Sourdough Discard Focaccia with Rosemary

The only homemade focaccia recipe you will ever need! This sourdough discard focaccia is soft & chewy, bakes up beautifully with a crispy golden brown crust, and the discard adds complex flavor. If you plan ahead, you can do the chilling stage overnight and bake your focaccia in the morning. And no shaping or Dutch oven is needed, just a stand mixer and your hands!

There is something uniquely enjoyable about making homemade focaccia. Maybe it's because you get to handle the bubbly dough so much, slathering it with olive oil and creating dimples and pockets, but it's also hard to mess up this easy focaccia recipe.

Sourdough discard focaccia has a light and fluffy dough with a crunchy, golden brown crust that's been speckled with rosemary, olive oil, and flaky sea salt. The olive oil pools in the crevices and creates a crispy crust. I promise you, it's worth the effort.

⭐️ Why This Focaccia Is The Best

• Fluffy and chewy on the inside while being crisp and crunchy on the outside, thanks to lots of olive oil. The sourdough discard gives it added complexity that you will love.
• Fresh rosemary adds herby aromatics and flaky sea salt adds a salty crunch.
• Make in advance instructions provided. Plan ahead to prep your sourdough focaccia overnight to bake in the morning.
• Easy sourdough discard focaccia recipe. Although this focaccia does take some time, I promise it's worth it. If you plan ahead, you can do the chilling stage overnight and bake your focaccia in the morning. And no shaping or Dutch oven is needed, just a stand mixer and your hands!
• Versatile Italian yeast bread. You can eat your gourmet focaccia as a snack, side accompaniment to your favorite entree, or use it to make a focaccia sandwich or a meatball sub using my impossible burger meatballs.
• Freezer-friendly focaccia bread recipe. This delicious bread freezes beautifully so you can enjoy it for months!

💬 What is Sourdough Discard Focaccia?

Focaccia with sourdough discard is very similar to "regular" focaccia, which is an Italian flatbread made with yeast and seasoned with olive oil, salt, and herbs.

It has a light and fluffy dough with a crunchy, golden brown crust.

The main difference with this focaccia bread recipe is that we incorporate 1 cup of sourdough discard to add a slightly tangy sourdough flavor. But because it's not active sourdough starter, we still use yeast in this recipe.

🌾 Ingredient Notes

• Bread flour - Has a large amount of gluten, which creates a chewier texture. Use it to make ciabatta sandwich rolls!
• Sourdough starter discard - Adds a tangy and more nuanced flavor, but because it's not active starter and has no leavening properties, it is NOT our leavener here. For more sourdough discard recipes, try my sourdough cornbread, sourdough naan, and sourdough scones.
• Active dry yeast - Acts as the leavener for this recipe.
• Extra-virgin olive oil - Use a good-quality olive oil here, as it is a prominent flavor in focaccia.
• Rosemary - Provides fresh herby flavor.
• Flaky sea salt - Adds a lovely salty crunch to the top of our focaccia.

📝 Focaccia Flavor Variations & Substitutions

• Herbs. Substitute the rosemary for your favorite herbs, like basil, thyme, or parsley.
• Skip the sourdough discard. Technically, it won't be sourdough, but it will still be delicious! Just increase your bread flour measurement to 6 ¼ cups and your water measurement to 3 cups.
• Add toppings. Add ½ cup of your favorite toppings for added flavor, like chopped garlic, cherry tomatoes, sliced olives, or caramelized onions.

🔪 How To Make Sourdough Discard Focaccia

*Printable instructions are in the recipe card below.

First, combine your flour, water and discard in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Once a shaggy dough is formed, cover this for a few minutes while you prepare the yeast mixture.

Next, stir yeast, sugar, and warm water in a small bowl and let this sit for about 5 minutes. You then add this mixture to your dough and combine until the dough becomes super elastic and sticky.

Next step is to coat a large bowl with oil, and transfer dough into the bowl. You will then cover this and place in a warm spot until the dough is doubled in volume, about 2-3 hours. This is the first rise.

Once your dough has doubled in size, you will oil a large baking sheet. Now it's time to deflate your fluffy dough (this is good!) by folding it a few times.

After transferring it to the baking sheet, you will let it rest for 10 minutes.

Now we go in with oiled hands and gently stretch our dough to the sides of the baking sheet. And then it's time to chill it for at least 8 hours (and up to 24).

After chilling for a bit, you will let the sheet pan sit in a warm spot to reactivate the dough, for about 1 hour.

Now we get to play with our dough! Generously oil hands and drizzle more oil onto dough. Press your fingertips firmly into the dough, creating dimples all over, and then sprinkle with rosemary and flaky sea salt.

Bake your focaccia sourdough until the surface is a deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

👩🏼‍🍳 Expert Tips

• Plan ahead. The final step of resting your dough takes a minimum of 8 hours, so plan accordingly. If you plan ahead, you can do this step overnight and bake your focaccia in the morning.
• Don’t be afraid of the amount of olive oil used in this recipe; I promise it needs it! If you cut back on the oil, your focaccia will be too dry.
• Be patient. When resting the dough to let it double in size, be sure to let it do its thing. If the dough takes a bit longer, try to not rush the process.
• Use a high-quality olive oil. Focaccia is a very olive oil-forward bread, so we want to use a good olive oil when making it.
• How to store focaccia: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Because it's made with olive oil, it gets better with age!
• How to freeze: Wrap slices in foil and place in a freezer bag. Store in the freezer (it freezes very well!) for up to 3 months. To thaw, place it in the fridge overnight.

🍽 How to Serve Focaccia

There are endless ways to serve focaccia! Here are some suggestions:

• While it's still warm, dunk slices of focaccia into a bowl of San Marzano tomato sauce as a snack
• Toast focaccia and use as sandwich bread for your favorite sandwiches, like garlic bread grilled cheese
• Serve as an accompaniment to soups and salads, like apple salad and white bean chili
• Use it as pizza dough to make flatbread pizza
• It makes for excellent bruschetta on a hot summer day!

💬 Frequently Asked Questions

🥖 More Bread Recipes

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Sourdough Discard Focaccia Recipe

Author: MaryAnne

The only homemade focaccia recipe you will ever need! This sourdough discard focaccia with rosemary bakes up beautifully with a crispy golden brown crust, and the discard adds complex flavor. If you plan ahead, you can do the chilling stage overnight and bake your focaccia in the morning.

5 from 13 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Resting Time 10 hours hrs

Total Time 10 hours hrs 50 minutes mins

Course Bread

Cuisine Italian

Servings 12 slices

Calories 256 kcal

Equipment

• ▢
  1 stand mixer

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 5 ¾ cups bread flour
• ▢ 2 ½ cups water, divided
• ▢ 1 cup sourdough discard***
• ▢ 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (from one ¼-oz. packet)
• ▢ pinch of sugar
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon sea salt
• ▢ 5 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (divided, plus more for greasing and drizzling)
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons rosemary, roughly chopped
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon flaky sea salt

Instructions

 

• Combine flour, 2 cups room-temperature water, and sourdough discard in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Mix on low speed, scraping down sides and hook as needed to incorporate any dry flour, until a shaggy dough forms.
• Remove dough hook and cover bowl with plastic. Let sit while you prepare the yeast (you can leave the dough in this state up to 2 hours).
• Stir yeast, sugar, and ½ cup warm water with a fork in a small bowl to dissolve. Let sit until yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Pour yeast mixture into stand mixer bowl and mix on low speed until dough absorbs all additional water, about 1 minute (mixing on low speed will prevent liquid from splashing over the sides). Add sea salt and continue to mix, increasing speed to medium, until dough is extremely elastic and very sticky (it will look more like a thick batter and will start to slap sides of bowl), about 5 minutes.
• Pour 3 Tbsp. oil into a large bowl and swirl to coat sides. Scrape in dough with a large spatula or flexible bench scraper. Cover and place in a warm spot until dough is doubled in volume, 2–3 hours.
• Drizzle 2 Tbsp. oil over a baking sheet and use a pastry brush or your fingertips to rub all over bottom and sides. Using a large spatula or flexible bench scraper, fold dough inside bowl a couple of times to deflate, then scrape onto prepared baking sheet. Using oiled hands, lift up dough and fold over onto itself in half, then rotate baking sheet 90° and fold in half again. Cover dough with a piece of well-oiled plastic and let rest 10 minutes to let gluten relax.
• Uncover and go back in with oiled hands, gently stretching dough (to avoid tearing) across length and width of baking sheet in an even layer, working all the way to edges and into corners. If dough starts to spring back, let sit 5–10 minutes and start again. Cover again with same piece of oiled plastic and chill at least 8 hours and up to 24.
• Let sheet pan sit in a warm spot until dough is puffed and bubbly and nearly doubled in height, 45–65 minutes. Meanwhile, place a rack in center of oven; preheat to 450°.
• Remove plastic and drizzle dough generously with more oil. Oil hands again and press fingertips firmly into dough, pushing down all the way to bottom of pan to dimple all over. Sprinkle with rosemary and flaky sea salt.
• Bake focaccia until surface is deep golden brown all over, 25–35 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes. Slide a thin metal spatula underneath focaccia to loosen from sheet pan (it may stick in a couple of places, so really use those muscles) and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely before cutting as desired.
• Tightly wrap in plastic and store at room temperature.

Video

Notes

• ***If not using discard, simply add ½ cup flour and ½ cup water to mixture to replace discard.
• Plan ahead. The final step of resting your dough takes a minimum of 8 hours, so plan accordingly. If you plan ahead, you can do this step overnight and bake your focaccia in the morning.
• Don’t be afraid of the amount of olive oil used in this recipe; I promise it needs it! If you cut back on the oil, your focaccia will be too dry.
• Be patient. When resting the dough to let it double in size, be sure to let it do its thing. If the dough takes a bit longer, try to not rush the process.
• How to store: Store your focaccia in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Because it's made with olive oil, it gets better with age!
• How to freeze: Wrap focaccia slices in foil and place in a freezer bag. Store in the freezer (it freezes very well!) for up to 3 months.
• Recipe adapted from bon appétit.

Nutrition

Calories: 256kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 8gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gSodium: 1165mgPotassium: 85mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 12IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 15mgIron: 1mg

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