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Rosemary Focaccia Bread

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This delicious Rosemary Focaccia Bread recipe is easy to make, and topped with fresh rosemary, olive oil and flaky sea salt.

Rosemary Focaccia Bread Recipe

Meet my all-time favorite focaccia bread recipe. ♡

It was actually one of the very first bread recipes that I learned to make years ago, and still continues to be a fave because it is so simple to make. And most importantly, it’s just so dang good.

It’s perfectly soft and fluffy and satisfyingly chewy. It’s sprinkled with lots of fresh rosemary and crunchy flaky sea salt, and drizzled with extra olive oil just before serving, which soaks perfectly into all of those little classic holes that you have poked in the bread. It’s easy to make by hand, or even easier to make with the help of a stand mixer. It also happens to be naturally vegan, and can be shaped into a free-form round or pressed into a rectangular baking dish. And best of all, it is just the ultimate cozy carbohydrate comfort food. I know you’re going to love it.

Also, if you happen to be new to working with yeast in bread, please don’t let that deter you from making focaccia! This recipe is a great place to begin when working with yeast, and I will walk you through each step of the process so that all of your questions are answered. You’ve got this.

Let’s make some rosemary focaccia!

Fresh Rosemary for Focaccia Bread

Rosemary Focaccia Bread Ingredients:

To make this rosemary focaccia bread recipe (pronounced “foh-kah-chah”, by the way), you will need:

  • Warm water: Since we are working with active dry yeast in this recipe, it’s important that we use warm water to dissolve it. I highly recommend using a cooking thermometer to double-check the temperature of the water if possible. (It should be around 110°F.)
  • Sugar or honey: Whichever you have on hand, to give the bread a hint of sweetness and help to activate the yeast.
  • Active dry yeast: You will need one packet (or 2.25 teaspoons) to make this focaccia bread.
  • Flour: Basic all-purpose flour will be great!
  • Olive oil: Some of which we will mix into the actual bread dough, plus extra for drizzling on top once the focaccia has baked.
  • Flaky sea salt: Some of which we will mix into the actual bread dough, plus extra for sprinkling on top of the dough before baking. If you don’t have flaky sea salt on hand, you can use fine sea salt, but be sure to reduce the amount by half so that the bread isn’t too salty.
  • Fresh rosemary: To sprinkle on top of the dough and add that delicious earthy rosemary flavor. (Feel free to finely chop the fresh rosemary if you would like smaller rosemary sprinkles.)

Easy Focaccia Bread Dough

How To Make Focaccia Bread:

Here are the basic steps to make this rosemary focaccia bread recipe (full instructions included in the recipe below, as always):

  1. Proof the yeast. In the warm water and sugar. (I highly recommend using a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water, so that it is not too hot or too cold.)
  2. Knead the dough*. Gradually add in the flour, olive oil and salt. Then knead for 5 minutes using the dough attachment or a stand mixer, or knead the dough by hand.
  3. First dough rise. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a greased mixing bowl, and cover with a damp towel. Let the dough rest in a warm location for 45-60 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.
  4. Second dough rise.  Shape the dough into a large circle or rectangle until that the dough is about 1/2-inch thick*. Cover and let the dough continue to rise for another 20 minutes.
  5. Prepare the dough. Heat oven to 400°F. Transfer the dough to a large parchment-covered baking sheet (or press it into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish). Use your fingers to poke deep dents — like seriously, poke all the way down until you touch the baking sheet — all over the surface of the dough. Then drizzle a tablespoon or two of olive oil evenly all over the top of the dough, and sprinkle evenly with the fresh rosemary needles and sea salt.
  6. Bake. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the dough is slightly golden and cooked through.
  7. Serve. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with a little more olive oil if desired. Slice, and serve warm.

*If you do not have a stand mixer, no prob! Just complete step 1 in a large mixing bowl. Gradually stir in the flour, olive oil and salt until a shaggy dough begins to form. Then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 5 minutes until smooth, adding extra flour if the dough feels too sticky, and continue on with the recipe as directed.

How To Make Focaccia Bread with Rosemary

Possible Recipe Variations:

Want to customize this recipe? Feel free to…

  • Add garlic. Finely mince and mix a large clove of fresh garlic into the dough to give it some extra garlicky flavor.
  • Add Parmesan. This focaccia would also be delicious with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top!
  • Use different fresh herbs. In place of (or in addition to) the fresh rosemary, feel free to use fresh tarragon or sage.
  • Use dried herbs. If you don’t have fresh herbs on hand, you are welcome to use dried herbs instead (such as dried rosemary or Italian seasoning). If you use dried herbs, I recommend kneading them into the dough itself rather than sprinkling them on top so that they do not burn in the oven.

Focaccia Recipe

More Favorite Bread Recipes:

Interested in doing some more bread-baking? Here are a few of my favorite easy bread recipes on the blog:

Easy Focaccia Bread Recipe

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Rosemary Focaccia Bread Recipe

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 408 reviews
  • Prep Time: 75 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 95 minutes
  • Yield: 8 -12 servings 1x

Description

This Rosemary Focaccia Bread recipe is ultra-comforting and delicious, and kicked up a notch with the addition of lots of fresh rosemary and flaked sea salt.  See optional instructions below for how to mix the dough by hand if you do not have a stand mixer.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/3 cup warm water (about 110°F)
  • 2 teaspoons sugar or honey
  • 1 (0.25 ounce) package active-dry yeast
  • 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • 2 teaspoons flaky sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling*
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Instructions

  1. Proof the yeast. Add warm water (about 110°F, which you can measure with a thermometer if you want to be sure it’s the right temp) and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough attachment, and stir to combine.  Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water.  Give the yeast a quick stir to mix it in with the water.  Then let it sit for 5-10 minute until the yeast is foamy.
  2. Knead the dough.  (See alterate instructions below to knead by hand.) Set the mixer to low speed, and add gradually flour, olive oil and salt.  Increase speed to medium-low, and continue mixing the dough for 5 minutes.  (If the dough is too sticky and isn’t pulling away from the sides of the bowl, add in an extra 1/4 cup flour while it is mixing.)
  3. First dough rise. Remove dough from the mixing bowl, and use your hands to shape it into a ball.  Grease the mixing bowl (or a separate bowl) with olive oil or cooking spray, then place the dough ball back in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel.  Place in a warm location (I set mine by a sunny window) and let the dough rise for 45-60 minutes, or until it has nearly doubled in size.
  4. Second dough rise.  Turn the dough onto a floured surface, and roll it out into a large circle or rectangle until that the dough is about 1/2-inch thick*.  Cover the dough again with the damp towel, and let the dough continue to rise for another 20 minutes.
  5. Prepare the dough. Preheat oven to 400°F. Transfer the dough to a large parchment-covered baking sheet (or press it into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish).  Use your fingers to poke deep dents (seriously, poke all the way down to the baking sheet!) all over the surface of the dough.  Drizzle a tablespoon or two of olive oil evenly all over the top of the dough, and sprinkle evenly with the fresh rosemary needles and sea salt.
  6. Bake. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the dough is slightly golden and cooked through.
  7. Serve. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with a little more olive oil if desired. Slice, and serve warm.

Notes

Flaky vs. fine sea salt: If you do not have flaky sea salt on hand, no worries, you can definitely sub in fine sea salt.  Just be sure to use about half the amount of salt (if using fine sea salt) so that the bread is not too salty.

To knead the dough by hand: Complete step 1 in a large mixing bowl.  Gradually stir in the flour, olive oil and salt until a shaggy dough begins to form.  Then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 5 minutes until smooth, adding extra flour if the dough feels too sticky.  Continue on with the recipe as directed.

Bread thickness: I like my focaccia to be a bit on the thicker side.  But if you prefer yours thinner, just roll it out a little more.  It will rise up considerably while baking.

 

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Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

733 comments on “Rosemary Focaccia Bread”

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  1. Just made this! So delicious! Thanks for this recipe.






  2. My rosemary does not stick to the bread. Is there a trick?

    • Combine rosemary, olive oil, oregano, garlic, salt all in 1/4 of olive oil. 1) dip fingers into mixture to dimple bread 2) pour the rest over the bread. Herbs will stick beautifully. (Taught by my Italian Grandmother) ;)

  3. Instructions resulted in great textured bread! However, besides the salt it’s nearly tasteless. The rosemary sprinkled on top just falls off. Why not mix in with the dough and use a little more as garnish? Hence the four stars. You can’t have “Rosemary” in the title when the rosemary is not there ;)






  4. This was so good! My kids and husband loved it!
    My tips (as a very novice bread maker): I had to add an extra ½ cup of flour because it was too tacky and think my second rise should have been in the rectangular pan- the transfer completely deflated it, so I gave it a short 3rd rise. You should be fine if you use the same pan. It still came out wonderful.
    We served it with chicken noodle soup and I will definitely be making it again.






  5. Oh jeeze I don’t think anyone will see this BUT when I roll out the dough into the rectangular shape and then put the towel on top for the second proving process, am I putting the towel ON TOP of the dough? Or is the dough now inside a baking dish and the towel is on top of that?

    • Yes, on top of the dough in the pan.

    • This was my first time making this recipe. I found the second proofing instructions to be somewhat confusing as well. I think because I followed the instructions to the tee, my bread didn’t turn out as I’d have liked. I should have done the 2nd proof in the oil lined pans.. Because I had to move the dough for a second time, mine deflated somewhat.. The bread did look beautiful once baked. Just not enough flavor.






    • You can put plastic wrap over the dough, then the towel!

  6. I absolutely LOVE this recipe!! I make this bread once or twice a week! Super easy no fail recipe.
    I am making a loaf for my Thanksgiving stuffing…so excited!!

  7. Nice simple recipe. I haven’t made bread in years, so was a little nervous, but it this was foolproof. Like some others, I skipped the rolling step and just spread the dough in the pan to do the second rise. Brushed with garlic infused olive oil with a sprinkling of Italian seasoning, Cooked quite a bit longer than suggested, about 27 mins or so.






  8. I made this today. It makes a ginormous loaf. It was a foot across and I didn’t know if that was right. It’s so good. I could probably do with more salt in the dough. I maybe didn’t make enough holes. I was successful, however, in making a yeast bread that came out perfect. It’s always been a fear of mine. It was super easy with a food thermometer and my Kitchen aid mixer. We ate this with French Onion soup, combining two nations in one dinner. Thanks so much!

  9. Tip:

    Infuse the oil with rosemary by heating it on very low heat for 10 minutes. The flavour is great!

    (Don’t heat it too high though. You’re not frying the rosemary)

  10. I’ve made this bread twice now and I love it!! Great recipe.






  11. This recipe is my “go to” not only for focaccia but dinner rolls as well. It’s easy. The directions and measurements are no fail especially using my kitchenaide mixer with dough hook. And I’m at almost 6000 ft elevation, in dry air at the foot of the Rockies. Thank you!






  12. I make this often, and it comes out great every time.






  13. We do not have sea salt, will kosher salt or table salt work?






  14. This was more of a sandwich bread than a focaccia. The texture inside was like regular bread, not chewy nor did it have any holes. It was easy for sure, but not a focaccia.






  15. If people want more flavour, why not add some grated parmesan, romano, asiago cheeses? Can also top this before baking with some cooked mushrooms, sautéed spinach & garlic, sun dried tomatoes, fresh oregano and / or basil etc.

    Get creative based on what you have in your own kitchen. It’s a very basic recipe, which can obviously be built on. Food is meant to be played with.

  16. i played fast as loose with the rising times and it still turned out great! I did a balsamic glaze.






  17. I made this for a Super Bowl party. I made a bell pepper arrow head and KC in the middle. I thought it only appropriate that I use your recipe for this event! The recipe was shared multiple times. ❤️💛❤️💛






  18. Outstanding recipe just the way it’s written! I add a teaspoon of ground rosemary and it takes it to the next level!






  19. I’ve tried several foccacia recipes and they were all fine, but this one is AMAZING. It has the soft, almost cake-like texture I’ve searched for, and it is so quick and easy to make! No overnight rise needed, even with plain old active dry yeast. I have now made this weekly for a month and I see no reason to stop. Also: I highly recommend using truffle-infused oil for the drizzle.






  20. I’m a beginner in the kitchen and this was so easy to make and delicious.






  21. I’ve tried so many focaccia recipes over the years, but not one has turned out as beautifully as this. Thank you!I will certainly make this focaccia time and again.






  22. Delicious 😋
    When making the dough, I add a pinch of dried rosemary in with the flour.
    On top of that, instead of just drizzling the olive oil on top with rosemary, I heat up some olive oil in a pan then add some roughly chopped garlic, fresh rosemary, and a little fresh oregano, I use the infused oil (as well as a hefty pinch of flaky salt) and it’s totallyyy yummy! Thanks for the recipe, I’ve made it several times and everyone loves it!! 😁






  23. I just made this yesterday. It was a nice warm day so I left it in the sun outside to proof. Rose beautifully. I followed steps through 2nd rise but added a 3rd 20 minute covered rise in the pan. It is delish. Texture good but I want more holes in the dough. How do I achieve this. Best recipe. Thank you!

  24. I’ve made this several times and it is excellent! I use this bread proofing trick of putting 3-4 cups of boiling water, in a dish in the bottom rack of the oven (oven is off) as a warm area for the yeast to proof and for the two rises. I live in Canada so it is usually too cold and dry in my kitchen to do it without. I also like to roll it a little thinner and cut it into toaster sized pieces and freeze those and then use the toaster to defrost and crisp them up. Yumm!






  25. I made this today. I have never made focaccia bread before. I used the recipe for the bread, but I topped mine with garlic powder & Asiago. The entire family loved it. I used this bread to make paninis. Hubby said I cannot buy the bread from the restaurant any more. Thank you for sharing.






  26. This was super easy to make and came out delicious. I wouldn’t change a thing!






  27. Hi, this is my go to recipe for focaccia. I’ve made it so many times. My family absolutely loves it. I had a question. Can I make the dough , leave it in the fridge overnight, do the proofing and baking next day? Please reply soon.

  28. AMAZING recipe! I have never made such an easy and good focaccia recipe. I did read the comments before making and I decided to amp up the flavors…I used beer instead of water (added a good “hoppy/yeasty” flavor and added a tad more salt to the recipe. I will never make another focaccia bread recipe! Everyone loved it!






  29. Very good recipe. I am so glad you shared it with all of us. Very simple recipe to follow and such good results. It’s good to eat as is or I have used the focaccia bread for making homemade pizza. I love the fluffy pillowy dough. It can be used in a variety of ways. Thanks so much.