Description
This Garlic Bread Focaccia is a delightfully soft and flavorful Italian bread, enhanced with rich garlic butter, fresh parsley, and aged Parmigiano Reggiano. With a crispy golden crust and a tender, airy crumb, this focaccia is perfect for serving as an appetizer, side dish, or a savory snack. The step-by-step preparation includes a long, cold fermentation for deeper flavor and a perfect texture, culminating in a high-heat bake for a beautifully crispy finish.
Ingredients
Scale
Dough
- 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
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling and greasing
Topping
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
- Chopped flat leaf Italian parsley, for topping
- Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, for finishing
Garlic Butter
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed
Instructions
- Activate yeast: Add warm water to a medium mixing bowl and whisk in the yeast and sugar. Let it sit for 10 minutes until the top becomes foamy, indicating the yeast is active.
- Make the dough: In the stand mixer bowl fitted with the dough hook, whisk together the flour and kosher salt. Add the yeast mixture and knead on low speed for 6 minutes until the dough is stretchy and pulls away from the sides. Alternatively, knead by hand until smooth and elastic.
- First rise in fridge: Transfer the dough to a large bowl lightly oiled with olive oil, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 24 hours to develop flavor.
- Shape dough: Remove dough from the refrigerator and oil a 9×13 metal baking pan with 1/4 cup olive oil. Stretch the dough into the pan to cover as much as possible. Cover and let rest 15 minutes. Then use fingertips to stretch the dough to the edges. Cover again tightly and let rise at room temperature for 3 hours until puffy.
- Preheat oven: Heat the oven to 450℉ (232℃) and let it maintain this temperature for 5-10 minutes for a super hot environment.
- Prepare dough for baking: Remove plastic wrap, drizzle a couple tablespoons of olive oil on top, and use fingertips to create dimples all over the surface. Sprinkle flaky sea salt evenly.
- Bake focaccia: Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the top and edges are deeply golden brown and crisp.
- Make garlic butter: While baking, melt butter in a small saucepan or skillet over medium to medium-low heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant and just golden, about 1 minute. Immediately remove from heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl to avoid burning the garlic.
- Finish focaccia: Once baked, brush the garlic butter evenly all over the top of the focaccia. Sprinkle chopped parsley and freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano in a generous layer.
- Cool and serve: Let the focaccia cool on a wire rack to maintain a crispy crust, or slice and enjoy warm for the best flavor and texture.
Notes
- Using kosher salt is important for proper seasoning; table salt is not a substitute here due to difference in salt crystals.
- The 24-hour cold fermentation is essential to develop complex flavors and a tender crumb.
- Use a metal pan for baking to ensure even heat distribution and a crisp crust.
- If you do not have a stand mixer, kneading by hand is perfectly fine though require more effort.
- Be careful not to burn the garlic when preparing garlic butter; remove as soon as it starts to turn golden.
- Serving warm enhances the garlic butter flavor and texture.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes (including activating yeast and kneading)
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: garlic bread focaccia, Italian bread, garlic butter focaccia, homemade focaccia, garlic herb bread, baked bread, savory bread
