Garlic Focaccia Bread

Calling all carb lovers! This hearty, garlic focaccia bread has a crusty outside, tender inside and is loaded with flavor.

I am pretty confident that there is no better smell in the kitchen than that of freshly baked bread.

Unless of course, we are talking about freshly baked bread, sprinkled with rosemary and brushed with garlic oil.

And while making bread from scratch can seem like a daunting process, this easy garlic focaccia bread is anything but. You don’t even have to knead this bread! Let me show you how easy it is to make!

What ingredients do you need for focaccia bread?

WARM WATER: Because you are using yeast, you want to make sure that the water is between 105 to 115 degrees. Any hotter and it will kill the yeast and the dough won’t rise.

SUGAR: Sugar helps feed the yeast so that the dough will rise.

FLOURS: To make this focaccia bread, you will need all purpose flour and bread flour. Bread flour has more protein in it than all purpose flour so it produces a denser crumb. A combination of the two flours, gives you a happy medium: chewy but not too heavy. For a little more info on different flours, check out this handy article from Bon Appetit.

SALT: I like to use a flakier salt like kosher or sea salt.

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL: This recipe requires a lot of oil. You’ll want to use a high quality oil that you really enjoy the flavor of. I personally prefer to use Kalamata Extra Virgin Olive Oil because it’s smooth and less bitter than other olive oils I have tried.

ROSEMARY: Use fresh rosemary leaves, dried won’t work as well in this recipe.

GARLIC: Because you’ll be brushing the garlic oil over the bread, you’ll want to mince it fine.

How do you make easy garlic focaccia bread?

STEP 1: In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine water, yeast and sugar together. Let set 5 minutes, it will start to foam.

STEP 2: Add in all purpose flour, bread flour, 1 tablespoon salt and 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. Turn on mixer and mix on medium speed until a shaggy mass starts to form.

STEP 3: Turn mixer to low and knead for 5 minutes. Turn dough into an oiled bowl. Loosely cover and allow to rise until it doubles in size, about 40 minutes.

STEP 4: Pour 1/4 cup olive oil into a 10 x 15 inch jelly roll pan. Press and stretch dough into the full size of the pan. Use your finger to poke holes into the dough.

STEP 5: Pour the salt brine over the top. The salt water brine helps create the salty crunchy top we all love!

STEP 6: Cover and let the dough rise again for another 30 minutes.

STEP 7: Carefully remove the leaves of rosemary from the sprig and chop. Sprinkle the bread with minced rosemary and 1 teaspoon salt.

STEP 8: Bake in preheated oven 15 – 25 minutes or until top is browned. I baked this bread for about 22.

STEP 9: While bread is cooking make garlic oil by heating oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add in garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

STEP 10: Brush garlic oil over finished bread. Slice and serve.

DES’ TIP: Other garlic focaccia bread recipes will have you put the garlic on before baking but I find it results in overdone (burnt) garlic which is very bitter. Instead with this recipe, garlic oil is made and brushed on after the bread has cooked. All the garlicky flavor, with no bitterness! 

Looking for something to serve along side this Garlic Focaccia Bread? Try these main dish recipes:

Baked Salmon with Capers

Roasted Garlic and Chicken Chowder

Filet Mignon with Peppercorn Sauce

Brine Fried Chicken

Shrimp and Scallop Pasta