Rosemary Focaccia Bread (small batch recipe) - Dessert for Two (2024)

FAQs

What is the best flour to use for focaccia? ›

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.

Why is my focaccia not fluffy or chewy? It could be the type of flour you used. The best flour to use to make focaccia bread is bread flour which gives you fluffy baked bread. Or, it could also be because you did not knead the dough enough for the gluten to form a structure which can result in flat or dense bread.

Make sure to drizzle some olive oil and flakey sea salt before and after you bake the bread. Place the pan in the oven on the middle rack for 35-45 minutes or until the edges and top is golden. Let the bread cool completely before cutting into it. Enjoy the focaccia bread with soup or on its own.

Add fresh rosemary, and roasted garlic then pop it in the oven. Once it's ready slice the focaccia in half and use it for sandwiches, cut strips and dip it into your favorite brothy poached eggs, braised chicken, soup, or stew, or enjoy it on its own.

Bread flour is slightly higher in protein than All-purpose, so gives the focaccia just a little more chew. I love the mix of both, but just AP flour works just fine too! See FAQ for using only AP flour in the recipe if that is what you have. Yeast - I used instant yeast in this recipe.

Traditionally Tuscan focaccia is medium thick and medium soft but crispy on the outside. Salt and rosemary are its usual companions. However, throughout Tuscany you can also find a thin and crispy version as well thick and very soft. Tuscan panini with cheese and cold cuts often use focaccia for a base.

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Can you overproof focaccia dough? You can definitely overproof focaccia, but it is difficult. There is so much oil in the dough, and very little sugar, so the yeast is "sleepy" or slow due to both of those elements and less likely to overproof.

That's okay, it should be wet and sticky! All bread flour absorbs different amounts of water due to varying protein content. Bread flour with 12-15% protein (ie 12-15g of protein per 100g of flour) is best for focaccia.

Dimple the dough all over with your fingers, sprinkle with flaky sea salt, drizzle on the rest of the olive oil, and sprinkle with the leaves from one of the sprigs of rosemary. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 20–30 minutes, until the top is a lovely golden and the internal temperature is 190-210°F (88–99°C).

Why do you poke holes in focaccia? ›

Dimpling (aka poking holes) in focaccia helps to release gas and air, which helps your focaccia to maintain its signature flat look. At the same time, olive oil that's drizzled onto the foccacia is able to infuse into the dough for a truly wonderful flavour!

Rosemary. Rosemary (rosmarino, in Italian), like bay leaves, grow in abundance in Italy. A hardy plant, rosemary is known for its peppery, woody flavor. In Italian cuisine, rosemary is often used in roasted vegetable or meat preparations, as well as in bouquet garni to flavor stocks and stews.

Rosemary is a popular evergreen shrub that is native to the Mediterranean and used in cooking all over the world. Its leaves can be eaten fresh or dried, and it is popularly consumed as a tea or infused oil.

While bread flour is the best option, it can sometimes be used if you don't have bread flour. “Check the protein content,” advises Chef Jürgen, since it can vary from brand to brand, and an all-purpose flour that contains protein on the higher end of the range, 12 to 13 percent, will produce a better outcome.

Wheat flours are usually the first choice of most bakers. This is due to the lightness and high rise created by higher levels of gluten content. However, if you're intolerant of wheat or looking for gluten-free bread options, there are a wide range of low gluten and gluten-free flour options available.

Bread or all purpose flour is best for baking normal bread, while self-raising flour is better for 'quick breads'. Quick breads, such as Irish soda bread, can be made with self-raising flour as they do not require yeast, which need time and fermentation to make the dough rise.

Strong or bread flour has a higher protein level that plain flour. It is this protein that contributes to the strength of the gluten. However, this is where it gets complicated. Looking for flour labelled as 'strong' or 'bread' flour is a good idea when you are just starting out on your bread making journey.