Garlic Focaccia Bread with Olives is a homemade Italian bread which is chewy and soft in the center with a mega crisp exterior with garlic flavored olive oil oozes down and infused every bite.
WHAT IS FOCACCIA?
Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread similar in style and texture to pizza dough. Focaccia can be used as a side to many meals or as sandwich bread.
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.
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.
WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED?
To make this focaccia bread recipe, you will need:
- Warm Water: When combined with liquid and sugar, yeast makes dough rise. Use warm water to cut down on rise time.
- Sugar or honey: Whichever you have on hand, to give the bread a hint of sweetness and help to activate the yeast.
- Active dry yeast: Yeast raises focaccia bread.
- Bread Flour or All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour is perfect for making focaccia bread. You can use bread flour but bread flour has a higher protein content so it yields a chewier texture.
- Salt: A lot of focaccia’s flavor comes from salt and this dough requires a lot of it.
- 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.
- Fresh garlic: It is essential for perfect garlic focaccia. I use two cloves, but for a really garlicky bread, you can increase that.
- Herbs: Use what you love and have available to you.
HOW TO MAKE GARLIC FOCACCIA WITH OLIVES:
Focaccia ia a very simple bread and one of our favorite yeast breads to make at home. It’s perfect for beginner bread bakers. Our easy recipe makes delicious fresh bread in no time and requires very little from you. Here are the basic steps with photos for making it. The full detailed recipe is below.
Infuse the oil: Infuse olive oil with garlic and fresh herbs. This simple step makes the bread unbelievably delicious.
Bloom the yeast: Mix yeast with warm water and honey. This wakes up the yeast so that it is ready to help the dough rise.
Knead the dough: Add the flour, salt, and some of the garlic herb oil to the yeast mixture, and then knead the dough 10 to 15 times.
First dough rise: Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a greased mixing bowl, and cover with a damp towel. Let the dough rest in a warm location for 45-60 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.
Prepare the dough: Add the dough to a small sheet pan or baking dish and add dimples to the top of the dough and top with the remaining garlic herb oil and olives.
Second Dough rise: Cover and let the dough continue to rise for another 20 minutes.
Bake: Bake for 20 minutes, or until the dough is slightly golden and cooked through.
Serve: Remove from the oven, and drizzle with a little more olive oil if desired. Slice, and serve warm.
TIPS TO MAKE BEST FOCACCIA:
- Always use warm water to bloom the yeast and it wakes up the yeast so that it is ready to help the dough rise. It shouldn’t be too hot or too cold.
- Allow to rise the dough in a warm place
- For the BEST flavor, let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight.
WANT TO CUSTOMIZE THIS RECIPE?
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:
- Cherry Tomatoes or Sliced Tomatoes or Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Parmesan (add before or after baking)
- Pesto (add before or after baking)
- Pine Nuts
- Sliced Lemons or Lemon Zest
- Olives
- Mushrooms
- Raw or Caramelized Onions
Here I have topped with Olives for more flavour!
SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
Enjoy it as a snack, slice it to make sandwiches, or serve it with a hot bowl of soup any night of the week.
HOW TO STORE?
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.
Refrigerate or freeze leftover focaccia: Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then in foil. Keep in the refrigerator up to 2 days and in the freezer for about a month.
Are you making this recipe? Then don’t forget to like and leave your comments for this recipe! I LOVE to see your creations so snap a photo and tag BlendOfSpicesbySara on Instagram with the hashtag #blendofspicesbysara
Garlic Focaccia Bread with Olives
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/2 tsp sugar or honey
- 1 packet 2 1/4 tsp active-dry yeast
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 2 garlic cloves finely minced
- 1 tbsp mixed herbs
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Infuse olive oil with garlic and fresh herbs. This simple step makes the bread unbelievably delicious.
- Mix yeast with warm water and honey. This wakes up the yeast so that it is ready to help the dough rise.
- Add the flour, salt, and some of the garlic herb oil to the yeast mixture, and then knead the dough 10 to 15 times.
- Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a greased mixing bowl, and cover with a damp towel. Let the dough rest in a warm location for 45-60 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.
- Add the dough to a small sheet pan or baking dish and add dimples to the top of the dough and top with the remaining garlic herb oil and olives.
- Cover and let the dough continue to rise for another 20 minutes.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until the dough is slightly golden and cooked through.
- Remove from the oven, and drizzle with a little more olive oil if desired. Slice, and serve warm.
Notes
- Always use warm water to bloom the yeast and it wakes up the yeast so that it is ready to help the dough rise.
- It shouldn’t be too hot or too cold. Allow to rise the dough in a warm place.
- For the BEST flavor, let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight.
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