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A classic Rosemary Focaccia Bread made with simple pantry ingredients. This traditional Italian focaccia is absolutely delicious served as it is or can be used to make sandwiches, dunk into a hot bowl of soup or get adventurous and try out different toppings.
Rosemary focaccia is one of my favourite Italian breads.
It’s crispy but light, salty with peppery olive oil and just tastes delicious especially when it’s still warm.
If it’s your first time making rosemary focaccia then don’t worry it’s much easier than you may think.
Focaccia is made with a yeast dough that’s left to rise twice (once in a bowl and once in the baking tray).
Fresh rosemary, sea salt, and olive oil is a classic flavour combination but when it comes to toppings the list is endless. You can even make Focaccia Pizza topped with tomato and mozzarella, delicious!
What You Need to Make Rosemary Focaccia
- 00 Flour (or strong bread flour)
- fast-action yeast
- sugar
- Sea salt flakes
- Olive oil
- Warm water
How to make Rosemary Focaccia – Step By Step
First, add the flour to a large mixing bowl.
Make a well in the middle of the bowl then pour the yeast and sugar in the middle (photo 1).
Make sure to place the salt at one side away from the yeast.
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItPour the water and olive oil into the middle of the well and using a wooden spoon or spatula mix everything together (photo 3).
Once the dough comes together tip it out onto a clean work surface lightly dusted with flour.
Knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and springy (press your finger lightly into the dough and if it springs back it’s ready) (photo 4-5).
Clean and dry the mixing bowl then lightly coat it in olive oil.
Place the ball of dough in the bowl and lightly rub the top of it with olive oil.
Cover with plastic wrap or cling film and place in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size (not hot and not in direct sunlight).
Once the dough has doubled in size remove it and cut it in half.
Place the dough in two separate oiled baking trays and spread it out to fit the trays. If you only want to make one then you can freeze the other half (photo 7).
Let the dough rise in the trays for another hour or more.
When ready to bake use your fingers to make dimples over the dough, sprinkle over fresh rosemary, sea salt flakes and olive oil (photo 8).
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and baked through.
Different Focaccia Toppings to Try;
- Mozzarella – (this post originally included mozzarella but I thought it would be best to post the original, classic recipe and give optional toppings).
- Tomato sauce – top this focaccia with our Authentic Italian Tomato Sauce it’s absolutely delicious and another very popular option in Italy.
- Caramelised onions – perfect for an umami hit
- Veggies – Mushrooms, bell peppers or other veggies you like
- Different cheeses – taleggio and stracchino are great options
Can You Make Rosemary Focaccia in a KitchenAid or Stand Mixer?
Yes, you absolutely can but I always recommend making it from hand if it’s your first time.
I always know the dough is ready because of how it feels (soft and springy) so if you’re not used to making focaccia I recommend doing it by hand first to get used to it.
To make the dough in a stand mixer make sure to use a dough hook and knead the dough for around 5 minutes until soft and smooth.
Top Tip: to test the dough is ready lightly push your finger into the dough and if it springs back it’s ready.
How to Freeze Focaccia
You can freeze baked rosemary focaccia in individual portions then thaw as needed and reheat.
You can also freeze the focaccia dough before baking in portion sizes (usually in two as this make two large focaccia breads).
Thaw before baking then bake as instructed in the recipe card below
Top tips for making this recipe
- If you don’t have type 00 flour you can use strong bread flour.
- Make sure not to place the salt directly on top of the yeast as it can kill it and prevent the dough from rising so well.
- Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil for making the focaccia and drizzling on top.
- Let the rosemary focaccia cool for around 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
- To use it as a sandwich simply cut in half.
- You can also make the focaccia in a round or square tray if you prefer.
More Italian snacks you might like:
- La Piadina: Italian Flatbread
- Gnocco Fritto (Italian Fried Dough)
- Cecina Toscana Tuscan Chickpea Flatbread
- Bagna Cauda Recipe (Anchovy, Garlic & Butter Dip)
- Easy Marinated Olives – Ready In 5 Minutes
- Fried Sausage Stuffed Olives – Delicious And Crispy
If you’ve tried this Rosemary Focaccia or any other recipe on the blog please let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Rosemary Focaccia Bread
Ingredients
For the dough
- ~4 cups 00 flour plus extra for dusting, (500g)
- 1 1/3 cups + 1 tbsp warm water, (320ml)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- ~2 tsp fast action dried yeast, (7g)
- 1 tsp salt
For the topping
- 1-2 large sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- sea salt flakes
Instructions
- First, add the flour to a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the bowl then pour the yeast and sugar in the middle. Make sure to place the salt at one side away from the yeast.
- Pour the water and olive oil into the middle of the well and using a wooden spoon or spatula mix everything together. Once the dough comes together tip it out onto a clean work surface lightly dusted with flour.
- Knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and springy (press your finger lightly into the dough and if it springs back it's ready).
- Clean and dry the mixing bowl then lightly coat it in olive oil. Place the ball of dough in the bowl and lightly rub the top of it with olive oil.
- Cover with plastic wrap or cling film and place in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size (not hot and not in direct sunlight).
- Once the dough has doubled in size remove it and cut it in half. Place the dough in two separate oiled baking trays (I used 10x15inch) and spread it out to fit the trays. If you only want to make one then you can freeze the other half.
- Let the dough rise in the trays for another hour or more.
- Preheat the oven to 230C (450F) or your hottest setting. When ready to bake use your fingers to make dimples over the dough, sprinkle over fresh rosemary, sea salt flakes and olive oil.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and baked through.
Notes
- If you don’t have type 00 flour you can use strong bread flour.
- Make sure not to place the salt directly on top of the yeast as it can kill it and prevent the dough from rising so well.
- Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil for making the focaccia and drizzling on top.
- Let the rosemary focaccia cool for around 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
- To use it as a sandwich simply cut in half.
- You can also make the focaccia in a round or square tray if you prefer.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great recipe, I’ve always failed at focaccia until I found this. So simple and better than any focaccia I’ve ever tasted.
Thank you!! 🙂 x
Aw, thank you so much that’s great to hear!
Hi, can I use active dry yeast in this recipe? How would it change the bake/prove time if I used it?
Yes, you can use active dry yeast and you won’t need to change any prove/baking times 🙂
Excellent recipe. I added a couple extra Tbs of water as I thought the hydration was off slightly. I gave the final rise in two 9” Chicago deep dish pans. I roasted whole garlic earlier in the day and saturated some Calabrian Oregano in some olive oil. I brushed that over the top, inserted the garlic in the holes and used a bit of olive oil and flaked sea salt. My oven temp was higher at 500 and it was done in 15 minutes. My guests thought it was amazing served with some herb dipping oil. Will do this one again and again! Thank you.
perfect recipe and so right… all of a sudden you can feel the dough become soft smooth and springy when you do it by hand. I divided it rather poorly – so it didn’t fill a pan or i didn’t stretch it out far enough. Nonetheless everyone still enjoyed it. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe.
Hi Laurie, thanks so much for your comment, I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe!
This post is so aptly timed … I made two batches of focaccia this week from reputable recipes and they both failed. One had a poolish (a kind of starter) and it was loose like slime. The other never rose. I’m making yours!!! Wish me luck..
I love that you have kept this nice and simple and easy!! That is what makes it so good. There as so many way delicious ways to serve this. Can’t wait to try it.
OMG I am such a bread lover. This is right up my alley. I think I need to make some this weekend.
This focaccia is dangerously delicious, I could eat it all by myself in one sitting. Great recipe, Emily!
What a delicious recipe! This was way easier than I thought it would be to make and so tasty!
If I wanted to make this into a breakfast casserole, would I bake it for ten minutes and then add the egg mixture or should I put the egg mixture on the dough like I would a pizza?
Hi Nicole, I’ve never made a breakfast casserole before and I’m really not familiar with them so I wouldn’t know the answer, sorry. If you happen to use the recipe then let me know how you get on.