Sourdough Focaccia with Crispy Garlic & Rosemary has an open and irregular crumb, crunchy crust and great chewy texture. A long slow fermentation gives this bread it’s irresistible flavor.
Today the #BreadBakers group was asked to get our bread geek on!! We’re geeking out by making breads with a sourdough starter, a poolish, a biga or a soaker. You can do a little research if you want to learn about those other natural leaveners.
If you don’t have one, check out my post to learn How to Make a Sourdough Starter. Then check out my system to Feed and Maintain Sourdough Starter.
Focaccia is a natural choice for a sourdough bread. A great focaccia should have an open and irregular crumb and light, chewy texture. A great sourdough bread often has the very same characteristics.
I made the first version of this recipe weeks ago and planned to post it right away. But daylight got away from me and I wasn’t able to get photos before the entire loaf was gobbled up.
I made it again the next day, but, seriously, the same thing happened again. This bread is that irresistible!
Long story short, I finally made the Sourdough Focaccia a 3rd time and was able to video and photograph it before we scarfed it down.
A dollop of the starter should float when it’s ready and active.
The dough is quite wet and stretchy – perfect for focaccia with an open crumb and light texture.
That crispy garlic! Oh my.
A timeline for making Sourdough Focaccia:
- If your starter needs feeding, do that the night before or early in the morning of the day you want to make the dough.
- To test if your sourdough starter is active and ready to use, drop a dollop into a bowl of water. If it floats, it’s ready to go.
- Mix the dough in the afternoon or early evening of day one (say, a Friday or Saturday).
- Let the dough sit at room temperature (with the hourly folding and flipping) until bed time.
- Before going to bed, put the dough in the fridge for the night.
- Take the dough out first thing in the morning and finish assembling and baking.
By mid-day you’ll have warm, fresh Sourdough Focaccia with Crispy Garlic & Rosemary. Heavenly!!!
Watch the recipe video to see how-to make Sourdough Focaccia with Crispy Garlic.
Since you’ve got your starter fed, check out the entire list of My Best Sourdough Recipes. Have fun!
I know you hate to throw away that sourdough discard. Check out these recipes that use sourdough discard.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, please consider leaving a 5-star review.
Sourdough Focaccia with Crispy Garlic & Rosemary
Light and crusty Sourdough Focaccia bread with crispy garlic, rosemary and sea salt.
Ingredients
Focaccia Dough
- 1 cup (8 oz, 224g) active sourdough starter (100% hydration)
- 1 1/4 cups (10 oz, 300 ml) warm water
- 1/2 cup (2.5 oz, 70g) whole wheat flour
- 3 1/4 cups (16.25 oz,455g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
- 1/4 cup (1.8 oz, 50g) olive oil
Crispy Garlic
- 1 head of garlic, peel & mince the cloves (I used a garlic press)
- 1/4 cup (1.8 oz, 50g) olive oil
Finish
- 1 scant tablespoon roughly chopped fresh rosemary (from about 1 large or 2 small sprigs)
- 1.5 teaspoons flaky sea salt
Instructions
Make the dough (day 1)
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl, combine the starter with water and whole wheat flour. Add 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour to form a thick batter. Cover the bowl and set aside for 30 minutes.
- If using a stand mixer switch to the dough hook. Add the salt, olive oil and the remaining flour, Knead on medium low speed for 5 minutes (speed 3 on my stand mixer). If mixing by hand stir in as much flour as you can, then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand.
- The dough will start out quite sticky but will clear the bowl and cling to the hook after kneading. If working by hand, keep your hands and the surface floured to prevent the dough from sticking. This is a fairly wet dough.
- Scrape the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover the bowl and set aside at room temperature for 3-5 hours. Every hour repeat the following procedure: Uncover the bowl, lift one side of the dough over into the middle of the dough. Repeat with the other three sides of the dough then flip the dough over. You're basically turning the dough inside-out to redistribute the yeast. By now the dough should be lively, elastic and airy. If the dough is still sluggish give it another hour or two at room temperature.
Bake the Focaccia (Day 2)
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the garlic to the hot oil and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until golden brown. Be careful not to let it burn. Strain the garlic, reserving the garlic flavored oil and the garlic separately.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Lightly oil a 1/2 sheet pan with half of the garlic olive oil. Place the dough onto the oiled pan (trying not to deflate too much) and flip it over to coat it with a film of oil. Use your fingers to spread the dough to a 1/2" thick square or rectangle. Cover the dough with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise for about 1 hour until well risen and puffy.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Use your fingers to dimple the top of the dough all over. Brush with the remaining garlic flavored olive oil, sprinkle with crispy garlic, sea salt and rosemary.
- Bake about 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden brown.
Notes
The recipe can be halved and baked in a cast iron skillet.
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Wendy Klik
Look at all those beautiful pockets of air!!
Eileen Gray
Thanks, Wendy!
Karen
Fantastic focaccia and I love all of the bread geek talk! For a long time I kept three starters at different hydration levels until I figured out how to use baker’s percentages. Doh! Thanks for baking along!
Eileen Gray
Thanks for a great theme, Karen!
sneha datar
Love the airy pockets that this sourdough focaccia has. Perfect!
Eileen Gray
Thanks!
Pavani
I don’t know why I have never thought of making focaccia with sourdough. I have to make this asap. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Eileen Gray
I love the texture and flavor that the starter brings to this bread. I hope you like it.
Sonia Gupta
Its looking lovely. Soon I’m going to try this. Thanks for sharing.
Eileen Gray
Thanks!
Joan comeaux
Can you make english muffin s with starter?
Eileen
Sure. I haven’t worked out an exact recipe yet, but you could start by replacing a 1/2 cup of flour and a 1/2 cup of liquid with a cup of active starter.
Julie
What adjustment do you think if I only have AP flour?
Eileen Gray
Hi Julie, just replace the whole wheat flour with the same amount of ap flour. The whole wheat is mostly there for taste.
Katlyn
Hello, I am mid baking this amazing recipe and noticed the recipe mentions putting the salt and oil in twice. Before the 30 min rest and after. Not sure which is right but thought I’d point that out so you could maybe clarify or fix the recipe. Hoping mine turns out as I put it in before the 30 min rest. Fingers crossed. Thanks!
Eileen Gray
Oooops, thanks for the heads-up. The oil and salt should go in after the 30 minutes rest (no biggie if you put it in before). I fixed the recipe.
Sherry Blizzard
Came out beautifully! I followed the recipe exactly as it was written. Outstanding. I cut it up and took it to the hospital for the night shift. They are often overlooked because by the time they come on shift all the treats are gone. I’ll be making this again!
Eileen Gray
So glad you used my recipe to support the healthcare workers! Isn’t the crispy garlic crazy good?
Jennifer L Lanam
I’m trying to make the sourdough pretzels, and it says to watch the video for sourdough focaccia (no link) to see how to stretch the dough. This is the closest recipe I’ve found, and it says, “Watch the video…” (again no link), and I can’t find the video anywhere!
Eileen Gray
If you are running an ad-blocker the video wont’ show up. If you turn off the add blocker you’ll see the video.
Ashley
Could you skip the overnight rise or is it necessary? I was hoping to get this done for dinner today lol
Eileen Gray
Yes. The flavor will be a bit different, but it will still be good. Just make sure to let the entire first fermentation happen until the dough is lively and elasic. Then you can go ahead and shape the focaccia.
Laura Rudberg
I’ve started this early on Mother’s Day I. Hopes of having it with dinner. Rather than overnight
In the fridge can it rise at room temperature and be baked tonight?
Eileen Gray
Yes.
Lauryn Blank
If I want to leave it to rise overnight in the fridge how long do you recommend leaving it in for? How many times/ how often should I fold the dough if it is in the fridge?
Eileen Gray
I would leave it ferment at room temperature for a few hours to get it going. Then you can put it in the fridge for up to 2 days before shaping and baking.
Tom Wicker
I’m not sure about the amount of whole wheat flour to use. A half cup should weigh about 60 grams shouldn’t it? Should I go with volume or weight on this ingredient? Thanks!
Eileen Gray
Weight measures are always the most accurate so if you have a scale I would always use weight measures. A cup of whole wheat flour weighs 5 oz (using the dip and sweep method). I use the conversion of 28g per oz. So a 1/2 cup (2.5 oz) of whole wheat flour should be 70g (2.5 x 28).