sourdough focaccia

This chocolate sourdough focaccia is fluffy, soft and moist that it tastes even better than a chocolate cake! 🥰 

Chocolate Sourdough Focaccia (better than chocolate cake)

bread flour

all-purpose flour

spelt flour

dutch-processed cocoa powder

sugar

water*

levain (use at peak)

salt

vegan butter (melted) (or substitute with olive oil)

dark chocolate chips

hazelnuts

sea salt flakes

Feed your starter using 1:2:2 (starter:flour:water) ratio. Cover loosely and let it rise until it tripled in size, around 5-6 hours.

Prepare the Levain

In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder and water until everything in incorporated into a dough. Cover and let it rest for 2 hours.

Autolyse

Once your levain has peaked, add 72g of levain to the dough. Knead in a mixer for 3-4 minutes or until you feel the dough has strengthened. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.

Add 7g sea salt and 50g of sugar to the dough and mix for another 3-5 minutes. Cover and rest for 30 minutes at 75°F.

Perform four sets of stretch and fold every 30 minutes.

After the last set of stretch and fold, you can either place the dough in the fridge overnight or up to 36 hours. Or you can transferred dough to well oiled pan. I used a 8.25" x 12.5" pan.

Grease the bottom and the sides of the pan generously with vegan butter.

Every 30-45 min, gently stretched the dough in the pan but oiled hands. Repeat this step twice.

After the last stretch, let the dough proof at 75°F for 2.5 more hours or until the dough is puffy and jiggly. Total proofing time in pan: 4 hours.

1 hour before baking, preheat your oven to 450°F.

Drizzle with vegan butter, dimple dough, add toppings, then baked in the oven for 33 minutes.

Mixing the Dough & Bulk Fermentation

This sourdough focaccia has a chewy and soft interior and a deliciously crispy exterior.

Sourdough Focaccia

strong all purpose flour or bread flour,

water

active

olive oil

Tbsp coarse sea salt

Toppings

In the morning feed your starter so you...

In the morning feed your starter so you can use 120g of it once it has risen.For this dough it could be 35g starter, 70g flour and 70g water. This will make approximately 175g starter. 120g can be used for the dough and the remaining starter can be fed again 1:2:2 and stored for the next time you need it.

When the starter has nearly finished rising, the...

When the starter has nearly finished rising, the main bread flour and water are combined in a bowl to autolyse.  When the starter is ready, add it to the dough along with the salt. Use wet hands to squish this together until well combined. Let it sit for 15 minutes.

Over a period of 2 hours, perform 4...

Over a period of 2 hours, perform 4 sets of stretch and folds, one every 30 minutes. In each set, stretch and fold the dough over 4-5 times, turning the bowl each turn. As each set passes, the dough becomes more and more elastic.

After the final stretch and fold the dough...

After the final stretch and fold the dough sits at room temperature (between 20-24 °C) for 2 hours before being transferred to the fridge for 8-20 hours.

The next day, remove the cold dough from...

The next day, remove the cold dough from the fridge and drizzle 3tbsp olive oil into a cast iron skillet. Both 26cm and 30cm pans work well. Alternatively use a 23 x 33cm (9x13 inch) rectangular baking pan.

Rub some olive oil on your fingers and...

Rub some olive oil on your fingers and push the dough out to fill the pan. The cold dough will likely spring back at first, so press what you can and then wait 10 minutes before continuing.

Once it has filled the pan, the dough...

Once it has filled the pan, the dough needs to rise and double until it is jiggly and puffy. This can take between 3-7 hours depending on room temperature. You can cover the dough at this point or, brush it with 1 tbsp olive oil to stop the dough drying out.

Preheat the oven to 210°C (410°F) fan-bake or...

Preheat the oven to 210°C (410°F) fan-bake or 230°C (446°F) regular oven.

Once the dough has risen, use greased fingers...

Once the dough has risen, use greased fingers to dimple the dough. Press in your favourite toppings and scatter over some coarse sea salt.

Bake the focaccia for 20-25 minutes until deep...

Bake the focaccia for 20-25 minutes until deep golden brown.

If using a cast-iron skillet, while it is...

If using a cast-iron skillet, while it is hot from the oven, run a butter knife along the edge of the cast-iron skillet to loosen the edges, so that the bread can be lifted out easily. Lift the bread from the pan and place it on a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/scfujinpzvk9vhjb5xdf.mp4

This is step by step sourdough guide for making sourdough focaccia that has a chewy and soft interior and a deliciously crispy exterior

Step by Step Sourdough Focaccia

Sourdough focaccia is dimpled and golden on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside! It&#x27;s a simple bread where sourdough starter and olive oil shine.

(1/2 cup) active sourdough starter

(1 cup) water

honey

(2 1/4 cups) all-purpose or bread flour

(1 heaped teaspoon) sea salt

Add the starter a large bowl. Stir in...

Add the starter a large bowl. Stir in the water, honey, and ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil, mixing to combine.

Add the flour and salt to the bowl...

Add the flour and salt to the bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms.

Rest the dough for about 10 minutes before...

Rest the dough for about 10 minutes before doing a round of stretches and folds. Repeat this twice more, once every 10 minutes, for a total of three rounds.

Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel...

Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and a large plate. Let it sit out at room temperature overnight, or for about 12 hours. It should be doubled in size after this time.

Add the second ¼ cup (60 ml) of...

Add the second ¼ cup (60 ml) of olive oil to the base of a baking sheet and place the dough onto it.

Fold the dough into a rough rectangle, lifting...

Fold the dough into a rough rectangle, lifting and pulling one side toward the centre and repeating with each side until all 4 have been folded in.

Flip the dough seam side down onto the...

Flip the dough seam side down onto the pan, making sure there’s oil under the dough.

Use your hands to stretch and press the...

Use your hands to stretch and press the dough out to the edges of the pan until the pan is almost filled or the dough is about 3 cm (1 inch) thick.

Cover the dough, or place it into the...

Cover the dough, or place it into the oven with the door closed, and rise a second time for at least 1 hour, or until almost doubled in size again. (This may need up to 4 hours, depending on how active your starter is.)

Preheat oven to 425°F (210°C). Oil your hands...

Preheat oven to 425°F (210°C). Oil your hands and use the tips of your fingers to gently press into the dough to create dimples all over the surface.

Top the dough with anything you’d like (see...

Top the dough with anything you’d like (see the topping ideas for inspiration), drizzle with olive oil, and add a sprinkle of salt.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top...

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top and sides of the bread are a dark golden colour. Top with finely chopped herbs as soon as it comes out of the oven, and remove from the pan as soon as you can to cool on a rack for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Focaccia is best fresh, but can be stored...

Focaccia is best fresh, but can be stored for a few days in an airtight container, or frozen up to a month.

The softest, crispiest sourdough focaccia ever!

water (at around 20c)

345 g type ‘00’ white flour

200 g strong white bread flour

g fine sea salt

g extra virgin olive oil

tbsp extra virgin olive oil

tsp flaky sea salt

cherry tomatoes (halved)

garlic

kalamata and green olives (de-stoned)

rosemary

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, place the sourdough starter and the water. Using your fingers or a silicone spatula, mix the two together until the starter in quite evenly distributed. Add the flours and the salt. Lower the dough hook and mix on medium speed until the dough comes together and forms a shaggy, rather wet ball (around 5 minutes). Turn the speed to low, add the the olive oil and mix for a further five minutes. The dough will not look smooth and glossy yet, so don’t worry.

Grease a large Tupperware tub with a splash of olive oil and transfer the dough to the tub. Grab one side of the dough, pinch and stretch it up and over to the centre of the dough. Rotate the Tupperware 90 degrees and repeat: pinch and stretch the dough into the centre. Repeat two more times until you’ve made a total of four folds in the dough. Cover the tub with a damp tea towel and place in an ambient temperature of around 20-22c. Leave the dough to “bulk ferment” for a total of four hours, repeating the four folds another four times every half hour for the first two hours.

Meanwhile, grease a large, high sided brownie pan (around 23 x 33cwith a good drizzle of olive oil.

After the first two hours of fermenting and folding are done, transfer the dough to the oiled pan, cover and leave for the remaining two hours.

Once the dough is proved, place the entire pan of dough into a plastic bag or wrap with cling film and place in the fridge overnight or for a minimum of 8 hours.

The next day, or after 8 hours have passed, remove the dough from the fridge and place on the kitchen counter to come back to room temperature for an hour.

Once this hour is done, the second prove begins. This can take between 1 and 2 hours depending on the temperature of the room and the activity of your starter. Just keep an eye of the dough after the first hour of proving - it should become very bubbly and gassy.

About half an hour before your dough is ready, preheat the oven to 230c and prepare your toppings.

Once proved and nicely bubbly, wet your fingers and dimple the dough all over, making sure you push all the way down to the bottom of the pan.

Drizzle over the topping olive oil and sprinkle the flaky sea salt. Top with the herbs, olives, garlic and cherry tomatoes then place in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating after 15 mins.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in its tin for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the bread from the tin once cool enough to handle and place on a wire cooking rack.

Focaccia tastes best warm within a few hours of baking, but you can also wrap in tin foil and store for a day or so. Enjoy!

No need to throw away that Sourdough discard, use it to make this Easy Sourdough Focaccia. Simple and so good.

Easy Sourdough Focaccia

milk lukewarm (I used 2%) ((150 grams))

honey sugar

+ 3 tablespoons all purpose or bread flour ((350 grams))

In a large bowl or stand up mixer add the milk, sugar and sourdough discard, mix with a whisk to combine. 

Add the flour and olive oil and knead for a few minutes then add the salt, continue to knead for a couple of minutes.

Move the dough to a flat surface and form into a compact ball.  Place in a lightly oiled bowl, turning the dough to lightly cover in the oil. Cover the bowl and let rise in a warm draft free area for approximately 5-6 hours or until doubled in bulk.

Move the dough to a lightly oiled 9 ½-10 inch (24 cm) pizza pan, cookie sheet or even a cast iron skillet. Gently stretch the dough to fill the pan, cover and let rise in a warm draft free area for 1 hour just until it is slightly puffy.

Pre-heat oven 375F (190C).

Make indentations with your fingers in the dough, then drizzle with the olive oil, chopped rosemary and coarse salt. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until golden. Once baked drizzle with more olive oil if desired. Serve warm.

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Top 5 sourdough focaccia recipes from across the web

The most viewed sourdough focaccia recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

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The most viewed sourdough focaccia recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine