One Hour Rosemary Focaccia Bread
This One Hour Rosemary Focaccia Bread is everything you love about homemade focaccia bread without the hassle! It’s tender and fluffy with the flavors of garlic and rosemary, it’s got irresistible crispy edges, and it’s ready in one hour flat!
A lot of people that I talk to are intimidated about making homemade bread. I relate, as I used to feel the same way before I went to cooking school.
If you’re intimidated by yeast breads, this Rosemary Focaccia Bread recipe is the perfect starting point. It just couldn’t be easier and it comes out perfect every single time!
Typically focaccia bread dough takes one hour alone to rise, but I’ve streamlined the process considerably with this recipe. The bread is ready in one hour from start to finish!
It’s golden brown with crispy edges, a fluffy interior and the flavors of garlic and rosemary.
It’s a good thing this bread comes together so quickly because it never lasts long. 🙂
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It’s perfect every time. This focaccia bread is tender and fluffy with crispy edges and gets rave reviews from everyone that tries it.
- It’s easy. This is the easiest way to make homemade focaccia bread. There’s no kneading necessary and it’s ready in a fraction of the time.
- It’s customizable. Not a fan of rosemary? Customize it with your favorite herbs and spices or cheese.
Recipe ingredients
There are just a few simple ingredients in this easy focaccia bread, and it can be customized with your favorite herbs, spices or cheese.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Flour. No bread flour necessary! All purpose flour is perfect for this recipe. It can be substituted with whole wheat white flour to make it whole grain.
- Yeast. Use instant yeast, or rapid rise yeast.
- Water. You’ll need 3/4 cup lukewarm water, which is used to bloom the yeast and provide moisture to the focaccia bread.
- Sugar. A bit of sugar feeds the yeast during the blooming process.
- Olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is an essential ingredient in classic focaccia bread. It is added to the dough and brushed over the top of the bread as well.
- Garlic. This is optional but it adds a ton of flavor. You can sub with 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder if you like.
- Rosemary. Sub the rosemary with your favorite herbs if desired.
- Parmesan cheese. This is optional, but it adds great savory flavor.
How to make this easy focaccia bread recipe
This is the easiest focaccia bread recipe you’ll ever make. It comes together in a bowl or stand mixer, there’s no kneading necessary, and it rises in a warm turned off oven in just 20 minutes.
Pro tip: Be sure the water is lukewarm, or just warm enough to the touch. If it’s too cold the yeast will not bloom, and if the water is too hot it will kill the yeast.
See the recipe card below for full instructions.
- Place the lukewarm water and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and stir well to combine. Sprinkle the yeast over the top, stir a bit, and allow to bloom for 5 minutes until foamy.
- Turn the mixer on low speed, and add 1 cup of the flour and 3/4 teaspoon of the salt and mix just until combined. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil mix until combined. If using dried rosemary, you may add 1 teaspoon at this point. With the mixer on low, gradually add 1/2 cup of the remaining flour, then add just enough of the remaining 1/4 cup until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl (you may not need it all).
- Pour the dough out onto a floured surface (it will be sticky), sprinkle some flour on top, and form into a flat disk.
- Place the dough into a cast iron skillet greased with olive oil and press evenly into the bottom of the skillet and 1″ up the sides.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees then turn the oven off. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and place in the oven for 20 minutes to rise.
- Remove from the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the dough with rosemary, garlic and olive oil and make indentations over the top with your thumb. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown, then remove from heat and brush with the remaining olive oil mixture and sprinkle with flaky sea salt if desired.
Recipe FAQs
Focaccia bread is a flat bread that is similar to pizza dough as it includes flour, yeast, salt and olive oil. It has crispy edges, a fluffy interior and indents on top that hold the olive oil.
The olive oil is essential to creating a tender, fluffy interior. It also promotes browning, which creates an irresistibly golden brown, crispy crust.
This focaccia bread comes together quickly in a bowl or stand mixer, and no kneading is necessary.
Serving suggestions
Homemade focaccia bread is delicious served up a variety of ways as follows:
- Serve warm as an appetizer with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
- Dunk into winter minestrone soup or white bean turkey chili.
- Serve alongside skillet lasagna or oven baked meatballs.
- You can also make this focaccia pizza recipe for your next pizza night!
- Customize it with your favorite spices or fresh herbs such as sage or thyme. You can also add basil pesto sauce for even more flavor. Sub the parmesan cheese with pecorino romano or your favorite grated cheese.
Recipe notes
- Pro tip: Be sure the water is lukewarm, or just warm enough to the touch. If it’s too cold the yeast will not bloom, and if the water is too hot it will kill the yeast.
- Customize this focaccia bread with your favorite spices, fresh herbs such as sage or thyme, or cheese.
- Store leftover focaccia bread in plastic wrap at room temperature for 1-2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It may also be frozen for up to 3 months.
More bread recipes you’ll love:
- Beer bread
- Homemade dinner rolls by The Country Cook
- Honey cornbread muffins
- Irish brown bread
- Soft pretzel hot dog buns
- Skillet cornbread
Did you try this recipe? If so, be sure to leave a review below and tag me @flavorthemoments on Facebook and Instagram
One Hour Rosemary Focaccia Bread
Ingredients
- ¾ cup warm water heat in the microwave for 10 seconds and stir — it should be just lukewarm
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast 1/4 ounce package such as Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise
- 5 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour divided (plus more for sprinkling the dough)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt divided
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan optional
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped (optional)
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried divided
- flaky sea salt for topping optional
Instructions
- Place the warm water and sugar in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (you can use an electric handheld mixer as well). Stir well to combine. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir just a bit. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.¾ cup warm water, ½ teaspoon sugar, 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
- Turn the mixer on low speed, and add 1 cup of the flour and 3/4 teaspoon of the salt and mix just until combined. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil mix until combined. If using dried rosemary, you may add 1 teaspoon at this point.5 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- With the mixer on low, gradually add 1/2 cup of the remaining flour, then add just enough of the remaining 1/4 cup until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl (you may not need it all).
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Grease a cast iron skillet or 8 – 9" cake pan with 1/2 tablespoon of the olive oil.
- Lightly flour a surface with flour. Remove the dough and place onto the floured surface and sprinkle the top lightly with flour as well. Gently shape the dough into a flat disk and place in the prepared skillet.
- Gently press the dough evenly in the bottom of the skillet and 1" up the sides, then cover with a clean towel. TURN OFF THE OVEN and place the skillet in the oven for 20 minutes to rise.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and remove the towel. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt, garlic, chopped rosemary, and parmesan if using. If using dried rosemary, add 1/2-1 teaspoon.1 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan, 1 clove garlic, 1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried
- Brush the olive oil mixture over the focaccia bread dough, then make indents over the top of the dough with your thumb.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the oven, and brush with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt if desired. Cool slightly on a wire rack and enjoy!flaky sea salt for topping
Video
Notes
- Pro tip: Be sure the water is lukewarm, or just warm enough to the touch. If it’s too cold the yeast will not bloom, and if the water is too hot it will kill the yeast.
- Total cook time above includes the 20 minutes of rise time.
- Store leftover bread in an air tight container for up to 3 days.
- Customize this focaccia bread with your favorite spices, fresh herbs such as sage or thyme, or cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
**This post was originally published in May 2013. The recipe has been modified slightly and a recipe video has been added. The text has also been modified to include more recipe information.
130 Comments on “One Hour Rosemary Focaccia Bread”
oooo, I have made about 10 of these rounds of bread during the stay-at-home Covid-19 time. Before I had to stay in, I delivered these the friends….I have added all sorts of things and my favorite is cheddar and shallot with crispy garlic on the top. Thank you, this is an amazing recipe
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipe Seth. Stay safe and thank you for your feedback!
Made this bread twice because the 1st batch was eaten so quickly. I topped mine with garlic, rosemary, parmesan & provolone. It looked and tasted similar to the garlic bread from Buca di Beppo.
Thanks so much for your feedback, Teresa, and I’m glad you enjoyed the bread! Adding provolone sounds like a great idea. 🙂
Excited to try this, as it’s a quick yeast bread. But when do we add the (optional) Parmesan? In the dough? The topping?
Hello! The optional parmesan should be added to the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in Step 11 — sorry that was not clear. I hope you enjoy the bread!
Can I use pizza yeast to make this?
I use active dry yeast…I’ve never used pizza yeast.
My understanding was a packet of yeast is 2 1/4t, but you say 1 1/2t-just want to be sure before I attempt this. Thank you.
Hi Jennifer — simply use the entire 1/4 ounce package and you’ll be good to go!
Just made it this afternoon. OH MY! Can’t stop eating it! Thanks for this delicious, quick recipe! I’m going to be using the leftover bread( if there is any) to make caprese sandwiches (buffala mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, basil pesto) tomorrow. I loved getting to use fresh rosemary I grew myself. 🙂
This makes me happy Charlie — thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback and I love using my garden Rosemary for this bread too!
Great bread, like the garlic along with the rosemary, similar to a recipe I have long used, but taster!
Just a quick comment on printable recipes, usually there is a print tab to get rid of distractions and get the whole recipe without adds, unfortunately that doesn’t happen here, I had to copy it and take it into notes to get the recipe without 4 pages of adds
Hi Barb! Thank you for he feedback and I’m glad you enjoyed the bread! And that’s so strange about the ads printing for you — that doesn’t happen when I print my recipes?
I avoid using any oil. Is there something I can sub? Thanks!
Butter is the only other ingredient that I can think of that would be a decent substitute. Focaccia is best with some type of fat unfortunately.
This was my first time making focaccia. It came out so good. I really like how light it is and the crispy edges from the olive oil.
I’m glad you enjoyed it Leslie, and thanks so much for leaving your feedback!
This turned out to be very good ! Thanks for sharing
I’m so glad you enjoyed it — thank you for your feedback!
I am not a baker. Therefore, I followed this recipe exactly. The dough didn’t really pull away from the side of the bowl and I was too afraid to overmix it. This was easy and delishious! I got rave reviews from our company and they loved the rosemary. I’ll try his again but am also anxious to try with other flavors. Thanks for a terrific recipe. I served it with a nice homemade seafood chowder.
Hi Diana! I’m so happy to hear that this recipe worked so well for you and I really appreciate you leaving your feedback for me. Thank you!
I’d love to try this out, just curious about something… I don’t seem to be able to find out what size of the cast iron pan you’re using. Is it an 8”, 10”? 12” is probably too big… hmmmm, let me know what you had in mind and thanks!
Hi Mark — mine is a 9″ but any size will work really. If it’s a larger pan the bread just won’t be as thick and will probably bake up a bit faster I would check for doneness a bit sooner than I mentioned in the recipe.
Thanks Jenny!
I made this last night and it was SO delicious – the fluffiest, most flavorful bread ever! We were feeding a crowd, so I doubled the recipe and made it in a 15″ skillet and it worked perfectly. Thanks!
I’m so happy to hear that you loved the bread! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback — I appreciate it!
Oh my goodness, I’ve got to make this bread sometime soon! I love focaccia, and this recipe seems a lot easier than many homemade breads. Yum, yum, yum!!
It’s WAY too easy Nicole!