Garlic Bread Focaccia

This Garlic Bread Focaccia is fluffy on the inside, crunchy and deeply golden on the edges, and doused in melted garlic butter. It’s undoubtedly on of the best things to ever come out of my kitchen. It’s the perfect vehicle for sandwiches, served with soup, dipped in more garlic butter (!!), or just simply eaten on its own. Salty, garlicky, buttery, fluffy, crunchy, golden brown perfection!

When I say this garlic bread focaccia is one of the best things to come out of my kitchen, I mean it. I am a carb-obsessed soul through and through, and this focaccia embodies everything I love and more about bread. There’s garlic, there’s butter, there’s fresh parsley, there’s freshly grated parmigianno reggiano, there’s flaky salt. And best of all, it’s fluffy-on-the-inside, and incredibly crispy-crunchy-golden on the outside. I couldn’t think of a more perfect combination if I tried – this recipe is a MUST make.

If you’re AT ALL intimidated by making homemade bread, let me ease your fears!

This focaccia recipe is a great introduction into bread making, because it’s almost completely hands-off. You make the dough, knead it for 6 minutes either in a stand mixer or by hand, then let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours. It goes through one last rise for 3 hours at room temperature, then you bake it for 20-25 minutes.

No starter required, no fancy ingredients. Just all purpose flour, a little yeast, salt, sugar, and warm water. I’ve made focaccia with 00 flour, and I honestly prefer the all purpose version!

Focaccia is also incredibly fun to make, because you get to use your fingertips to dimple the dough.

There’s something so soothing and therapeutic about it. There’s a lot of olive oil involved also, so it just feels good on your hands. It’s also a rustic recipe, so you really can’t mess it up.

I like to use a metal/aluminum 9×13 baking pan for this recipe – I find it works best. I wouldn’t use glass – the metal pan helps create that crunchy golden brown crust and crispy edges and performs better at the super high heat this is baked at.

All you need for this garlic bread focaccia:

• all-purpose flour
• kosher salt
• active dry yeast
• sugar
• warm water
• extra virgin olive oil
• salted butter
• garlic
• flat leaf parsley
• flaky salt
• parmigiano reggiano

This is also a fantastic “base” recipe for focaccia, if you don’t want to make the garlic butter. It’s phenomenal plain as well.

Here’s a quick rundown on how to make it:

• Activate the yeast. Combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar, and let sit for 10 minutes until the top is foamy. 
• Combine the flour and salt. This can be done in the bowl of your stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl if you don’t have a mixer.
• Make the dough. Add the yeast mixture to the flour/salt mixture, and knead for 6 minutes with the dough hook attachment. Alternately, you can knead the dough by hand on a floured countertop.
• Let dough sit in refrigerator. Transfer the dough to an olive-oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and leave it in the fridge, undisturbed for 24 hours.
• Prep dough for final proof. Add olive oil to your 9×13 pan, then place the dough on top, stretching it out to the edges as well as you can. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 15 minutes, then use your fingertips to stretch the dough the remainder of the way to the edges of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 3 hours.
• Preheat oven to 450℉. Drizzle a couple tablespoons olive oil over the top of the dough, and dimple the top with your fingertips. Sprinkle with a few pinches of flaky salt. Once the oven is preheated, let it sit at 450℉ for a good 5-10 minutes to make sure the oven is screaming hot.
• Bake! Bake the focaccia for 20-25 minutes, or until the top and sides are deeply golden brown.
• Make the garlic butter. While focaccia is baking, make the garlic butter. Melt butter in a small saucepan or skillet, and add the garlic. Sauté for a minute or so, until garlic is fragrant and just starts to turn golden brown. Remove from heat immediately and transfer to a heatproof bowl.
• Top with garlic butter. Pour garlic butter over the baked focaccia and use a silicone pastry brush to make sure butter mixture is evenly distributed over the top. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and finish with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano.
• Cool. Let focaccia cool the remainder of the way on a wire rack to ensure the bottom and sides stay crispy. Or, slice and enjoy warm!

Use it for anything your heart desires. 🙂

If you love this garlic bread focaccia, you will love these recipes:

Fig Olive Rosemary Whole Wheat Focaccia
Pepperoni Pizza with Hot Honey, Ricotta, Olives, and Basil
Mortadella and Stracciatella Sandwich with Arugula Pistachio Pesto
Warm Artichoke Bruschetta
Dill Salmon Salad with Grilled Garlic Bread
Cheesy Bacon Sundried Tomato Spinach Dip with Garlic Bread Dippers
Skillet Chicken with Grapes, Thyme, and Cheesy Herb Garlic Bread
Ricotta Mac and Cheese with Garlic Butter Breadcrumbs
Hidden Zucchini Mac and Cheese with Garlic Brown Butter Breadcrumbs
Green Olive Pasta with Toasted Lemon Breadcrumbs and Herbs

And don’t forget to share a photo on Instagram and tag me @spicesinmydna if you make this recipe! Nothing makes me happier than seeing what you create in the kitchen!

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Garlic Bread Focaccia

This Garlic Bread Focaccia is fluffy on the inside, crunchy and deeply golden on the edges, and doused in melted garlic butter. It's undoubtedly on of the best things to ever come out of my kitchen. It's the perfect vehicle for sandwiches, served with soup, dipped in more garlic butter (!!), or just simply eaten on its own. Salty, garlicky, buttery, fluffy, crunchy, golden brown perfection!

Course Bread, Side, Snack

Cuisine Italian

Keyword focaccia garlic cheese bread, garlic bread focaccia, garlic bread focaccia recipe, garlic bread focaccia recipe easy, garlic butter focaccia recipe, garlic focaccia, garlic focaccia bread recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Resting Time 1 day 4 hours

Servings 10

Author Molly | Spices in My DNA

Ingredients

For the focaccia

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt (yes TABLESPOONS - make sure you are using KOSHER salt, not table salt, and not sea salt)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• flaky sea salt
• chopped flat leaf Italian parsley, for topping
• freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

For the garlic butter

• 4 tablespoons salted butter
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed

Instructions

1. Add warm water to a medium mixing bowl. Add the yeast and sugar and whisk to combine. Let sit for 10 minutes. Top should become foamy.

2. Meanwhile, add the flour and salt to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Whisk to incorporate the salt into the flour. Add the water/yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Knead on low speed for 6 minutes. Dough should be stretchy and should pull away from the sides of the bowl. If you don't have a stand mixer, this can be done by hand.

3. Add dough to a large olive-oiled bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.

4. Remove dough from fridge. Add 1/4 cup olive oil to a 9x13 metal baking pan/cake pan. Spread the oil evenly on the bottom of the pan. Add the dough, stretching it out as much as you can to the edges of the pan. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes. Once 15 minutes has passed, dough should be more malleable. Use your fingertips to stretch the dough out to the edges the rest of the way. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 3 hours.

5. Preheat oven to 450℉. Once oven has preheated, let sit at 450℉ for a good 5-10 minutes to ensure oven is super hot. Remove plastic wrap from pan, and drizzle the top of the dough with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Use your fingertips to create dimples all over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle with a few pinches of flaky sea salt. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until top and sides of the focaccia are deeply golden brown.

6. While focaccia is baking, make the garlic butter. Heat the butter in a small saucepan/skillet over medium to medium-low heat. Add the garlic and sauté for a minute or so, until fragrant and the garlic just begins to turn golden brown. Remove from heat immediately, and transfer to a heatproof bowl.

7. Pour garlic butter all over the top of the focaccia, using a pastry brush to evenly distribute the butter all over the top. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, and finish with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano. Let cool the remainder of the way on a wire rack to keep the sides and bottom crispy, or slice and devour warm!