Easy Rosemary Focaccia Bread

This Easy Rosemary Focaccia Bread Recipe is super simple and ready in less than 2 hours. Topped with fresh rosemary, olive oil, and salt, it’s a great recipe to share at gatherings or on an intimate romantic evening.

If there is one food I like to make for a party or gathering, is this Easy Rosemary Focaccia Bread. 

This focaccia is crispy, but soft in the middle, and has a subtle rosemary and olive oil flavor, so it doesn’t feel bland if you serve it on your own. But try pairing it with a tomato salad, or a charcuterie board, and it’s a great and satisfying side dish.

But we like to eat it as it is best – we just dip it into high-quality olive oil and some extra salt, and we’re happy.

If you’re an omnivore, this focaccia goes great with cheese and prosciutto, as well.

Focaccia ingredients

To make this super simple focaccia happen, you will only need 5 basic ingredients:

• active dry yeast
• water
• flour, all-purpose works great here
• salt
• olive oil, do not substitute for other oils, as then the focaccia will not taste right. We need good quality olive oil here to add a distinct focaccia flavor.

You will knead these ingredients into the focaccia dough (see below or recipe for instructions). Then, we’ll need some more ingredients to add flavor.

Other ingredients:

• more olive oil, we will drizzle the olive oil on top of the focaccia as soon as it is out of the oven. This is important, as the hot bread will soak up the flavorful olive oil and all kinds of magic will happen. Trust us.
• fresh rosemary is critical to the final taste. We will dip the rosemary into the olive oil for a few minutes, and then sprinkle it on top of the focaccia before baking. This will add a subtle rosemary flavor to the baked dough and it will taste amazing. If you do not like rosemary, you could substitute it with other herbs, such as fresh basil, oregano, or thyme, or even other ingredients, like cherry tomatoes, onion, peppers, olives, or others.
• flaky salt, we will add this on top of the focaccia for extra flavor and saltiness. You can use regular table salt instead.
• cornmeal will be used for dusting the baking pan. This will add extra flavor and crispiness to the bottom of the focaccia, plus you do not need to grease the pan to prevent stickiness. You could alternatively grease your pan (but the focaccia has enough oil as it is), or use parchment paper, but do trust on this one, and use cornmeal instead.

How to make this Easy Rosemary Focaccia Bread

Making this focaccia bread is as simple as making any other easy type of bread, and it only takes about 2 hours.

You start by mixing your active dry yeast with lukewarm water and a bit of flour. The flour will be food for the yeast (they love carbohydrates) and will help activate the yeast faster. Stir and let sit covered for 10 minutes or so, until the mixture is foamy and bubbly.

Alternatively, you could add the yeast and water directly into the flour, without activating the yeast, but I find it takes longer for the dough to rise (up to 2 hours), and we want it to be done quickly.

Once your yeast is ready, add it to your flour, along with a pinch of salt and 1 tbsp of olive oil. 

Stir to combine, then transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until the dough is elastic and shiny.

Proof and shape the dough

When your dough is ready, cover it up (I like to just let it sit on the counter and cover it with a bowl turned upside-down), and let it rest for about 40 minutes. During this time the dough will rise to about double the size.

After the dough has risen and doubled in size, shape it into a rectangle. Don’t knead the dough, and be gentle with it.

Now, dust your baking pan with cornmeal, then place the dough on top. Press your fingers in the dough all over it to create dimples in the dough. Then, drizzle it with olive oil, cover the pan, and let rest for another 45 minutes.

To cover the focaccia I like to use plastic wrap, as it keeps the dough from drying up, but you can also use a damp kitchen towel or a beeswax wrap.

Bake the focaccia

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 390°F. Once the oven is hot, top the risen dough with some rosemary sprigs that you dipped into olive oil, and sprinkle lightly with flaky salt.

Place the baking pan into the preheated oven and let bake for about 20-25 minutes at 200°C / 390°F until the focaccia is baked and golden in color.

Remove it from the oven, immediately drizzle with more olive oil and let rest in the pan for 10 minutes before serving.

Serving

This focaccia is good to serve warm out of the pan, or at room temperature. The focaccia will harden as it cools.

The focaccia tastes great on its own, with maybe extra salt and olive oil for dipping. But do try it as a side to a tomato salad, as a vessel for your dips, or as part of your charcuterie board.

Storage

Store in an air-tight container or zip lock bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. But you will probably eat it up sooner, as it is that good! 

We also have a cherry tomato focaccia recipe that we’re sure you’ll like!

This recipe is brought to you in collaboration with Hofer Slovenija.