Aromatized by rosemary throughout, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkled with coarse sea salt, this easy classic rosemary focaccia is the perfect afternoon snack and side for your favorite pasta dinner!
A nice warm slice of rosemary focaccia bread is by far one of my favorite snacks. The smell of bread baking in the oven, the fresh fragrance of rosemary lingering in the air, the olive oil soaked into each bite...mmm...all of that just makes it such an incredible experience. But these descriptions won't do focaccia breads true justice. You need to experience it for yourself! And this easy classic rosemary focaccia will give you exactly that!
This recipe was adapted from the restaurant I worked at in Baton Rouge called Kalurah Street Grill. The one who taught me how making this focaccia is Matt, our sous chef and a craftsman at making focaccia. The focaccia at Kalurah are always served grilled with a side of whipped herb butter. It's pretty darn good. So, if you get a chance go check them out!
Now, if you're on a bread baking streak, also check out our:
- easy milk bread loaf (This milk bread is the fluffiest bread ever!)
- homemade pita bread
Now, let me share some tips and tricks to making focaccia!
Can I make focaccia without bread flour?
We know bread flour may be hard to come by these days, so no worries! We have experimented using A/P flour and it came out just as good! Just know that the texture may not be the exact same, but you can hardly notice the difference.
Do I have to use rosemary?
Absolutely not! We understand that some people do not like the flavor of rosemary, so it's totally fine to substitute rosemary for other herbs. You can use herbs like oregano, thyme, or herb d' Provence in place of rosemary. However, do note that we used fresh herbs so the amount will vary if you decide to use dried herbs instead.
Besides herbs, you can also add some fresh cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, or olives to give the focaccia an extra pop.
Why use so much olive oil in focaccia?
Being that focaccia originated from Italy, you know there's got to be some olive oil involved. But in general terms, focaccia is simply a flatbread drizzled with extra virgin olive oil for flavor, to keep the bread moist, and to enrich the bread. It's what makes this bread special and tasty.
Why do you make indentations in focaccia bread?
The iconic holes on focaccia play an important role for the bread. Not only are the holes a unique characteristic that helps us easily identify focaccia from a pile of other flatbread, they prevent the flatbread from turning into a round boule and act like pockets to collect olive oil so that it can be absorbed into the bread as it baked. This makes focaccia moist and rich tasting.
Do I need to measure the ingredients with a scale?
It is preferred that you measure all of your ingredients with a scale so that your baked items always come out the same every time, but sometimes we are lazy, so we opt for measuring cups. And that's okay! However, it is extremely important to make sure your flour is properly measured, if you're going to use cup measurement, so that there's not a huge difference in flour weight.
How to properly measure flour:
- Loosen your flour with a spoon so it's not compact.
- Use the spoon to scoop the flour, spoon by spoon, into the measuring cup until it's overflowing. Do not shake, tap, or try to pack the flour in. That compacts the flour and increases the amount of flour in a cup.
- With the back of a butter knife or something flat, level off the excess flour.
Yes, it may seem like a hassle, trust me, I had felt that way too. But measuring your flour this way really makes a big difference. This way of measuring flour isn't perfect, however, it make your flour measurement more consistent.
If you just scoop a cup of flour straight from a bin, each cup could have a difference in flour weight up to 50 grams! That's a huge number! If you do your due diligence and spoon your flour into your measuring cup, the difference gets reduced to a maximum of 15 grams.
Now you know why sometimes your baked items seem dry even though you thought you've followed the recipe to the "t."
YUM!
Can I make the focaccia by hand?
Absolutely! If you wish to throw in some arm workout before you dig into this amazing piece of carb, by all means. It helps you enjoy the bread even more! However, I do not have an estimated time for kneading by hand because everyone knead at a different speed, and this dough is a bit larger than most of the typical recipes. So go by touch and appearance. Once the dough feels supple, looks mostly smooth, and no longer sticky, it's good to go.
The dough doesn't have to be smooth, just supple and no longer sticky.
After the 1st proof, punch the dough down then fold it onto itself a couple of times to get rid of unwanted air bubbles.
After the dough rest for little bit, the gluten will relax and make stretching easier. Now stretch the dough and cover the whole ½ sheet!
After the 2nd proofing, make your indentations, drizzle some olive oil on it, and sprinkle on some rosemary and salt.
Enjoy! It's so good!
Bake with love!❤️
Kyong
If you made this recipe or any recipe from our blog, please tag us on Instagram @twoplaidparons! We would love to see your creations! It absolutely makes our day! 
📖 Recipe
Easy Classic Rosemary Focaccia
Ingredients
- 625 grams warm water (90-100°F; about 2¾ cups)
- 8 grams active dry yeast (about 2 teaspoon or 1 packet)
- 1000 grams bread flour (about 8 cups)
- 18 grams salt (about 3½ teaspoon + more for sprinkling)
- 35 grams olive oil (about 3 tablespoon + more for drizzling and brushing)
- 2 Tablespoons rosemary, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Stir the active dry yeast into the warm water and let it sit for about 5 minutes or until the yeast dissolves.
- In a stand mixer, attached with a dough hook, mix together flour and salt.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the water with dissolved yeast into the flour.Once the dough starts to come together, drizzle in the olive oil and keep kneading until the dough is one cohesive ball.*Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.*
- Increase the kneading speed to medium low and knead for another 10 minutes until the dough is supple and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer dough to a clean bowl, generously greased with olive oil. Cover and let proof in a warm area until doubled, about an hour.
- Once the dough has doubled, punch the dough down and fold it onto itself a couple of times.Transfer the dough to a generously olive oil greased ½ sheet pan and flatten it with your hands. Let the dough relax for about 10-15 minutes.
- Gently pull and stretch the dough to cover the entire sheet pan*. The dough will be about an inch tall. Cover the dough with an oiled plastic wrap and let it proof at room temperature until doubled in height, about 45 minutes to an hour.*If your dough keeps pulling back or has a lot of resistance, let it rest 5-10 minutes more.*
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Once the dough has doubled, use your fingers to make the classic indentations on the entire focaccia. Drizzle it with olive oil and brush it to distribute the oil more evenly. Sprinkle salt and chopped rosemary on the focaccia.
- Bake the focaccia for about 30-40 minutes or until the bread is cooked through with an internal temperature of 190°F and is mostly golden brown all across the top.
- Remove the focaccia from the oven and brush the top with a thin layer of olive oil. Let it cool for a few minutes, then remove the focaccia from the sheet pan.
- Let it cool completely on a wire cooling rack or enjoy while it's warm!
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