This simple 6 ingredient focaccia dough is a wonderful starting point for many different flavors, including garlic rosemary herb focaccia. The homemade bread is chewy and soft in the center with a mega crisp exterior. For the BEST flavor, let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight. Olive oil seeps down and infuses every bite. You’ll love it!
Let’s make focaccia!! I’ve been working on perfecting focaccia for awhile. Focaccia is an Italian yeast bread. At the heart of it, focaccia is pizza dough without the sauce and cheese. Though it appears plain, focaccia is anything but boring. Its defining characteristics are the olive oil infused flavor and deliciously crisp exterior. Olive oil enrobes the entire crust, seeping into the interior as the bread bakes. Herbs and garlic are popular toppings, but you can add anything like olives, tomatoes, sesame seeds, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, pesto, caramelized onions, and more.
Pizza is a meal, but focaccia can be part of a meal, an appetizer, a soup dipper, a sauce soaker-upper, and even the crust of a sandwich or panini. I particularly enjoy serving it in the summer and always include it on my menu of Memorial Day recipes. Regardless of how and when it’s served, this garlic rosemary herb focaccia is remarkably chewy, rich, and flavorful.
Video Tutorial: Garlic Herb Focaccia
Sit back, relax, and watch as I walk through each step in this garlic rosemary herb focaccia recipe. In fact, most of the “work” is hands-off while the dough rises and rests so you can literally sit back and relax when it’s your turn to make it!
Only 6 Ingredients in Focaccia Dough
Focaccia dough comes together with only 6 basic ingredients. Whether or not you’re a seasoned baker, I bet you have most of these items in your kitchen. This recipe yields a big pan of bread and leftovers freeze wonderfully. (We’ve been snacking on test recipes for weeks now!) If you don’t need that much bread on hand, feel free to halve the recipe.
Let’s quickly discuss the importance of each ingredient.
- Yeast: Yeast raises focaccia bread. If you’re nervous about working with yeast, I encourage you to review my Baking with Yeast guide. You can use active dry or instant yeast. I played around with different amounts and ultimately favored the bread with less yeast than some other recipes call for. The flatter the focaccia, the more the interior is infused with the olive oil and toppings!
- Sugar: 2 teaspoons of sugar feeds the yeast.
- Warm Water: When combined with liquid and sugar, yeast makes dough rise. Use warm water to cut down on rise time, about 100-110°F. Anything over 130ºF kills the yeast.
- Salt: A lot of focaccia’s flavor comes from salt and this dough requires a lot of it. For the best flavor, I strongly recommend using kosher salt.
- Olive Oil: Some recipes only call for olive oil as the topping, but adding olive oil to the dough creates a richer-tasting bread. You’ll also use it to coat the pan and top the dough before baking, just like we do when we make pesto pizza. Use your favorite kind—I prefer extra virgin olive oil.
- Bread Flour or All-Purpose Flour: I tested this focaccia with both and prefer the bread flour variety. Both are great, but bread flour has a higher protein content so it yields a chewier texture. This recipe calls for 4.5–5 cups of flour, and if using bread flour, you’ll need closer to 4.5 cups since it absorbs more water. If using all-purpose flour, you’ll need closer to 5 cups. It all depends on how sticky the dough feels. Adding a bit too much or too little flour won’t ruin the recipe, so don’t be nervous.
Baking with Yeast Guide
Reference this Baking with Yeast Guide whenever you work with baker’s yeast. I include practical answers to all of your common yeast questions!
How to Make Garlic Herb Focaccia
Focaccia is a very simple bread. This recipe requires a rise, plus a considerable amount of “resting” in the refrigerator. Most of the dough’s flavor is developed during this cold resting period, so I don’t recommend rushing it. You can’t rush good bread.
- Make the dough: Mix the ingredients together, and then knead the dough by hand or with your mixer. I like doing this by hand and you can watch me in the video, or in my separate How to Knead Dough tutorial.
- Let the dough rise: Place dough into a greased bowl, cover tightly, then set aside to rise for about 2–3 hours.
- Flatten dough out onto a baking pan: Punch down the risen dough to release the air, then use your hands to flatten the dough out onto an oiled baking sheet. If the dough keeps shrinking, cover it for 5 minutes to let the gluten settle.
- Let the dough rest in the refrigerator: The cold temperature slows down the rising. In fact, there’s so little yeast that the dough will hardly rise at all during this step. Let it rest in the refrigerator for as little as 1 hour and up to 24 hours. The longer it rests, the better the flavor. I recommend at least 12 hours, just like with my artisan bread recipe. You won’t regret it!
- Remove from the refrigerator: Let the dough hang out on the counter as you preheat the oven and prep the toppings. It will rise a little bit, but not much.
- Preheat oven: Focaccia bakes in a very hot 450°F (232°C) oven.
- Dimple the dough: A good stress reliever! Use your fingers to dimple the entire surface of the dough just like we do when making veggie pizza. The dimples give the olive oil and toppings “a place to go.” This step is fun!
- Add toppings: A simple blend of fresh garlic, rosemary, thyme, and basil is a favorite, but I have plenty of focaccia topping suggestions listed below. No matter which topping you use, drizzle olive oil all over the surface.
- Bake: Bake until golden brown. I set the oven to broil for the last minute to really crisp up the surface. Highly recommended!
The dough stretches to fit a large baking sheet. You can also divide the dough in half for 2 smaller focaccia loaves. I love that there’s no rolling pin or complicated shaping required.
After the dough rests in the refrigerator, dimple it with your fingers, then add toppings:
Make Ahead Recipe
As mentioned above, the longer the dough rests, the better it tastes. Focaccia is a convenient make-ahead recipe since you can do most of the work the day before serving. The bread tastes AWESOME warm from the oven, but it lasts all day if you want to bake it several hours prior to serving. Leftovers keep well for a few days or even a few months in the freezer, but some of the crispiness is lost over time. However, a few minutes in a preheated oven quickly brings leftover focaccia back to life!
Freezing dough: You can also freeze focaccia dough just as you would freeze pizza dough. After the dough rises in the mixing bowl, punch it down to release the air, coat it with a little olive oil, then cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator. Once thawed, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes on the counter. Finally, shape the dough on the baking sheet and continue with the recipe.
Focaccia Toppings
Garlic & rosemary herb focaccia is a classic favorite, but you can customize it with various toppings. There’s truly no limit and here’s a list to prove it. Leave out the garlic and herbs (or keep them!), drizzle the dough with the olive oil, then add any of these toppings:
- Everything Bagel Seasoning
- Cherry Tomatoes or Sliced Tomatoes
- Parmesan (add before or after baking)
- Pesto (add before or after baking)
- Sliced Zucchini
- Pine Nuts
- Sliced Lemons or Lemon Zest
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Olives
- Mushrooms
- Artichokes
- Raw or Caramelized Onions
I topped a test batch with the garlic & herb olive oil called for in the recipe below, plus some pine nuts and thinly sliced tomatoes. We all DEVOURED it.
More Simple Homemade Bread
- Homemade Pizza Dough
- No Yeast Bread
- Soft Pretzels
- Garlic Knots
- Brown Butter Sage Dinner Rolls
- Artisan Bread
- Cornbread
- Olive Bread
- Whole Wheat Bread
Garlic Rosemary Herb Focaccia
- Prep Time: 16 hours
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 16 hours, 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 dozen pieces
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
This simple 6-ingredient focaccia dough is a wonderful starting point for many different flavors, including this garlic rosemary herb focaccia. The homemade bread is chewy and soft in the center with a mega-crisp exterior. For the best flavor and texture, let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (480ml) warm water (between 100–110°F, 38–43°C)
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast (slightly less than 1 standard packet)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
- 4 and 1/2–5 cups (563–625g) all-purpose flour or bread flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands
Topping & Pan
- 5 Tablespoons (75ml) extra virgin olive oil or more as needed, divided
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3–4 Tablespoons chopped fresh herbs such as basil, thyme, and rosemary (or 2 Tablespoons dried herbs)
- sprinkle of coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: Whisk half of the water (1 cup; 240ml), 2 teaspoons sugar, and 2 teaspoons yeast together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
- Add the remaining water, olive oil, salt, and 1 cup (130g) flour. Beat on low speed for 20 seconds, then add 3 and 1/2 cups (440g) more flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. If the dough is still sticking to the sides of the bowl, add the last 1/2 cup (60g) of flour.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- Let the dough rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with a teaspoon of oil or some nonstick spray—just use the same bowl you used for the dough. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 2–3 hours or until double in size. (Tip: For the warm environment on a particularly cold day, heat your oven to 150°F (66°C). Turn the oven off, place the dough inside, and keep the door slightly ajar. This will be a warm environment for your dough to rise. After about 30 minutes, close the oven door to trap the air inside with the rising dough. When it’s doubled in size, remove from the oven.)
- Prepare the pan: Generously grease a 12×17-inch baking pan (with at least 1-inch-tall sides) with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. This is the base layer of the bread, so be generous with the oil. A pastry brush is helpful to spread it.
- Flatten the dough: When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Place on the oiled baking pan, then stretch and flatten the dough to fit the pan. Don’t tear the dough. If it’s shrinking (mine always does), cover it with a clean towel and let it rest for 5–10 minutes before continuing. This lets the gluten settle and it’s much easier to shape after that.
- Let the dough rest: Cover the dough tightly and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours. The longer it rests, the better the flavor. I recommend at least 12 hours.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature as you preheat the oven and prepare the toppings. Keep it covered. It may rise a little during this time, but not much.
- Preheat oven to 450°F (232°C). Allow it to heat for at least 10–15 minutes so every inch of the oven is very hot.
- Prepare the toppings: Whisk the 3 remaining Tablespoons of olive oil with the minced garlic and herbs. Set aside.
- Using your fingers, dimple the dough all over the surface. You can watch me do this in the video above. Drizzle on the olive oil topping and use your hands or a pastry brush to spread it all over the top. Add a little more olive oil if needed so the dough is completely covered. (This creates the crisp crust!) Sprinkle with a little coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Bake for 20–23 minutes or until lightly browned on top. If desired, broil on high for the last minute to really brown the top.
- Cut and serve hot or let it come to room temperature before slicing and serving. Focaccia tastes wonderful warm or at room temperature. Cover leftover focaccia tightly and store at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week. You can also freeze the baked and cooled focaccia for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. To reheat the slices, you can use the microwave or bake in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 5 minutes.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: After the dough rises, punch it down to release the air as instructed in step 5. Freeze the dough or portions of the dough to make at a later time. Lightly coat all sides of the dough ball(s) with olive oil. Place the dough ball(s) into individual zipped-top bag(s) and seal tightly, squeezing out all the air. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, place the frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes on the counter, then continue with shaping the dough to fit the baking pan as instructed in step 5. (Even after thawing, the dough must still rest in the refrigerator as instructed in step 6.)
- Make Ahead Instructions: The is a wonderful recipe to begin the day ahead of time. The dough must rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours, as instructed in step 6. I’ve let it go for as long as 30 hours and the flavor is incredible. I wouldn’t go past 24-30 hours.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Stand Mixer | 12×17-inch Baking Pan | Pastry Brush
- Smaller Portions: This recipe yields a big pan of bread. You can divide the dough in half and bake smaller portions on 2 baking sheets or 9×13 inch baking pans. If desired, you can divide the dough in half and freeze half of it. Or you can halve the entire recipe.
- Yeast: You can use instant or active dry yeast instead. The rise time in step 3 may be a little quicker if using instant yeast. No matter which yeast you choose, you only need 2 teaspoons which is a little less than 1 standard 7g packet. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Flour: You can use all-purpose flour or bread flour. All-purpose flour is convenient for most, but bread flour produces a chewier bread. No matter which you choose, the focaccia is still soft and rich with a crispy exterior. Either flour is fine and there are no other changes to the recipe if you use one or the other. You may need slightly closer to 5 cups of flour if using all-purpose.
Adapted from Bon Appetit & Pizza Crust
This dough turns out perfect. The right balance of softness and chewiness with the perfect crust, especially that it’s super easy to make. I made the dough yesterday, i put two cups of whole wheat flour and for the rest all-purpose flour. And i used Zaatar for the topping. Wish i could send you the pictures i took from it.
Thanks Sally! It was great. It will definitely be my go to recipe for a long time.
Hi Sally, I’ve made this focaccia twice now and it’s delicious! But I did notice that my bread gets very puffy in the oven, whereas your looks like it doesn’t rise after it’s baked and stays flat and thin. Do you know what could be the reason for mine?
Hi Mariam! Make sure you’re using a large enough pan (you need a big one for this!) and really pressing it down/stretching it. Don’t use more yeast than necessary and don’t over-proof it. (Don’t let it rest or rise for longer than instructed!)
Hi Sally, when I grease the pan, it makes it hard for the dough to stretch out all the way to the corners of the pan as the slick surface causes the dough to pull away. Would you have any tips to help?
Hi Mariam! I have a tip that will help. Cover the “shrinking” dough and walk away for 10-15 minutes, then return to it. That rest gives the gluten a chance to settle which makes stretching much easier afterwards.
This was my first attempt at making Focaccia & it turned out great! Thanks for all the tips and step by step instructions, I’ll definitely be making this again.
Do you think I could use honey instead of sugar? Thoughts?
You could definitely try it.
Another bread success in the books! This focaccia turned out amazingly flavorful with a beautiful crispy top and chewy inside. My family couldn’t get enough!
This recipe is awesome! Super easy to make and so so delicious! Hardest part was knowing it had to sit in my fridge overnight before I could eat it. This is the fifth yeast based recipe I’ve tried of yours, Sally and none of them disappoint!!! Grateful to live in a word with Sally’s baking addiction
Hi Sally! I’m so excited to make this for Friendsgiving this weekend. I’m wondering what you think of topping it with roasted red peppers? The kind packed in a jar. Will they have too much moisture? Should I place them before or after baking? Planning on doing them with caramelized onions as well. Thanks so much! You’re the best!
YUM! Blot the roasted red peppers then add to the shaped dough before baking. That way they can slightly dry out in the oven.
Had this so many times…..delicious every. single. time!!!! And instructions are so clear and easy to follow it’s hard to go wrong – thank you Sally!
Reporting back after my second go around! Last time my dough was quite wet and it was so hard to knead without it sticking to my hands that I just gave up on the kneading and baked like that (still turned out great). The second time I continued adding flour until it came off of the sides of the bowl – I ended up using about 5.5 cups of flour. You could certainly taste the additional flour, but not bad. I’m not sure why my dough turns out so wet, it was only 66% humidity that day (is that abnormally humid? I live in Seattle). Anyway, i’m going to try using bread flour next and see if it makes a difference. Until then, i’ll just be sitting here watching bread week on the Great British Baking Show as I scarf down my focaccia. Thanks for all your recipes Sally!
I made this recipe this weekend and it turned out great despite my hiccups (yay!). It felt like no matter how much flour I added, it was still so sticky and difficult to work with – any thoughts on why this could be happening? Should I be leaving it in the mixer until it comes cleanly off of the sides of the bowl?
Hi Teo, happy to help. Add 4.5 – 5 cups of spoon and leveled flour (all-purpose or bread flour are fine here). Let the mixer do the work until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Make sure you’re not baking this on a particularly humid day, either.
This was a pleasure to bake! Olive oil is really expensive in Bali where I live so I had to substitute olive oil with coconut oil. It turned out delicious! It lacked a small amount of the buttery ness that comes from the olive oil but YUMMMM. Definitely will be making this again!
I loved this so much!! I baked a loaf in the morning with olives and topped it with caramelized onions. Dipped it in more olive oil and balsamic vinegar… thought I was in heaven!:) My family loved it too!
I made this for the first time a few months ago, it turned out great and was sooo DELICIOUS!!! Everyone big and small devoured it the moment it came out of the oven. Your recipes are very easy to follow and I love that you have metric measurements coz I’m from Australia, so your cups and our cups measurements are different.
I’m making this again tonight for a family get-together tomorrow, looking forward to some yummy bread!!
Focaccia is my husband’s favorite and I was so excited when you posted this recipe. I added green olives and caramelised onions. It was amazing! Thank you for this awesome recipe!
I made this recipe for the first time today! It was so easy and the house smelled amazing as it bakes! Needless to say it was devoured in minutes when served at meal time! Thank you Sally for a great recipe and taking the fear outta baking with yeast!
We came home from a wonderful trip in Venice, Italy last week. We ate focaccia as part of our dinner. We really like the taste. I will make this soon.
Perfect perfect perfect! I only had time to let it rest in the fridge for an hour and it came out amazing. I did the olive oil with garlic and herbs and topped it with sundried tomato’s.
* Bonus-Instructions are super easy to follow as with all of Sally’s recipes 🙂
This stuff is SO. SO. SO. GOOD. I don’t know how you come up with the amazing things that you do, Sally, but I’m grateful to you for making the world a better place, one dirty mixing bowl after another!!! Thank you Sally!! 😉
Magnificent Sally! As good as what my grandma from Sicily made and taught me to make. Your recipe is quicker and easier. Tastes better but I’m not telling her!
Served it just out of the oven, warm and crunchy, so yummy!! Topped it with tomato, olives and fresh thyme and rosemary.
Thanks Sally !!
Hi Sally! I was thinking of making this tonight for Sunday. I work a double tomorrow so I can’t finish it. Is there anyway it can sit in the fridge for 36 hours instead of 24? I would make the dough tonight and then bake it Sunday. Thanks!!
36 hours is FINE, but I definitely would not go any longer than that. (Even that is pushing it!)
This was my first attempt at any dough and it turned out great! If I’m not mistaken I saw in a blog post that you are from Rochester? If so, try Wegmans basting oil for the topping. It turned out amazing!!
Easy to follow recipe and the focaccia turned out PERFECT! Can’t wait to try over and over again with different topping variations!
Amazing as always! I love all of your recipes!! Can you share a sourdough starter/sourdough bread recipe??? I’d only trust you to guide me through what seems to be an interesting and confusing process:)
Can the baking sheet be lined with parchment paper instead of the Olive oil? My baking sheet has been through the ringer and I don’t think I would want to put the bread directly on it. Can’t wait to bake it tomorrow!
You definitely can, yes, but coat the parchment paper in olive oil. You want that coating of olive oil under the focaccia as it bakes.
Made Garlic Herb Sun-Dried Tomato Focaccia Bread with fresh Rosemary, Basil, and Thyme from our herb garden. Easy to follow instructions, excellent video, and the results were amazing.
This recipe will be definitely be repeated in our home. Thanks, Sally!
I tried this yesterday. It went over very well at the function I brought it to. Unfortunately, I baked it in an unfamiliar oven, which apparently runs quite hot. It was over crisped and the minced garlic was charred. Despite that, it was still good. Next time I will keep a sharp eye on the progress (even in my own oven) and use more olive oil on top. Thank you for supplying just the recipe I needed on just the day I needed it.
You rock sally!
My fear of yeast is slowly subsided due to this recipe and how perfect it came out!
As a breadaholic this will be a staple. I did exactly as you stated made the dough left it in fridge and baked it his morning. It’s a beautiful thing.
THANK YOU!
I’m thinking of baking this on my gas grill to keep the heat out of the house. If I turn off the middle burner that would be directly under the baking sheet and leave the lid closed, do you think it would work?
Hey Cindy! Yes, absolutely. Shouldn’t be a problem at all to use the grill. Definitely keep the lid closed. Let me know how it turns out.