You won’t believe how easy it is to make great focaccia bread at home! Topped with rosemary and roasted garlic, it’s rich, savory, soft, and chewy.

How to Make Focaccia Bread

If you’re new to bread baking, don’t let focaccia intimidate you! In fact, it’s a lot like making homemade pizza dough. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Active dry yeast, sugar, and warm water: The sugar and warm water activate the yeast to make the bread rise, giving it its soft, chewy texture.
• Flour: I like to use a mix of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour, but you can use entirely all-purpose flour if you prefer.
• Salt: Don’t skip the salt here! It gives this focaccia bread its wonderful savory flavor.
• And olive oil: A focaccia essential! Along with the salt, olive oil is what gives this bread its rich flavor and golden brown color. You’ll mix it into the dough as well as spreading it over the bread’s surface.

Focaccia Recipe Tips

1. Let the dough rise somewhere warm. Because yeast responds to warmth, letting your dough rise in a warm place will yield the best results. We like to put ours on a sunny windowsill!
2. Freeze extras. This bread freezes really well! Slice the baked focaccia into squares and freeze them in an airtight container for up to a few months. I like to keep a stash on hand to serve as an easy side with salads or soups.
3. Change the seasonings! We love this simple roasted garlic and rosemary focaccia bread, but other toppings would be delicious here as well. Try swapping the rosemary for sage or thyme leaves, or use olives, sun dried or roasted tomatoes, or thinly sliced Meyer lemon in place of or in addition to the roasted garlic.

Rosemary, roasted garlic, olive oil, and sea salt infuse this focaccia bread with rich, savory flavor.

Ingredients

• 1¾ cups warm water, 105° to 115°F
• 1 (¼-ounce) package active dry yeast, (2¼ teaspoons)
• 1 tablespoon cane sugar
• 3½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
• 1½ cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
• 1 bulb Roasted Garlic, optional
• 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, stir together the water, yeast, and sugar. Set aside for 5 minutes, until the yeast is foamy.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, place the flours, salt, ¼ cup of the olive oil, and the yeast mixture and mix on medium speed until the dough forms a ball around the hook, 5 to 6 minutes.
• Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead several times, sprinkling with more flour, as needed, and form into a ball. Brush a large bowl with olive oil, and place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until doubled in size, 40 to 50 minutes.
• Coat a 10 × 15-inch rimmed baking sheet with the remaining ¼ cup olive oil. Punch the dough down, transfer to a lightly floured surface, and knead several times. Place the dough in the pan and press to spread it out to the pan’s edges. Flip the dough over and spread it to the edges again. Make indentations with your fingers, every few inches apart, all over the dough. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size, about 40 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the plastic wrap. Cut the roasted garlic cloves in half and push them into the surface of the dough. Sprinkle with the rosemary, and red pepper flakes, and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown.