Learn how to make Sourdough Focaccia with a sourdough starter and simple ingredients. It’s a complex, crusty, tangy, and ultra-fluffy bread with beginner-friendly instructions.
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Simple and fluffy focaccia recipe
Believe it or not but Sourdough Focaccia is a beginner-friendly bread recipe. It features the complex and almost tangy flavors of sourdough bread but is just as easy to make as any everyday homemade focaccia bread. All you need are simple ingredients and a sourdough starter!
Why make focaccia with a sourdough starter? Because it’s the best way to give this already simple bread a tangy flavor and incomparable rise. You just can’t get the same results using regular yeast and a slow rise.
This recipe is also a great way to get some practice in if you’ve never worked with sourdough starter before. Making focaccia at home is quite simple and doesn’t require as much technique or special equipment as a homemade sourdough loaf.
Another quality that makes this sourdough focaccia recipe unique is the black pepper. I was inspired by Panera’s black pepper focaccia, which sprinkles freshly cracked pepper throughout the loaf. Instead, I sprinkled it on top to add a spicy herbaceousness to each bite.
Ingredients and substitutions
All you need are a handful of simple ingredients and a no-yeast sourdough starter to make this copycat black pepper focaccia. Most may already be in your pantry:
- Sourdough starter - Yes, you need one for this recipe. Either make your own or buy one. It’s essential to an immaculate sourdough recipe!
- Bread flour - Try not to substitute the bread flour for anything else. Its high protein content will lead to a higher rise and denser chew. In addition, use unbleached bread flour as the bleaching process can destroy some of the microbes in the starter.
- Olive oil - No substitutions here. A high quality olive oil is essential in focaccia recipes. It gives the bread flavor, fat, and helps form a golden brown crispy crust.
- Black pepper - Use freshly cracked black pepper to make your own Panera copycat black pepper focaccia at home.
- Toppings - I topped the focaccia with homemade pesto and parmesan cheese. There’s plenty more where that came from! You can press sun dried tomatoes, olives, garlic, herbs, and so much more into the dough before it goes into the oven.
Can I make it without a sourdough starter?
You don’t have to have a sourdough starter, but it’s strongly recommended. If you don’t already have one at home or don’t want to buy one, feel free to make my Easy Focaccia Recipe instead.
Equipment
- Kitchen scale
- Mixing bowls
- Silicone spatula
- 9x13 baking pan
How to make sourdough focaccia
You can make your own focaccia at home in 6 simple steps:
Step 1: Make the dough. Mix the sourdough starter and water together in a bowl. Add the flour and salt before gently folding everything together. Make a scooping motion with a spatula until all of the clumps of flour are gone.
Step 2: Transfer it to an oiled bowl. Pour some olive oil into a separate bowl. Place the dough in the oiled bowl and turn it to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic and leave it in the fridge for 24 hours.
Step 3: Second rise. Coat a baking pan with oil. Transfer the risen dough into the baking pan and leave it in a warm area to rise again uncovered (this time for about 4 hours).
Step 4: Make the dimples! This is the fun part. Drizzle the remaining oil over top and poke your fingers into the dough to create small holes all over. Wet your fingers with water before hand to prevent them from sticking to the dough. Be gentle and don’t puncture the dough!
Step 5: Bake the pepper focaccia. Top the dimpled dough with black pepper and place it in the oven to bake.
Step 6: Let it cool. Transfer the golden brown and crispy baked focaccia from the pan onto a wire rack to cool completely. Don’t let it sit in the baking pan or else the bottom will become soggy. Top with parmesan cheese, pesto, and sea salt, then cut and enjoy!
Tips and variations
- Do a float test - It’s the best way to tell if your starter is fresh. Simply pinch off about 1 tablespoon of your starter and place it in a glass of water. If it floats, you're in business!
- If the bread is browning too quickly in the oven - Place a layer of foil over the top to prevent further browning. I usually check the bread at the 20-minute mark just in case.
- For additional flavor - Stir fresh garlic or garlic powder, dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, etc.), honey or white sugar into the dough.
- Instead of black pepper - Sprinkle sea salt, dried herbs, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, olives, red onions, capers, cherry tomatoes, or thinly sliced potatoes over the dough.
Ways to use focaccia
Besides ripping off a piece and enjoying it all on its own, focaccia is a versatile bread you can use practically anywhere:
- Sandwiches
- Pizza crust
- Grilled cheese
- Pan con tomate
- Toast with fresh ricotta
- Dipping into soup
Frequently asked questions
Sourdough starter is a thin, fermented flour and water dough that acts as a home for lactobacillus bacteria (responsible for sourdough’s tangy flavor) and wild yeast (a leavener). It’s essentially a living ecosystem because of the host of microbes that contribute to the taste, texture, and rise of the bread loaf.
These microbes become stronger as they’re fed with more flour, creating a mix of lactic and acetic acids that flavor the sourdough and produce gasses to contribute to the rise. In other words, a starter is a small living organism that’s responsible for the best bread ever.
You can easily make your own using flour and water, or you can buy it online or from specialty stores. Ask your family and friends as well! I’m sure they would happily gift some to you.
It’s really easy. Gently press the tips of your dipped in water fingers into the dough until there are dimples all over and the dough spreads to the edges of the pan. These dimples are important because they help flatten the dough, spread it out, and hold pockets of the delicious olive oil.
You’ll know it’s ready to bake when the dough has doubled in size (this should only take about 4 hours during the second rise). You can also test it by poking the dough with your finger; if it springs back slowly, it’s ready.
Focaccia will last for 2 or 3 days when stored in an airtight container (or wrapped in plastic) at room temperature.
Yes, you can freeze focaccia for about 1 month. Make sure you wrap it well in foil to prevent freezer burn.
More homemade bread recipes
As always, I love seeing your creations and hearing from you! If you try the recipe for this Sourdough Focaccia bread, please share your creation with me on social media! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and Pinterest - for more delicious recipes sent straight to your inbox, sign up for my newsletter!
Pesto & Black Pepper Sourdough Focaccia
Equipment
Ingredients
Pesto & Black Pepper Sourdough Focaccia
- 2 cups (475 g) Lukewarm water
- 1 cup (200 g) Sourdough Starter Discard
- 4 cups (480 g) Bread flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons Kosher salt
- ¼ cup (54 g) Extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Extra-virgin olive oil , to coat the baking pan
- 2 Tablespoons Extra-virgin olive oil , to add to the top of focaccia pre bake
- 2 Tablespoons Black Pepper
Final post-bake toppings
- 3 tablespoons Freshly grated parmesan
- ¼ cup (62 g) Pesto
Instructions
- In your mixing bowl, add water and sourdough starter, mixing to combine.2 cups Lukewarm water, 1 cup Sourdough Starter Discard
- Add in your bread flour and salt. With a silicone spatula, mix your dough in a scooping motion, until it's all combined and mixed together and all clumps are removed.4 cups Bread flour, 1 ½ tablespoons Kosher salt
- In a separate big bowl, add in about ¼th cup olive oil, add in your dough, and gently turn your dough to coat in oil. Cover and store in the refrigerator for 24 hours.¼ cup Extra-virgin olive oil
- Grease a 9x13 baking pan a few tablespoons of olive oil. Then, gently pour your risen dough into the baking pan. Place in a rather warm area (ideally 80 degrees) of your home and allow it to rise for 4 hours uncovered.2 tablespoons Extra-virgin olive oil
- Once your dough has fully risen and has really spread to all sides of your pan, drizzle with the remaining olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) and wet your fingers with water. Take your fingers and dimple the dough gently - creating little holes all across your dough making sure not to puncture all the way through! Then, top with black pepper.2 Tablespoons Extra-virgin olive oil, 2 Tablespoons Black Pepper
- At this point, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Place your focaccia dough in the oven and bake for 20 minutes then check on your focaccia. If your focaccia dough is browning quite quickly, you can always add foil to the top of your pan to prevent further browning.
- Remove the focaccia from the oven and gently remove it from the pan with tongs or a large spatula and placing it on a cooling rack. If the bread sits in the baking pan for too long, the bottom of the focaccia will start to soften due to condensation so make sure to allow it to cool completely on a cooling rack so that its crispy crust remains crispy!
- Drizzle the pesto on top with flaky sea salt and freshly grated parmesan, and cut into squares with a bread knife once cooled!¼ cup Pesto, 3 tablespoons Freshly grated parmesan
Notes
- Do a float test - It’s the best way to tell if your starter is fresh. Simply pinch off about 1 tablespoon of your starter and place it in a glass of water. If it floats, you're in business!
- If the bread is browning too quickly in the oven - Place a layer of foil over the top to prevent further browning. I usually check the bread at the 20-minute mark just in case.
- For additional flavor - Stir fresh garlic or garlic powder, dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, etc.), or honey or white sugar into the dough.
- Instead of black pepper - Sprinkle sea salt, dried herbs, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, olives, red onions, capers, cherry tomatoes, or thinly sliced potatoes over the dough.
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