There’s something wonderful about a thin, crispy and warm from the oven Focaccia Bread. Even after the Focaccia has cooled, it retains the delectable softness and moisture. Focaccia is great to consume with an herbed olive oil dip or as a sandwich bread, it can be plain or topped with anything you can imagine. I love my focaccia topped with olives, roasted tomatoes, garlic, rosemary and a dash of flaky salt.

My Sourdough Focaccia has become synonymous with family gatherings, but especially as an appetizer at Thanksgiving. Why, Thanksgiving? Simple, in my family, we all get together at 8:00 AM, to get everything going. The men in the family, mostly hang outside, babysitting the turkey on the smoker, while the women and children, occupy themselves with preparing the potatoes, pies, side dishes and various other things. Everyone gets to work on Thanksgiving Day, so that we can eat at 2:00 PM. We seperate into two groups, because that’s just what we do. If it’s particularly cold out, the men come inside and help with watching the younger kids. We smoke our turkey for a couple of reasons, when my father was alive, there wasn’t room to cook the turkey inside, so he and his brothers cooked it on our charcoal grill, over indirect heat. Since my father passed in 2017, my husband, Brother-In-Laws and Uncles carry on his tradition of smoking the turkey, while, my sisters, mother, our kids and myself, keep everything rolling and on schedule from the warmth of our home. A few years after my father passed, I decided to bring a snack for everyone to enjoy while we got the Thanksgiving festivities moving, and it was a hit, even with the picky eaters. Making this focaccia today, has been a trip down a bittersweet memory lane.

Today, I’m making both Our Favorite Sourdough Loaf and this Sourdough Focaccia bread at my sister’s house. I’m using her sourdough starter to make these breads, and I hope she and her husband enjoy! Further, I’m trying my hand at fermenting outside in the 90+ F temperatures. I’m keeping a close eye on both. What I am hoping to happen by fermenting at this higher temperature, is that it will go faster. I’m also hoping that my sister’s starter is still active, as it’s been months since she has baked. So, this is really just an experiment on a whole.

Compared to Our Favorite Sourdough Loaf, this Sourdough Focaccia is significantly softer and doesn’t enjoy holding its shape, as this dough is 100% hydration, versus, Our Favorite Sourdough Loaf is 80% hydration. There are several sourdough bakers that completely explain baker’s math, as it varies from normal math. Pantry Mama has an excellent explanation of baker’s math and using it in sourdough baking. Pantry Mama, also, has a plethora of sourdough recipes, all of which are amazing and that I used when I first started out on my sourdough journey.

Let’s Get On With It!!

As with Our Favorite Sourdough Loaf, you will need a few items to ensure that you have a successful time making this recipe. The single most important item is a kitchen scale, that has a grams measurment. It is possible to make sourdough without a scale, but I use a scale and have found better success using a kitchen scale, rather than just standard American measurements. Due to the use of a kitchen scale, I write recipes that only use grams as a measurement.

Sourdough Focaccia (serves 8-12)

• 200 g Active Sourdough Starter
• 500 g Warm Water
• 700 g Bread Flour
• 20 g Olive Oil, divided

Toppings:

• 20 g Olive Oil, poured over Focaccia and onto pan, before adding toppings.

• Apple Rosemary: 2 Apples (like Pazzaz or Honeycrisp), peeled, cored and thinly sliced; 1 bunch of Rosemary, leaves removed from stems; 1 Tbsp Course Sugar.
• Roasted Tomato: 40 g Sundried, Roasted or 80 g Fresh Tomatoes (quartered and seeds removed), sliced into strips; 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic; 1/2 tsp Pepper and Salt (if using fresh tomatoes); Handful of your favorite fresh herbs (like basil, rosemary, parsley or thyme) or 2 tsp dried herbs
• Garlic Parmesan: 12 garlic cloves, sliced into 4 sections; 2 Tbsp Vegan Parmesan; 2 tsp dried Italian or Greek Herbs
• Olive and Tomato: 40 g Roasted or Sundried Tomatoes, cut into strips; 40 g Mixed Olives, halved; 1 Tbsp Garlic, minced; 2 tsp dried Italian or Greek Herb Blend
• Pepper and Onion: 1 large Bell Pepper (red, yellow or orange), seeds removed and thinly sliced; 1 large Sweet or White Onion, thinly sliced; 1 tsp Thyme and Oregano
• Caramelized Onion: 1 cup caramelized onions, and 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt (added after baking)
• Tomato Pesto: 1 6 oz jar Vegan Pesto; 40 g Sundried or Roasted Tomatoes, cut into strips
• Anything Goes: Add a mix of herbs (fresh or dried) and thinly sliced Veggies atop the focaccia

Let’s put it together!

1. Begin by mixing Active Sourdough Starter, Warm Water in a bowl, until the starter is completely dissolved.
2. Next, add flour, mix until combine into a rough and shaggy dough.
3. Cover and rest dough for 1 hour, with very wet hands, stretch and fold, two times. You will need to dip your hands frequently into water, to prevent the dough sticking to your hands.
4. Cover and rest 2 hours, stretch and fold again, twice.
5. Cover and rest for 4–6 hours. Until nearly doubled in size.
6. After 4-6 hours has passed, line a 8″ x 12″ pan with parchment paper, pour 10g olive oil over the parchment and then gently pour the dough onto the parchment lined pan.
7. Carefully spread the dough out to fill the entire pan, leave the dough to rest for another 1-2 hours, until it is puffy and completely fills the pan, roughly 2 hours. I do this in a cold oven, without the light on, but with a pan of warm water in it. The warm water is to help create humidity, which will prevent the focaccia from developing a crust (on the uncooked dough, during the proofing process), before baking.
8. Once your dough looks like a pillow, carefully pour 10 g oil over the top, and use your finger to depress the dough (see the video). Then add toppings of choice.
9. Preheat oven to 400 F and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the focaccia is golden.
10. Remove from oven and serve immediately or cool to room temperature to use as sandwich bread.

Enjoy! Stay Creative!