Rosemary Focaccia Bread Recipe

Perfect Recipe for Stand Mixers!

Of all the Italian breads you can make at home, this Italian Rosemary Focaccia Bread recipe has got to be one of the most rewarding. Fresh focaccia is typically a soft, spongy bread perfect for a scarpetta (sopping up sauce) or sandwiches. This is a classic Focaccia al Rosmarino topped with fresh rosemary!  

In Italy, there are many recipes for focaccia— some tall, some short. Some are full of bubbles and others crispy. This recipe can be made either tall or short simply by using a small vs large tray.

Looking instead for an authentic Focaccia Genovese recipe? Check out our other recipe 🙂

Authentic Focaccia Genovese Recipe
Soft with those lovely fingerprints… It's the authentic Focaccia Genovese recipe from Genoa in the Liguria region of Italy.
Check out this recipe

Or, perhaps a super soft, tall bubbly no-knead focaccia recipe is more your speed. We’ve got that recipe too 🙂

No Knead Focaccia Bread Recipe
This Italian NO KNEAD focaccia bread recipe is to die for! This bread dough— with 85% water— is a HIGH HYDRATION dough that produces a tall, soft focaccia.
Check out this recipe

Watch the Video Recipe!

Watch the video recipe for Italian Rosemary Focaccia on the PIATTO™ Cooking Channel on YouTube! In this video, we demonstrate how to make this Rosemary Focaccia Bread recipe with a stand mixer. We use the stand mixer to both mix and knead the dough!

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How to Rosemary Focaccia Bread: Tips

We highly recommend making a double batch of this bread! It is so delicious, it will disappear quickly and it freezes wonderfully. Plus, if you have a large stand mixer bowl, the stand mixer works best when you make larger batches.

A note about flour: Most all-purpose flour has enough gluten to produce a delicious focaccia using this recipe. However, bread flour —such as the Caputo flour (affiliate link) we often use— will produce the most reliable results.

This bread can be made tall (like this) by using a smaller baking tray.
Or, this focaccia recipe can be made as a shorter bread by stretching the dough in a larger tray.

Recommended Brands

We prefer Caputo flour (affiliate link)— famous in Italy for focaccia bread, bread and pizza. 

Proofing Tips

Use your oven as a proofing box!

Alternatively, turn your oven light on, and let the dough rise in the oven.

If you know how low the temperature of your oven can go, set the temperature to 89° F (32° C) and let the bread dough rise there. You’ll still want to cover it with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel to prevent a skin forming on the dough.

You can use your oven as a proofing box!

Time for a long rise?

If you have plenty of time for a nice long rise, you can add the milk and water as is (cold).

However, we recommend warming these liquids in the microwave for about 10 seconds to bring them to lukewarm temperature. This will give the yeast a boost. 

Optimal temperature for yeast? 100° F (38° C). Hotter water can kill the yeast.


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Rosemary Focaccia Bread Recipe

Of all the Italian breads you can make at home, this Italian Rosemary Focaccia Bread recipe has got to be one of the most rewarding. Fresh focaccia is a soft, spongy bread perfect for a scarpetta (sopping up sauce) or sandwiches. This is the classic Focaccia al Rosmarino topped with fresh rosemary!  
Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean
Diet Vegetarian
Keyword homemade bread
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Rise Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 50 minutes
Servings 8 people
Calories 289kcal

Equipment

  • Stand Mixer (optional)

Ingredients

  • 1 lb flour all-purpose or bread
  • 1 ½ tsp instant yeast fast or quick rise yeast
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 cup water lukewarm
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • ¼ cup olive oil extra virgin
  • 2 ¼ tsp fine salt
  • coarse salt to taste (optional)
  • 2 tbsp fresh rosemary minced

Instructions

Make the Dough

  • Combine the flour, sugar, and instant (‘fast rise’) yeast to the stand mixer bowl. 
    1 lb flour, 1 tbsp granulated sugar, 1 ½ tsp instant yeast
  • Combine the water with whole milk. Bring the liquids to lukewarm temperature. 
    1 cup water, ½ cup whole milk
  • Using the paddle attachment, start the stand mixer on low speed.
    Slowly add the milk/water to the flour mix.
  • Right after the milk/water is added, slowly add olive oil to the dough. Add the salt at this time as well.
    Add 1-2 tablespoons of flour if needed to help the dough integrate the oil. Add the fine salt to the dough.
    ¼ cup olive oil, 2 ¼ tsp fine salt
  • Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook.
  • Knead the dough for 15 minutes on low speed. The dough will be wet and sticky.

First Dough Rise

  • Transfer the dough to a large, well-oiled bowl.
    To form a nice dough ball: Wet your hands with water. Stretch a corner of the dough, then fold it into the center. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat with wet hands. Continue turning, stretching and folding three more times. Flip the dough over. 
  • Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a tea towel. Let the dough rise in a warm or sunny spot for 1-2 hours—or until doubled in size.

Second Dough Rise

  • Transfer the dough to a jelly roll or cake pan covered with oiled parchment paper. Cover your hands in olive oil.
    Stretch the dough by pushing down and out with your fingertips. Stretch from the center out until the dough reaches the edge of the pan.
  • Then, press around the entire surface of the dough with fingertips to create little crevices for oil to pool in. 
  • Cover the pan. Let dough rise for one more hour.
  • Now's the time to add extra olive oil on the top, or any toppings you desire—like rosemary and coarse or flake salt.
    coarse salt, 2 tbsp fresh rosemary

Bake the Focaccia

  • Bake in a pre-heated 350° F (175° C) oven for about 25 minutes.
    For a pan that is larger (40×30 cm or 15"x12") you’ll need 25-30 minutes.
    For a smaller pan (and taller focaccia) you may need 30-35 minutes.

Video

Notes

Pan Sizes and Baking Times
Baking times vary slightly by pan size.
We typically bake our Rosemary Focaccia Bread in a 15″x12″ (40×30 cm) for 25 minutes.
For a pan that is larger, you may need 25-30 minutes.
For a smaller pan (and taller focaccia), you may need 30-35 minutes.
Instant Yeast vs Active Yeast
This recipe calls for instant yeast (sometimes called quick-rise or fast-rise yeast). Instant yeast can be added directly to dry ingredients without being first dissolved and proofed in water.
To use ‘active’ yeast instead, first dissolve the yeast in a bit of lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar. Let it proof alone for 10 minutes before adding it to the rest of the dry ingredients. During this proof, it should begin to foam, which proves it is alive.

Nutrition

Sodium: 664mg | Calcium: 29mg | Vitamin C: 1mg | Vitamin A: 39IU | Sugar: 2g | Fiber: 2g | Potassium: 105mg | Cholesterol: 1mg | Calories: 289kcal | Saturated Fat: 1g | Fat: 8g | Protein: 7g | Carbohydrates: 47g | Iron: 3mg
About the author

Classic recipes from Italy and beyond. Traditional Italian Cooking and Mediterranean Diet recipes!

PIATTO™ Recipes bring traditional Italian food recipes to your table with our tested, step-by-step recipes and videos. You'll find the best Italian recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. Always tested, always delicious.

2 thoughts on “Rosemary Focaccia Bread Recipe”

  1. Oh you forgot to specify when to add the salt in this written version though I saw on your video that you added along with the olive oil to prevent it from inhibiting the yeast.

    Reply

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