Easy Sourdough Focaccia Recipe
Crispy, light, and full of airy bubbles—this easy sourdough focaccia is always a hit at our house. Made with 100% sourdough starter, it's the kind of bread that disappears fast. Slice it for sandwiches or tear off a piece to enjoy on its own—either way, it's a showstopper.
Servings: 12 large slices
Equipment
- 12-inch round metal baking pan or 9 by 13-inch metal baking pan (see recipe notes for glass pan)
- dough whisk optional
Ingredients
Levain (1:10:10, overnight or about 10-12 hours)
- 5 grams ripe sourdough starter about 1 teaspoon
- 55 grams room temperature water about 1/4 cup
- 55 grams all-purpose or bread flour scant 1/2 cup
Sourdough Focaccia Dough
- 100 grams ripe, bubbly levain scant 1/2 cup
- 425 grams room temperature water about 1 3/4 cups
- 500 grams bread flour see recipe notes for substitutions, about 3 1/2 cups
- 13 grams salt about 2 teaspoons
Olive Oil and Toppings
- 70 grams olive oil divided, see recipe notes, about 5 Tablespoons
- 5-10 grams flaky sea salt see recipe notes, about 2 teaspoons
- fresh or dried herbs for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
Day 1: Mix the Levain(1:10:10, overnight about 10-12 hours at 78ºF)
- Mix together 5 grams ripe sourdough starter with 55 grams water and 55 grams flour. Cover and let sit overnight at 78ºF until doubled in size, bubbly and active. Alternatively, if you have a ripe, bubbly, active sourdough starter, you can substitute 100 grams of bubbly starter for the levain in this recipe.
Day 2: Mix and Develop Dough- 78ºF
- Mix the Dough: To a bowl add 100 grams levain, 425 grams water, 13 grams salt and 500 grams bread flour. Mix together with a dough whisk or spoon until a sticky dough forms. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Coil Fold 1: After 30 minutes, remove the cover and perform 4-6 coil folds. The dough will be very sticky for this first set of coil folds but will strengthen over time. To coil fold: Wet your hands with water. Place your hands under the middle of the dough and pull up. The dough will stretch up (but should not tear) and release from the bottom of the bowl. Once the dough releases, let the dough fall back under itself. Repeat the process for both sides of the dough. Then turn the container and repeat the coil fold. I find it very helpful to watch this process before attempting it. You can watch a video of the coil fold here. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Coil Fold 2: After 30 minutes, lightly wet your hands. Repeat the coil fold 4-6 times. You will notice the dough is stronger than your first set of coil folds. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- Coil Fold 3: After 30 more minutes, lightly wet your hands. Repeat the coil fold 4-6 times. Notice the dough is getting stronger and the coil folds are easier to perform. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- Coil Fold 4: After 30 more minutes, repeat the coil fold 4-6 times. The dough should feel fairly strong and cohesive.
- Bulk Fermentation Continued: Cover and rest for 1.5-2 hours until the dough has scattered bubbles around the edges, has risen about 30-40% and is jiggly. The timeframe is based on a dough temperature of 78ºF. Colder dough will take longer and warmer dough will move faster.
- Prepare the Pan: After the long bulk rest, pour 40 grams (3 Tablespoons) olive oil into a 12-inch round or 9 by 13 metal baking pan. Tip the pan around to cover the entire bottom of the baking pan - add a little more oil if needed. If your pan has issues with dough sticking, put some parchment paper down first. Add the oil on top of the parchment paper and the dough on top of that.
- Prepare Focaccia: Turn the dough out into the pan and stretch slowly to fill the edges of the pan. Pull up gently on the underside of the dough to stretch it into place. If it doesn't want to stretch, let the dough rest for a minute and then try again. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and stick in the refrigerator to rest overnight.If you prefer to skip the cold fermentation, let the dough rise until bubbly and doubled in size (about 3-4 hours at 78-80ºF) and bake according to recipe directions
Day 3: Proof and Bake Focaccia
- Proof: Take the pan of dough out of the fridge and set on the counter. Let it come to room temperature and rise until doubled (3-5 hours at 78-80ºF). The focaccia dough will begin to bubble up as it rises on the counter and the dough will fill the pan and feel light, airy and jiggly. The key to a bubbly, airy focaccia is to give it time to rise and almost over-proof. If your dough is not doubling in size or rising, find a warmer place to proof the dough before you bake it and give it more time.
- Preheat the Oven: Once the dough has doubled in size and is ready to bake, preheat oven to 450ºF.
- Dimple and Top: Drizzle more olive oil (about 30 grams/2 Tablespoons) over the top of the risen dough. Spread it out with your hands so it evenly covers the dough. Take your fingers and gently dimple the dough. Start at the top and work your way down the dough until the entire focaccia is dimpled and bubbly. Sprinkle the dough with flaky sea salt and dried herbs if desired.Note: This focaccia is the perfect base for any toppings - cherry tomatoes, olives, roasted garlic, etc... Feel free to top your focaccia with any of your favorite flavors.
- Bake: Bake for 25-30 minutes until bubbly, crispy and light golden brown on top. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. Cool to room temperature before slicing. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Bread flour: Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour, which helps create the airy bubbles and chewy texture that make focaccia so good. For best results, use a higher-protein flour. If you're new to working with wetter doughs, reduce the water to 400 grams to make the dough easier to handle. Want even more height and stretch? Try using high-gluten bread flour—or boost your bread flour by mixing 490 grams bread flour with 10 grams of vital wheat gluten.
All-purpose flour: To substitute all-purpose flour, decrease the water to 350 grams and proceed with the recipe OR use the recipe as written but substitute 475 grams all purpose flour and 25 grams of vital wheat gluten for the flour in the recipe.
Sourdough Starter: The levain in this recipe can be substituted with ripe, bubbly, active sourdough starter if you prefer.
Olive Oil: I like a good quality, light-tasting olive oil for this recipe. If you prefer the flavor of extra-virgin olive oil, you can use that too.
Flaky Sea Salt: This is my preferred flaky sea salt - a little goes a long way!
Baking Pan: I love the crisp edges that a non-stick metal pan produces in this recipe. If you don't have metal or your pan is not non-stick, make sure to put down parchment paper before adding the oil and the dough.
Recipe Update #1: Originally this recipe called for a fermentolyse and mixing in a stand mixer. I have made this focaccia many times and have moved to adding all the ingredients together at once and mixing almost exclusively by hand. I have updated the recipe to reflect that. If you prefer to use the recipe in its original form, mix the ingredients together except for the salt. After 30 minutes, add the salt and mix in a stand mixer. These are the stand mixer instructions: After adding the salt, mix for 5 minutes on low speed (I use a 2 on my KitchenAid, affiliate link). After five minutes, on low speed, mix for 5 minutes on high speed (6-8 on my KitchenAid). Don't add more flour. The dough will be very wet but stays together.
Recipe Update #2: This recipe originally called for high-gluten bread flour. I still love using high-gluten bread flour when I have it on hand, but more often than not, I end up using bread flour and it works very well. You can substitute the bread flour in this recipe for high-gluten bread flour if you want to.
Nutrition
Calories: 227kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 585mg | Potassium: 47mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg
