Italian Rosemary Focaccia Bread

Bake up a batch of authentic Italian focaccia bread with a rosemary flavor. This crispy and rich bread is the perfect side dish for almost any meal.

Focaccia is a well-known and loved bread in Italy. It's a bread that's crispy, light, and fluffy. The signature 'dimpled' top is iconic for this style of Italian bread.

Since Italian cuisine is very regionally focused, different regions and cities across Italy have their own way of making focaccia bread.

For example, in the Puglia region, they add tomatoes. In the city of Bari, they top their circular-shaped focaccia with oregano, tomatoes, and olives. And in Tuscany, their focaccia, schiacciata, is known for being thinner (perfect for sandwiches).

This recipe is a take on my traditional Italian focaccia bread topped with infused rosemary oil. The rosemary gives the bread an earthy and herbaceous taste that you'll love.

For more focaccia recipes, check out the best types of Italian focaccia bread.

• A step by step guide with photos to show you how to make focaccia dough.
• How to make an infused rosemary oil to top the focaccia with.
• My favorite way to store focaccia so it stays fresh for a long time.

If you want to learn a few tricks about becoming a better baker, grab my free ebook with tips to level up your bread:

You'll need a few ingredients for the infused rosemary oil as well as some essential Italian baking ingredients for the dough.

For the Infused Olive Oil:

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Extra virgin olive oil is a staple in Italian cooking. Be sure to use extra virgin olive oil (not regular olive oil) for the best possible flavor in your focaccia. If you're interested in learning more, check out my guide to Italian olive oil.
• Rosemary: Fresh rosemary adds a delicious flavor to the oil. This is a great recipe to make if you have leftover rosemary from your garden. Italians love cooking with fresh, seasonal ingredients.

For the Focaccia Bread:

• Bread Flour: For this recipe, it's crucial to use bread flour (not all purpose flour) because it has a higher protein content that will allow the bread to have a chewy texture. If you can splurge for a high-quality bread flour like King Arthur, your rosemary focaccia bread will turn out even better!
• Instant Yeast: This ingredient allows the dough to properly rise. If you only have active dry yeast, use 2 ½ teaspoons. Also, be sure to check the expiration date on your yeast before you begin baking to ensure it's alive and ready to use.
• Water: Water plays a vital role in this high-hydration focaccia dough. Ensure the water is at room temperature when mixing with yeast and flour. Water exceeding 140°F (60°C) will be too hot and kill the yeast.
• Granulated Sugar: Despite its small quantity, sugar in bread plays an important role. It caramelizes during baking, giving the bread a beautiful golden brown color. Additionally, sugar helps retain moisture, contributing to a spongy texture.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: To many people's surprise, there is a lot of extra virgin olive oil in authentic Italian focaccia bread. Because of this, be sure to buy a high-quality bottle.
• Fine Sea Salt: Salt plays various roles in this focaccia recipe. It not only boosts the overall flavor but also strengthens the gluten network, giving the dough a resilient and elastic texture.
• Maldon Sea Salt Flakes: Sprinkle flaky sea salt on top of your focaccia for an extra kick of flavor. Don't use iodized table salt. If you don't have sea salt flakes, you can also use Morton kosher salt for this step.

1. To start, we first need to make the infused rosemary olive oil. Heat extra virgin olive oil and ½ ounce (14 grams) rosemary in a saucepan over medium high heat.

2. You'll know it's done cooking when it reaches 230°F (110°C) on an instant read thermometer.

3. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and allow the oil to cool until it reaches 120°F (50°C) on an instant read thermometer. Once cooled, remove and discard the rosemary.

Add in an additional ½ ounce (14 grams) rosemary. Repeat the heating and cooling process two additional times, removing and adding the remaining ½ ounce (14 grams) rosemary for the last batch.

4. Allow the oil to cool to room temperature. Strain and discard the leftover rosemary. You'll want to store the oil in a sterilized dark-colored bottle with a sealed lid (you can reuse the bottle the oil came in) away from light and heat.

We will use this rosemary oil for the focaccia dough topping, but you'll also have some leftover that you can use on roasted vegetables, in salad dressing, and drizzled on top of pasta and pizza.

5. Let's move on to prepare the focaccia dough. This recipe is a no knead recipe since all of the work is done for you in a stand mixer.

Begin by combining bread flour and instant dry yeast in a stand mixer equipped with a dough hook attachment. While the mixer runs at a medium-low speed, gradually add the water in three small batches. Due to the high-hydration nature of the dough, it's crucial to let the water absorb into the flour before incorporating more.

Once the water is fully absorbed, add the sugar and mix until thoroughly blended.

6. Gradually pour extra virgin olive oil into the center of the dough in four batches. Mix at medium-low speed, allowing the flour to absorb the oil before adding the next batch. This process should be done slowly to ensure proper incorporation of the olive oil into the dough.

Use a silicone spatula to periodically flip the dough over, assisting the dough hook in catching and kneading in the oil. After adding the last batch of olive oil, pour in the fine sea salt, and mix thoroughly until all the oil is absorbed.

7. Increase the mixer speed to high and mix until you hear a popping sound, and the dough wraps around the dough hook, approximately 1 - 2 minutes. The dough should be smooth but sticky.

8. With the dough fully mixed, place it in a lightly oiled bowl that is about three times the size of the dough ball. I find these food storage containers ideal for my dough.

Cover the bowl with a sheet of plastic wrap, and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free area until it expands to three times its original size. This is what we call 'bulk fermentation' in the baking world. It's crucial not to rush this process. Achieving fluffy focaccia requires the dough to rise completely.

If your house is cold or you live in a chilly environment, the bulk fermentation stage may take longer.

9. After the dough has risen in the bulk fermentation stage, generously coat the bottom and sides of a 12 x 18 inch (30 x 45 cm) baking pan with the rosemary infused olive oil.

Stretch the dough by allowing gravity to naturally pull it until it reaches the edges of the sheet pan. If you see the dough pulling back towards the center, let it rest in the sheet pan for an additional 10 minutes before continuing the stretching process.

Now, it's time to prepare the topping for the focaccia, which infuses the rosemary flavor into the bread. Stir water and rosemary olive oil in a small bowl until well combined. This unique mixture of water and oil, a trick I learned in culinary school, contributes to achieving a crispy crust.

10. Use your fingertips to create dimple indentations on the surface of the focaccia dough.

11. Evenly, drizzle the water and oil mixture over the dimpled focaccia.

12. Cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to proof in a warm (75°F - 80°F or 24°C - 27°C), draft-free location until it triples in size, approximately 60 minutes. Be cautious with the dough at this stage. Avoid anything that could deflate the air built during the proofing process.

13. The final stage involves baking and cooling the focaccia bread. Bake it at 430°F (220°C) for 25 - 30 minutes until it achieves a golden brown and crispy top. Finish everything off by transferring the focaccia to a cooling rack and covering it with a tea towel to maintain a soft texture.

Before serving your focaccia, the last step is reheating. Italian focaccia is a twice-baked bread, so you'll want to reheat the focaccia slices for 18 - 20 minutes at 350°F (180°C) on a parchment-lined baking sheet.