Hello bread lovers! Did you know it’s super easy to make your own crispy at the edges and fluffy in the middle focaccia? It’s true! When I was flipping through my culinary camp binder (yes, I went to a cooking school camp for grown ups), I came upon a herb focaccia recipe that we never actually got to make in class. I’m a huge fan of all the fancy breads in a typical bread basket, so it was time to try my hand at focaccia! Basically, it’s a simple yeast dough that’s been flattened out, dimpled, and topped with herbs and whatever else your heart desires. For me, rosemary and black pepper were speaking to me, partly because I killed all the fresh herbs outside, whoops. But, it also had a really hearty and fall-like taste to it, perfect for pairing with soup (soup weather, I love it!) or spreading with butter and eating alone, like I did right after I took these pictures.
The list of ingredients here is short, but there are a few things to remember. First off, yeast, make sure it’s fresh! You don’t want to go to all the trouble of mixing up the dough, only to find out it won’t rise and you will have to chuck the whole thing into the garbage. Second, flour should be all purpose or half AP and half whole wheat. For a long time, I thought replacing all flour with whole wheat was sooo much better and healthier, but it always kind of results in a weird, dense crumb and never quite gets the same texture as something baked with half and half flour mix. Last, be patient with this bread! Yes, there is a rise time and it might seem like it’s going to take forever, but really, if you just walk away and do some cleaning or laundry, come back and pop it in the oven, it won’t seem like you just waited an eternity for your perfectly salty focaccia.
Plans for the weekend? Mine is going to be pretty standard, working and having happy hour dinner with friends, but if anyone wants to come take care of house cleaning for me, I would gladly pay you in carbs.
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Rosemary Black Pepper Focaccia
- Prep Time: 60 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Bread
Description
Homemade focaccia is easy, quick and loaded to the brim with the flavors of rosemary, salt, and fresh cracked black pepper.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 1 packet of yeast
- 1 tablespoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
- Additional sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper (to top)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water, letting it sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and sea salt until dough starts to come together. If the dough is really wet, add an additional 1/4 cup flour until it comes together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until double in size, which should take about an hour to an hour and a half.
- After dough has risen, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet. Spread dough out evenly onto the sheet with your hands, making it slightly smaller than the sheet. After dough has been spread out, dimple the dough down and top with the olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the dough springs back lightly when touched. Cut and serve.
- This bread lasts only a few days stored at room temperature. If you want it to keep, I would recommend storing it in the fridge.
terismyth says
Hi Abby,
This recipe looks like another winner. There’s nothing better than warm focaccia right out of the oven served with a nice garlic infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
I’ve been baking peach crisps with the frozen peaches from my peach tree.
Yum. Keep on baking!
Teri:)
The Frosted Vegan says
Yum, that sounds lovely Teri! I love the idea with the infused oil, I’ll keep that in mind for next time 🙂
whiskandshout says
I love focaccia and yours looks fabulous 🙂 Pinning!
The Frosted Vegan says
Thanks Medha! xo
Kelsey @ Appeasing a Food Geek says
Yay focaccia! All-time favorite bread to make. Mostly because I feel fancy and really Italian making it. Also, kudos to these spices because I have also killed all of my fresh herbs 🙁 Thanks for the recipe!
Kelsey
The Frosted Vegan says
Right? I feel so fancy even saying it 🙂 I killed mine too, so I’m diving into my dried spices now!
Stephanie says
Is this not kneaded?
The Frosted Vegan says
Hi Stephanie, no it isn’t! Nice and easy!
Sarah | Well and Full says
YES focaccia!! One of my favorite breads. Quick question though, for the yeast, do you mean instant or regular? 😀
Isa says
Last time I made focaccia bread, I had to throw it out 🙁 I guess I had a bad recipe. Yours looks so much better that I will give focaccia bread a second chance! Thank you 🙂
The Frosted Vegan says
Yes, please do! It’s so easy and so so good!
Kathryn @ The Scratch Artist says
This looks delicious! I have had a lot of success making 100% whole grain breads, tortillas, pitas, you name it. It takes a bit of experimenting, but the result is worth it. My favorite whole grain flour to use is Sprouted Whole Wheat. It is lighter and does not taste dense and bitter like regular whole wheat flour can. I’d be happy to share any and all of my whole grain baking experiences. I have been baking this way for years and make about 2 loaves of bread a week that my family happily devours. 🙂
I’m looking forward to trying this focaccia!
The Frosted Vegan says
Ah that would be wonderful Kathryn! It might have to do with what kind of flour I’m using, so I’m glad you mentioned that! I would love to hear your experiences and tips 🙂
thespeckledpalate says
This bread is absolutely STUNNING, Abby! I’m a sucker for anything of a bread variety, and I always love to bake on the weekends… so we might be making this for funsies today or tomorrow. 😉 You can’t go wrong with fresh bread, and you certainly can’t go wrong with the rosemary and black pepper. Like you, I killed all my herbs outside, and I’ve only got the stuff in my spice cabinet now… Oops!
Nard says
Hi, Can I use coconut flour or almond flour instead ??
The Frosted Vegan says
Hi Nard, I haven’t used either one of those, so I can’t say if they would work. Breads made with gluten free flours are a little more tricky, so I would say if you do want to make it GF, use a blend, like Bob’s Red Mill or Hodgson Mill. Again, I haven’t tried so I can’t speak to how well it works!