Name: Tomato, Garlic & Rosemary Focaccia
Prep time: 120 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 145 min
Yield: 16
Ingredients: 8 cups strong bread flour (1 kg); 2 envelopes dry yeast; 1 tsp honey; 2 1/5 cups water (tepid) (600 ml); 1 bulb garlic (broken into gloves, skin on.); 5 sprigs rosemary (leaves picked off); Extra virgin olive oil; 11 ounces cherry tomatoes (300 g - washed); sea salt

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

EVERYBODY LOVES GOOD BREAD. Am I right?

If you love a soft warm, right out of the oven bread, then this focaccia bread recipe is a definite must try. Not only is the focaccia itself amazingly delicious, but the fresh rosemary, garlic, and tomatoes also give it a ton of flavor. The combination is fabulous. When it comes out of the oven finish it with an extra drizzle of fragrant olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. The olive oil gives the top of the bread a beautiful sheen, and the finishing sprinkle of salt adds that extra touch of crunch and saltiness on your palette.

For the most part, in my day-to-day diet, I generally try to avoid grains, especially the gluten-y kind. I don’t have a gluten allergy, but I feel better when the majority of my food is more about lean protein and veggies. I do notice that if I eat wheat flour regularly, my joints tend to feel a little less flexible.

Some bread is worth it! You know what I mean, right?

I have no problem having some bread if it’s so good that I feel like the splurge is well worth it. This focaccia is one of those times. But be warned, it’s one of those recipes that if you make it it’s going to disappear. So make sure you aren’t the only one home. The focaccia bread is especially addictive if you’re dipping it in a lovely olive oil. This bread makes a perfect appetizer to bring to a party. Not only is it gorgeous, everyone loves it! And you will seem like five-star artisan baker.

I’m definitely a savory person.

Sweets are something that I can take or leave, but a salty, savory cracker is my kryptonite. I love an excellent rustic bread with all the right flavors. This focaccia bread hits the mark. This particular recipe came to Foodology Geek by way of Kit. The recipe is one that she has used by Jamie Oliver. I love that guy! We made this Rosemary, Garlic, and Tomato Foccacia Bread on one of our marathon cooking days. Not to be rivaled by our famous cake and whiskey cocktails day. But it was still pretty epic.

If you have wanted to try your hand at making homemade bread, but the task sounds way too daunting, this focaccia bread recipe is a perfect get-started-with-making-bread recipe.

Focaccia bread is a pretty forgiving bread recipe. The most important thing to get right about bread making is picking the correct flour. Have you ever seen a recipe that calls for flour, but doesn’t tell you what kind it is? When I see this, I’m like okay people, is it all purpose? Bread flour? Cake flour? What are we talking about here? Bread making requires bread flour because bread flours contain more gluten than other flours.

All flours are not created equal in this department. High gluten flour is needed to get that chewy, yummy bread texture. Gluten is also what is responsible for those fantastic air pockets in bread. Those are the best.

My go-to brand of bread flour is King Arthur Brand. You can read a little more about the science of gluten and flour here if you are as geeky as I am. I will spare you the details if you want to get to the recipe so that you can make this fantastic focaccia bread.

The next thing that makes bread making super easy is a stand mixer.

I have to say that baking with my Kitchen Aid stand mixer is an actual pleasure. It is true that if you have the right tools for the job, the job is so much easier. If you do have a stand mixer, yay, if you don’t but can fit one into your budget I highly recommend it. For Holiday cookie baking alone it is worth the investment.

Keep in mind that the basic recipe for the bread can be made plain without all of the toppings. Foccacia bread makes a great sandwich bread. You can make it and then cut it into sandwich sized squares before you slit it in half bun style. If you would like to make sandwiches, you may not want all the flavor on top.

Other topping combos that I love:

Everything Bagel Seasoning
Rosemary, for a classic rosemary focaccia bread
Caramelized onions and ricotta
Kalamata olives and fresh oregano

The possibilities are endless here. Use your imagination and get the kids involved. Teaching kids to cook is not only a life skill that they will thank you for later, and it’s a fun project to bond over. You get to teach math and science and have fun. Plus, you get a delicious reward in the end.

This recipe makes enough dough to make two sheet pans worth of focaccia bread.

You can always cut the recipe in half if you don’t need that much. You can always free leftovers. But who are we kidding fresh bread tastes way better than reheated, thawed out frozen bread? You can freeze half of the focaccia dough and bake another whole focaccia bread later. Dough keeps quite well in the freezer.

The great thing about making a focaccia bread, besides the fact that it is so easy is that you can make it however you want it. You can make it on the thicker side if you like a nice soft and fluffy chunk of bread or you can roll the dough out a little bit thinner, which is usually my preference.

After you roll your dough out, you use your fingertips to poke it all over the place, so it has that crater-like texture. Then you add your toppings. For this recipe, you add the garlic, fresh rosemary, and fresh grape tomatoes to the top of the rolled out dough. Then add a little drizzle of olive oil before you bake the bread.

Bake the focaccia bread until it is golden brown. It will rise in the oven quite a bit.

This focaccia bread recipe also makes a fantastic pizza dough for the grandma style pizza that you make on a sheet pan. Yum!