Easy Focaccia Recipe

This super easy focaccia recipe is fun to make, smells delicious and tastes amazing. There’s something meditative about making bread. Letting the yeast, warm water and flour do their thing, then kneading the dough and smelling it is so satisfying. The crispy crunch on the outside and pillowy center is just so good!

This easy focaccia recipe is simple. Crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy inside, and perfect for soaking up vegan butter or garlic butter. Flaky sea salt hides in the little nooks and crannies, creating the perfect bite. It can also be an amazing pizza crust, to top with whatever you’d like.

How to Make This Easy Focaccia Recipe

Step One: Start by whisking together yeast, sugar and water. After 10-15 minutes, the top will get a little foamy.

Step Two: Place 2 cups All-Purpose flour into a large bowl. Create a well in the center. Pour your foamy yeasty mixture into the well. Gently combine with a strong spatula until it starts to come together. Add a little more water if it’s too stiff, a little more flour if it’s too wet.

It’s ready when the dough starts to pull cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.

Step Three: Flour your workspace. Place your dough on the floured workspace and knead for about 2 minutes. The dough should start to feel really soft.

It should then be easily formed into a ball.

Allow Your Dough to Rise and Double in Size

Step Four: Drizzle the bottom of a glass container with some olive oil. Drizzle some over the top and rub it around so the dough is covered in oil. Place a damp tea towel over the top. Leave it in a warm spot near a warm vent, the top of your refrigerator, on a radiator or in your oven with the light on.

After 45 minutes to an hour, remove the towel and the dough should be doubled in size.

Step Five: Now comes the fun part! See those little air bubbles? Punch the dough down to deflate some of that air. Now knead it again for about 2 minutes on a freshly cleaned and floured surface.

Step Six: Add some fresh chopped herbs if you want. I used some leftover rosemary, sage and thyme from Thanksgiving. Again, you’ll want the dough to feel soft and smooth.

Step Seven: Press the dough into an oiled cast iron skillet. Make indentations in the dough with your fingers. Drizzle some olive oil over the top. Sprinkle with a generous amount of flaky sea salt.

Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes.

It’s done when the top starts to get golden and your house is filled with the comforting scent of fresh baked focaccia. Any leftover oil that’s in the bottom of the skillet? I drizzle it over the top, but it’s not necessary.

How to serve this super easy focaccia

Cut it into squares or slice like a loaf of bread for sandwiches. This focaccia tastes best if consumed within an hour after coming out of the oven. It’s perfect on a crisp and chilly day!

More ways to enjoy this focaccia!

Focaccia Pizza topped with Apple, Red Onion and Balsamic Glaze

or with

Vegan Sausage-Stuffed Ravioli

Toasted Ravioli Stuffed with Cultured Cashew Cheese

Baked Pumpkin Ravioli

Creamy + Chunky Pasta Sauce

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Amazing Reads + Finds this week

We’re only halfway into Season Two of The Crown. I don’t really know that much about the British Royal Family, but I’m loving getting immersed in this series. Also, how perfect of an actress is Claire Foy?

I’m currently reading The Invisible Life of Addie Larue for a book group I’m in. I’m only halfway through, but obsessed. I love Addie and the way the author takes us back and forth between 1700s France and current-day New York City. When faced with choosing either an everything or nothing sort of life, Addie picks everything, but with one big condition. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book like this before, and I kind of don’t want it to end!

Nora McInerny, creator and host of the podcast, Terrible, Thanks for Asking always makes me think long after I finish an episode. I listed to a recent episode with Susan David, author of Emotional Agility. Dr. David talks about the dangers of “toxic positivity” and how putting emotions into a “good” or “bad” box can keep us from feeling fully alive. She says that “being able to hold the so-called positive emotions and the difficult emotions side by side … [is] what actually creates far greater levels of meaning in our life.” Emotional Agility is on my list to read and learn from!