Sourdough Focaccia

Sourdough focaccia has the same golden, crispy crust as yeasted focaccia but adds a mild sour flavor and a chewier texture from a long ferment. It’s tender and airy, and totally delicious.

Tangy Sourdough Focaccia Bread Recipe

I’ve been on a bit of a sourdough tear these past few months. I mean, you might be able to tell by all my sourdough recipes; sourdough pitas, sourdough cinnamon rolls, sourdough chocolate chip cookies, sourdough banana bread, etc…

At this point, I’ve got sourdough starters in both fridges, some dehydrated – ready for emergencies, some tucked away in the freezer. Basically, I’ve got sourdough babies. Everywhere.

And they are hungry! I am going through a 10kg bag of flour weekly. That’s 22lbs for my American friends. My freezer space is dwindling from all the sourdough baking. And while shocking to say, I think I’ve actually had enough sourdough bread for a while.

But those cute little, bubbly babies are so inspiring. I can’t help but look at them and create ideas.

This sourdough focaccia recipe is dedicated to my hungry babies!

Key Ingredients

Sourdough Starter:

Use a fed and active starter. The sourdough starter should be very bubbly and risen at least twice its size since feeding.

Olive Oil:

Focaccia needs olive oil. A lot of olive oil. That’s the secret to the beautifully browned and chewy crust. I would avoid extra virgin olive oil, if at all possible, due to its lower smoke point than regular olive oil.

How To Make Sourdough Focaccia

Prepare The Dough:

1. In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 cup sourdough starter and 2 cups warm water. Stir together until loosely combined – this can be difficult if your starter is dense like mine, but it doesn’t need to be completely dissolved, just reasonably dispersed in the water.

2. Add in 5 cups of flour and 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt, and knead using the dough hook attachment for 5- 7 minutes at the lowest speed. It will take a while to come together, and it will be a wet dough, but it should pull away from the sides of the bowl and stick to the dough hook.
   Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside to rest for 30 minutes.

3. Uncover the bowl and perform a series of stretch and folds, this is stretching the dough from one side of the bowl and folding it over the opposite side of the bowl. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat for a total of 4 folds. Recover the dough, and repeat twice more; 30-minute rest then stretch and fold.

4. Either transfer the sourdough focaccia dough to a large bowl or keep in your mixer’s bowl, and recover the bowl and set it aside for bulk fermentation for 12 – 18 hours.
   

Final Rise:

1. Once the dough has risen, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a 9 x 13″ baking dish. My baking dish has a textured bottom, so I buttered the base of the bottom before adding oil just to ensure we had no sticking!

2. Drizzle some more olive oil (about 1 tablespoon) on top of the focaccia dough, then using oiled hands or an oiled bowl scraper, carefully deflate and turn the dough out of the bowl into the prepared baking dish. I like to use a bowl scraper for this, and just glide it between the sides of the bowl and the dough, it works great.

3. Once the dough is in the baking dish, fold in all 4 sides, long sides first, then short, to create a rough rectangular envelope. Flip the focaccia dough over so the seam side is down.

4. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for another 2-4 hours, or until doubled and puffy. It took just over 2 hours to double in my house, at 73f.
   Once the dough has doubled, preheat oven to 425f.

Bake the Focaccia:

1. Oil your fingers with a good glug of oil and spread the oil along the top of the dough. Then, using your fingers start to poke or dimple the surface of the sourdough focaccia.

2. Stretch it to fit the pan if it hasn’t spread out completely. Sprinkle generously with flaked sea salt.

3. Bake the focaccia at 425f for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Cool on a wire rack for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing. Garnish with fresh thyme and a bit more flaked salt if desired.

Recipes To Put That Starter To Work!

SEE ALL SOURDOUGH

Sourdough Apple Fritter Focaccia

Sourdough Hot Dog Buns

Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Bread

Black Pepper Olive Sourdough

Sourdough Hydration

Baker’s Percentages

Batch + Storage

Batch:

This sourdough focaccia recipe makes one 9 x13 inch focaccia loaf. This recipe can be doubled and baked in 2 9×13 pans or halved and baked in an 8×8 pan.

Storage:

Once cooled and cut, the sourdough focaccia can be stored at room temperature in an airtight bag or container for up to 2 days before it starts to get stale.

The focaccia can also be frozen for later. Once completely cooled to room temperature and cut into desired pieces, wrap each slice in a layer of plastic wrap then slide into a freezer-friendly ziplock bag or airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 6 weeks.

Thaw the frozen focaccia at room temperature then reheat in a 300f oven until warmed throughout ant the crust is crispy. It can also be reheated in an air fryer set to 250f for 2-3 minutes.

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📖 Printable Recipe

Sourdough Focaccia Bread Recipe

Allyson Letal

Sourdough focaccia is soft and tender with an airy crumb and the hallmark focaccia chew! You'll love this easy sourdough recipe. Adapted from Bon Appetit.

4.50 from 14 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Rest Time 15 hours hrs

Total Time 15 hours hrs 35 minutes mins

Course Baked

Cuisine Italian

Servings 12

Calories 260 kcal

Ingredients

 

• 1 cup 240 g active sourdough starter, stirred down
• 2 cups 454 g warm water
• 5 cups 600 g unbleached all purpose flour or bread flour, measured using the scoop + level method (see notes)
• 2 teaspoons 12 g coarse kosher salt
• 5 tablespoons olive oil divided
• flaked salt + fresh thyme for garnish optional

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Instructions

 

• In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 cup (240 g) active sourdough starter, and 2 cups (454 g) warm water. Stir the starter and water together until loosely combined.
• Attach the dough hook, add in 5 cups (600 g) unbleached all purpose flour or bread flour, and 2 teaspoons (12 g) coarse kosher salt, and knead the dough for 5- 7 minutes. It will take a while to come together, and it will be a wet dough, but it should slightly pull away from the sides of the bowl and stick to the dough hook.
• Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl, with enough room for it to double, and cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
• Uncover the bowl and perform a series of stretch and folds, recover the dough, and repeat twice more; 30-minute rest then stretch and fold.
• Recover the bowl and set it aside to rise – 12 – 18 hours.
• Once the dough has risen, add 3 tablespoons olive oil to a 9 x 13" baking dish (If your dish has a textured bottom, you may want to butter it first).
• Drizzle some more olive oil on top of the focaccia dough, then using oiled hands or an oiled bowl scraper, carefully deflate and turn the dough out of the bowl into the prepared baking dish.
• Once the dough is in the baking dish, fold in all 4 sides, long sides first, then short, to create a rough rectangular envelope. Flip the dough over so the seam side is down.
• Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for another 2-4 hours, or until doubled and puffy.
• Once the dough has doubled, preheat oven to 425f.
• Oil your fingers with a good glug of oil and spread the oil along the surface of the dough. Then, using your fingers start to poke the surface of the sourdough focaccia. Stretch it to fit the pan if it hasn’t spread out completely. Sprinkle generously with flaked salt.
• Bake the focaccia at 425f for 20-25 minutes or until browned.
• Cool focaccia on a cooling rack for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing.
• Garnish with flaked salt + fresh thyme before serving.

Notes

Scoop + level: To scoop and level, stir the flour in your bag or container, then scoop from the container using a spoon into your measuring cup, then level it out. This will prevent over packing the flour in the measuring cup.

Batch:

This sourdough focaccia recipe makes one 9 x13 inch focaccia loaf. This recipe can be doubled and baked in 2 9×13 pans or halved and baked in an 8×8 pan.

Storage:

Once cooled and cut, the sourdough focaccia can be stored at room temperature in an airtight bag or container for up to 2 days before it starts to get stale.

The focaccia can also be frozen for later. Once completely cooled to room temperature and cut into desired pieces, wrap each piece in a layer of plastic wrap then slide into a freezer-friendly ziplock bag or airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 6 weeks.

Thaw the frozen focaccia at room temperature then reheat in a 300f oven until warmed throughout ant the crust is crispy. It can also be reheated in an air fryer set to 250f for 2-3 minutes.

variations + substitutions

Here are some ideas for focaccia toppings:

• hard cheeses, like parmesan, asiago,
• roasted or SMOKED GARLIC
• crumbled BACON
• fresh herbs, like rosemary or chives
• halved cherry tomatoes or olives
• everything bagel seasoning

Recommended Equipment + Ingredients

• Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
• Classic Olive Oil
• King Arthur Flour, All Purpose Unbleached Flour
• 9-inch by 13-inch Pan
• KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Qt. Stand Mixer

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 260kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 6gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gSodium: 389mgPotassium: 56mgFiber: 2gSugar: 0.1gCalcium: 8mgIron: 2mg

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