheat/white mix and mine turned out brown. Is that normal?
Yes…I posted this recipe years before THM came out. 🙂 I need to update it!
Thank you so much Gwen! I’ve been eating the THM way for 8 months now & have attempted at making your bread 3 times. Usually it’s bread loafs & round doughnut bagels. Today I made the pizza! We like our pizza crispy here in Oz, but after eating this.. Oh my goodness! Soooo delicious! Thank you so much for your excellent recipes! God bless you with more ideas!
So glad you’re enjoying it, Lina! The pizza is our favorite too!
Thank you for making it easier to start and follow THM.
I have a double batch of the WW version of easy bread in the fridge right now. I initially made it in two separate containers, let it rise, then transferred to a single container to save fridge space. Is that an ok solution, or will it affect the dough? The WW seemed very dense, and looks gummy, but I have one more day to go before using. Have you ever stored a double batch together? Can’t wait to bake this up tomorrow!
You can make a double batch and store it in the same container. 🙂 The whole wheat is a different outcome than the white for sure. I like it best as a flatbread or pizza crust. 🙂
Hi Gwen,
I have my first batch of THM friendly (WW and AP flour mix) bread rising on the counter. I have a few questions. After reading many comments it seems the best way to use it is by making pizza, focaccia or flatbread. Is flatbread the same as focaccia? If not were can I find the flatbread recipe (basically just cook temperature and time)? Also, this mixture doesn’t make a good loaf right? If I make it with just AP flour and let it sit for 5 days will it be THM approved? Thanks for the help.
Hi Allison! I consider flatbread & focaccia the same thing, except I put toppings on my focaccia. 🙂 Here is the recipe for how to make it.
Using all AP flour will not give you a THM approved bread, because you really need the bran and whole grain to give you a good fiber content…and the fiber content is what messes up the nice rise. Serene has a sprouted bread recipe in the new cookbook that you may want to check out!
Gwen – I am baking my first loaf of your Easy Bread right now. Smells great. I did notice when I took out the dough I needed there was a weird skin on the top of the dough, is that normal? It has been in the fridge since Friday. Also when I took 1/4 of the dough it left a hole, do I need to smooth out the rest of the dough in my container in the fridge or just let it be? Maybe I’ve done something wrong???? I’m not a baker by any stretch of the imagination – this is my very first attempt at baking any kind of bread so any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks for all the recipes, I visit your site often.
Totally normal…it dries out a bit. No need to smooth it out. Just stick it back in the fridge.
Hi Gwen! This first time I made the bread recipe – 2 cups white flour and 4 cups wheat flour – my dough and bread were very brown, not white like in these pictures. The wheat flavor seemed too strong as well and no one liked it. Did I buy the wrong type of flour – do I use bread flour? I would prefer more of a white bread with a sourdough flavor. I have no experience with bread making and am not sure what I am doing wrong.
That’s simply the result of using wheat flour…it’s a stronger flavor and heavier result. I tweak it for what my family likes. 🙂
Hi Gwen! Do you have a weight for how much dough you use? That would be very helpful to me as my bread attempts end up being hockey pucks…I want to make sure I start with the right amount of the ingredients. Thank you!
I don’t bake by weight…just measuring cups. It always works just fine for me. You can try measuring out the amounts and noting the weights on the recipe for future reference?
I made your dough using Einkorn flour. The finished product tasted delicious, didn’t brown or rise very much. The mixture was very wet before letting it rise. Any suggestions? Have you ever done a video of step by step making the bread do we can see what yours looks like at different stages? A video would be great!
Could one make this into a sweet version with cinnamon and stevia/erythritol with a glaze? Thinking of a replacement for those famous mall pretzels
Nikki