This thick and chewy Rosemary Focaccia is made with just 7 ingredients!
It’s delicious on its own, but can also be used as a base for pizza, sandwiches, and so much more. I made focaccia croutons last month and they were phenomenal! Like, they actually made me excited about salad. I’m going to make a second batch next week for stuffing. Because yes: I’m already testing Thanksgiving recipes!
But I digress. Let’s get back to this rosemary focaccia recipe because I really want you to try it this weekend!
Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success:
- This is not a super complicated recipe, but it does have quite a few steps, so I suggest reading through the entire recipe before getting started. I also recommend reading through the ingredient list to making sure you have everything you need on hand!
- This recipe requires bread flour. Bread flour is a high-gluten flour that has a tiny amount of barley flour and vitamin C added. The barley flour helps the yeast activate, and the vitamin C increases the elasticity of the gluten and its ability to retain gas as the dough rises and bakes. Bread flour is typically used in recipes like focaccia, pizza crust, and garlic knots because of the chewiness that the extra gluten provides. I did test this recipe with all-purpose flour and unfortunately the results were tough, dry, and frankly disappointing. Moral of the story? If you want chewy and incredibly delicious focaccia, don’t skip the bread flour.
- Because I wanted thick and chewy focaccia, I baked it in my OXO 9×13 inch baking dish but any 9×13 inch baking dish should work just fine!
- Fresh rosemary should not be substituted with dried rosemary. Trust me on this!
- If you like a little spice, you can add a few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes before baking. I always do this… but then again, I LOVE spicy food.
TGIF, my friends! Tell me you weekend plans – and what you’re baking – in the comment section below ♥
How To Make Rosemary Focaccia
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water (between 105 – 115 degrees F)
- One (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing and drizzling
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
- 3 cups bread flour
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Lightly grease a large bowl with olive oil; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the warm water, honey, and yeast; stir to combine. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
- Add oil and salt and stir to combine.
- With the mixer on medium-low speed, gradually add in 2 and 1/2 cups of flour and continue mixing until a soft dough forms. Add in remaining flour and continue mixing until smooth, about 5 t0 6 minutes.
- Form the dough into a ball and place it into the prepared bowl; turn to coat. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm space for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Lightly grease a 9×13 baking pan; set aside.
- Punch down dough and pat it into prepared pan. If it pulls back from the edges, let it rest for 5 minutes, then pat it out again. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- Using your fingertips, dimple the surface of the dough. Sprinkle with rosemary, sea salt, and black pepper; lightly drizzle with olive oil. Bake in the lower third of the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool before cutting.