Garlic Parmesan Focaccia Bread. Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, so delicious and flavorful. The taste is so good. But one of the most exciting parts about baking bread is that you cannot help but be so proud when you are finished. Cut it into pieces and put it on a cheese board, dip into that pasta sauce you love, eat it as a snack – the possibilities are endless.
The “Sponge”
You will see “make the sponge” once or twice in the recipe below. This just means that there is a two-step process when making this bread. We take small increments of all the ingredients, mix them together, and let them sit and begin to ferment. After 30 minutes or so, add the rest of the ingredients and continue the process. Just let the sponge you create sit inside your oven without turning it on. We are going to bring that least to life a little before continuing the process.
Baking Focaccia Bread
Getting the oven super super hot is another main step either. That crunchy bottom is absolutely one of the most satisfying part of bread baking – in taste and in feeling. You’ll see what I mean. The knife cracking through the bottom crust is so exciting.
As home cooks, we don’t usually have pizza stones, fire, or crazy high temperatures like professional bakeries. To mimic those aspects, we preheat the oven with the baking sheet inside the oven at 500° for an hour. That seems like a long time. But your bread dough will be doing it’s magic for that entire hour! To keep busy, every twenty minutes, fold the dough to add air and re-dampen your towel. Just lift the edge of the dough, fold into the center, turn the bowl and repeat.
Toppings!
Final step, oil up your cake tin and press the dough into it. This recipe is for garlic parmesan, but I love some extra salt, black pepper, rosemary, oregano. You can get as creative as you want.
When you make my Garlic Parmesan Focaccia Bread please please tag me on Instagram @quartersoulcrisis or comment down below. How did it go ? What toppings did you go with? I want all the details!
Garlic Parmesan Focaccia Bread.
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour 2.5 cups & ½ cup
- 1 ⅓ & ⅓ cup hot water separate
- 1 packet instant yeast
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1-2 large stems rosemary or oregano
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan or fresh grated parmigiano reggiano
Instructions
- Start by making the sponge: In a large bowl, add ½ cup flour, ¼ tsp of the yeast, 1tsp of salt & ⅓ cup HOT water. 110° or as hot as your sink can get. Mix with wooden spoon or spatula until all dry flour is gone. Cover with a damp towel and place in empty, turned off oven for 20 minutes. Leave oven light on!
- Meanwhile, prep the rest of the ingredients: measure 2 & ½ cups flour, mince 3 cloves of garlic and measure 4 tbsp olive oil or extra virgin olive oil. Add minced garlic & olive oil in a small bowl and set aside to infuse.
- Remove sponge from oven. Place the baking sheet bottom-side up in the oven on the middle rack. Preheat oven to 500° with baking sheet inside.
- Next, Make Focaccia dough: Add 2 & ½ cups flour, the rest of the yeast & salt, and 1 & ⅓ cup hot water onto your sponge. Mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until no dry flour remains. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let relax for 20 minutes
- Turn the dough: after 20 minutes, with a rubber spatula, fold from edge of bowl into center of the dough. Turn the bowl 90 degrees. Repeat 3 more times (for 4 total folds & turns). So a full hour of preheating with baking sheet inside oven should pass.
- Prepare dough for baking: Once dough has been turned and risen, remove from bowl onto lightly floured surface. Very lightly flour the top and sides as the dough will be very sticky. Cut in half if using two cake pans. OR follow next steps using your 18inch baking sheet. Let rest. Pour 1.5 tbs of the garlic oil into each pan, not using much of the garlic cloves. Rub and spread it all over the pan. Add the dough (1 for each pan).**
- Slide the dough around the pan to get oily, flip the dough over and repeat. Press the dough out to the edges of the pan. If it is difficult to spread, let the dough relax at room temp 5-10 more minutes and try again. With a fork, poke 20-30 times all around the dough. Finally, sprinkle any minced over the top of each dough. Sprinkle with fresh grated parmigiano reggiano (about 1/4 cup each loaf), and lay oregano or rosemary however you like on top if using.
- Bake dough: Place cake pans on top of hot baking sheet in oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is crusty and beautifully golden brown. Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before removing.
Bonnie says
Just finished making this and taste testing, it turned out very yummy-nice crunchy bottom and a great garlic taste.
I followed the recipe exact except I had some sourdough made up so used 2/3 cup of my sourdough.
Dough is VERY sticky so just had to use a litter more flour on my counter and then it was fine.
Thank you so much a great recipe,
Bonnie