Sourdough focaccia doesn't get much faster or easier than this! Made with discard starter and optional yeast, this crunchy, chewy bread takes well to variations. Add any toppings or herbs you like.
Bakery life
My first baking job, during my freshman year at UC Santa Cruz, lasted about three months. Our shift began at 4 am. Often as I left my on-campus apartment, frequently still drunk from the night before, my apartment mates, who hadn't yet gone to bed, would set down their joints and pipes to wave goodbye.
I'd work until 11 am or so, then go straight to a day of classes and a night of partying. Then I'd repeat the scenario again at 3:30 the next morning. This all makes me sound rather un-bojon and go-getterish, which I assure you is not the case.
About once a week, I would turn off my alarm clock in my sleep and be awakened, either naturally or by a phone call, around 9am, 5 hours late for work. Needless to say, my roommate hated me. But my boss let me continue to work there, probably because I was the only female/person under the age of 40 out of the dozen or so employees in the bakery.
Working at UCSC's College 8, which provided baked goods for the entire campus's cafeterias, was not glamorous by any stretch of the imagination. Most days, my tasks consisted of mixing canned bright red cherry goo into a waiting hotel pan of muffin batter, then scooping out six hundred muffins. Other times I'd operate the "cookie machine," which, when it wasn't getting jammed, spat out a dozen balls of cookie dough at a time onto waiting sheet pans.
My favorite part of the job was dimpling out the oiled, herb-coated focaccia dough as it slowly rose in multiple hotel pans. But my least favorite part of the job was hearing my burly, mulletted boss pronounce the word "focaccia". He'd start in with a sort of growl (fuuuhhhh...), then add a hacking sneeze in the middle ("GAH-tchuh"), followed by a redundant, polysyllabic description of what focaccia means in English ("BRAY-ed"). Sort of endearing, I suppose, but the defilement of such a beautiful language made me want scream "Focaccia you! Eh?"
Easy Sourdough Focaccia
Full of big, "old-dough" flavor, the generous dose of olive oil makes the outsides of this sourdough focaccia addictively crisp and keeps it moist for several days. A sprinkle of flaky salt and fresh herbs add palate pleasing complexity. Cut it into fingers and serve as hors d'oeuvres, or slice horizontally for sandwiches or bruschetta.
Discard & Flours
Because this sourdough focaccia dough uses commercial yeast, this is a great way to use up starter that isn't strong enough to raise bread on its own, such as young or neglected starter, or what you would throw away while feeding your starter to build it up. Just be sure the starter still smells nice.
I've experimented with a few different flours for this sourdough focaccia recipe. I found that using white and whole spelt flour makes a spongy, springy focaccia, while bread flour makes a chewier dough with bigger, more irregular air pockets, as shown in these photos, which I prefer. You can vary the herbs and toppings to your liking. I plan to try pressing whole, roasted garlic cloves into the top next time.
This sourdough focaccia dough is extremely wet, and probably impossible to knead by hand, so use a stand mixer for sure.
For more sourdough recipes:
*Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this quick sourdough focaccia recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.*
Quick Sourdough Focaccia
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 6 oz. liquid sourdough starter (3/4 cup flat, 1 1/2 cups or more bubbly)
- 1 teaspoon instant, rapid rise yeast (or 1 Tablespoon fresh yeast) (you can omit this if your starter is very active)
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (4 1/4 oz.)
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose or bread flour (8 oz.)
- 1 1/4 cups water, lukewarm (10 oz.)
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/4 cup good olive oil (I like Sciabica's)
- 1/4 teaspoon or so crunchy salt, like malden or fleur de sel
- optional toppings: 1/2 cup halved pitted black olives; chopped thyme, rosemary, or sage; whole roasted garlic cloves; anything else you can think of
Instructions
- Combine the starter, yeast, water and flours in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle or dough hook attachment (both work!). Mix on low a couple of minutes until combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl, then increase to speed 3 and beat for 8 minutes. The dough should be very wet and sticky, almost batter-like, but not liquid. Add more flour or water as you knead if the dough seems overly wet or dry. Sprinkle on the salt, and beat on 3 for another five minutes. The dough should still be sticky, but should pull away from the sides of the bowl while it's mixing. Leave the dough in the bowl, cover tightly with a lid or plastic wrap, and let rise 1-2 hours until doubled or tripled in bulk.
- Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and place a baking stone on top, if you have one. Place a sacrificial metal or cast iron pan on the floor of the oven - you will put ice in it to steam the oven, and it will become rusted and nasty. (UPDATE: a reader reported that the recipe works beautifully without this step, so I'm calling it optional!) Preheat the oven to 500º.
- Line a 9x12" (1/4 sheet) pan with a sling of parchment paper (the paper should lay flat in the bottom with the long ends sticking out.) Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the olive oil all over the bottom and sides of the paper. With a plastic scraper, turn the dough over in the bowl a few times, tamping out some of the air bubbles, then blob it onto the center of the oiled parchment. Drizzle the remaining oil on top and use your fingers to dimple the dough outwards towards the sides and corners. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour, until it mostly fills in the pan, dimpling out the dough a few more times to fill in the corners. The olive oil will pool in the corners, so use a teaspoon to "baste" the top of the focaccia with that oil. Sprinkle a bit of crunchy salt over the top, and any other toppings you like, and give the dough a last dimpling.
- Fill a 1 cup measure with ice cubes. Quickly place the focaccia pan on the baking stone and toss the ice cube into the sacrificial pan on the floor of the oven. Close the door and don't open it again for the next 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, rotate the focaccia, then turn the oven down to 450º and bake for another 5 - 15 minutes, until golden and lovely on top. Remove to a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then lift out of the pan and cool completely before snarfing.
- Store the focaccia at room temperature in a plastic bag for up to a few days (but I doubt it will last that long!)
Notes
- mix the dough - 20 minutes
- first rise - 1-2 hours
- second rise - 45-60 minutes
- bake - 30-40 minutes
- cool - 1 hour
Nutrition
Pavi says
Hi I used 100% whole wheat flour to make this focaccia. It tastes absolutely wonderful , but I had to bake it for longer than 1 hour even though it developed a lovely brown crust midway. Also my crust developed cracks on it and it had a close crumb , though very soft . What could I have done wrong. Thank you for your recipe though, it was so much fun to watch this dough rise and do its magic .
Alanna says
Hi Pavi,
I'm guessing it was the all whole wheat flour which will produce a much denser dough. I'm recommend trying it as written, and then you can start increasing the whole wheat flour and decreasing the white flour until you like the texture. I love whole grains too, so I get it! But all those whole grains inhibit gluten production in bread doughs which can lead to dense doughs that crack and take a long time to bake. Please let me know if you give it another try as written!
Eugene Fodor says
This is a great recipe. It disappeared within an hour of coming out of the oven. Best focaccia I've ever had. I used 100% King Arthur white whole wheat and it came out excellent. I did it without the water and it was no problem at all. Thank you.
Paige F. says
Thank you SO much for a wonderful way to use starter/discard. This was gobbled up by the family and it worked for me to cut out the first rise and simply put it straight into the pan with olive oil for the rise in a warm oven. Topped as suggested with rosemary and sea salt flakes. Rose beautifully and even more so with baking!!! Thank you!
Alanna says
That's great to know that you can skip the first rise - brilliant! Thanks so much for the note and rating. I'm so glad it was a hit!
Jaime says
Came out great- I'm new to sourdough and this was a perfect bread to break in with using my discard. I didn't get much volume increase on the first rise (did use yeast) but once I had it out in the pan, I set it in front of the wood stove and got plenty of good rise in a short amount of time. I also cut down the oil a little to cater to health needs, but it was still delicious! Roasted garlic was a perfect addition. Thanks!
Alanna says
I'm so glad you loved it! Thanks a bunch for the note and review!
Kaitlyn M Hockett says
Tried this focaccia. sadly, mine burnt on top after the first 15 in oven. :( pretty sad about it. hopefully others have better luck.
Cristen Miller says
I made this last night and it was a huge success. Thanks so much for the recipe, I'll be making it again for sure!
Lynda says
Made this today using King Arthur all purpose flour along with their Super 10 Blend. I did feel it wa necessary to add a significant amount of extra water to get the consistency described and pictured. I was a little concerned about how the dough looked after rising because it was really light and airy but it turned out perfect! Topped with fresh rosemary and sea salt and baked just the minimum amount of time. I spoiled my dinner by eating 3 pieces before but it was worth it. Outside was nice and crisp and inside was just the right amount of chewy. Definitely a keeper! Thanks so much for the recipe.
Jeanne Farrar says
My bread is in the oven now, house smells great, have had it in 30 minutes didn't really do a 2nd rise. Cooking a little longer to brown the top I will let you know results.
Jessyca says
Wow～ I made this today as written (added only 1/2 teaspoon of additional yeast), and it's amazing! I loooove the whole wheat flavour in it and I love that it uses sourdough discard!!! It's going to become a go-to!