The Best Sourdough Focaccia Recipe

This combination of textures in this sourdough focaccia comes from an airy sourdough-leavened dough that’s coated in a generous amount of olive oil. While it bakes, this olive oil crisps up the outside of the dough. This gives the best crispy crust which contrasts so well with the airy interior and chewy crumb.

Like most of my sourdough recipes, I spread the process over two days to give the dough a cold rest in the fridge overnight. This brings much more flavor and texture to the bread.

Equipment

There isn’t a mixer needed for this recipe as it’s easily stretched and folded by hand.

You will need a baking pan or a cast-iron skillet to bake the focaccia bread in. This recipe is using 9x13inch USA metal baking pan.

Baker’s schedule

More details are in the recipe card below along with the final recipe and ingredients but here is an outline of the timings. They are flexible to fit around your schedule, so tweak if you need to to find what works.

Day 1. This is the feeding of the starter and the mixing and stretching of the dough in a large bowl. The dough then goes in the refrigerator for a long cold-proof overnight. This cold-proof part is important for flavour.

Day 2. The cold dough is pressed into a pan along with a few tablespoons of olive oil. It is then left to rise and become puffy. Afterwards, it’s topped with flaky salt, herbs, and olives, and baked.

The sourdough starter

You need an active starter for this sourdough focaccia bread.

I use a ratio of 1:2:2 to feed my sourdough starter in preparation for the dough. That means 1 part starter, 2 parts flour, and 2 parts water, all measured in weight.

For this bread, I measured out 25g starter, 50g flour, and 50g water. Use the starter when it has at least doubled but before it collapses for the best result.

In the morning or the evening before, feed your sourdough starter. Let it rise until doubled in size. 

In a large bowl, add water, sourdough starter, flour and salt. Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to combine it all together into a wet and shaggy dough.

Over a period of 2 hours, perform 4 sets of stretch and folds, one every 30 minutes.

In each set, stretch and fold the dough over 4-5 times, turning the bowl each turn.

The first set of folds will be very messy and the dough will tear. As time passes, the dough will become more and more elastic.

Each time the dough sits, cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel to stop the top of the dough from drying out.

Bulk fermenting

After the final stretch and fold the dough rise at room temperature around for 2-4 hours. There should be signs of bulk fermentation happening in the dough with many bubbles appearing.

This depends on the temperature of your kitchen. A cooler kitchen will the dough to sit a bit longer, or you can create a warm spot by placing a mug of boiled water in a turned-off oven.

Transfer the dough to an airtight container or cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place it in the fridge overnight, or for up to 36 hours for an extra-long ferment. It can be in the fridge for a long time if that suits your schedule. The yeast fermentation process is slowed in cool temperatures, but the bacteria get to work and bring the flavour.

Shaping

Drizzle the bottom of the baking tray with a generous amount of olive oil. You can line the pan with parchment paper as well if you think your pan might stick. Transfer the cold dough to the oiled pan.

Leave it to sit and rest for 10 minutes, then oil your fingers and press your fingertips into the dough to spread the dough out into the pan. If the dough resists stretching out, give it a rest and try again in a few minutes.

Let the focaccia dough rise in a warm place until it is jiggly and puffy. This can take anywhere between 3-5 hours depending on the room temperature.

Cover the dough at this point or, brush it with extra virgin olive oil to stop the top of the dough from drying out.

Dimpling and topping

Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C.

Drizzle a little olive oil over the surface of the dough, then use oiled fingers to create deep dimples on the top of the focaccia dough, pushing all the way down.

Do this all over the entire surface. 

Baking

Bake the focaccia for around 25-30 minutes until puffed and deep golden brown and the bread pulls away from the edges of the baking dish. If the top start browning too much, loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil.

Remove it from the oven and let it sit for 3-4 minutes. Carefully remove it from the pan then let it cool further on a wire cooling rack before serving.