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”
Just made this after finally finding a one day recipe. One hour? Even better.
Listen. DE-LI-CIOUS! I’ve always veered away from making focaccia because of the seemingly tedious process, but this right here? So quick, so simple, so easy…if it wasn’t for actually making this to compliment breakfast, I would eat the whole thing right now and call it a day – it’s THAT good. So grateful to have found this – thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the focaccia and truly appreciate your feedback!
I just purchased a 12 1/2 in. cast iron skillet a couple of days ago. Would I need to make 1 1/2 of this recipe for a skillet that large? Thank you so much.
You could certainly make the recipe as written in a larger skillet, but the bread won’t be as thick and you’ll need to cut down the baking time. If you scale it to make 1.5 the amount of dough, the bread will be thicker and you will need to bake it longer.
Best bread I’ve ever made! Thanks!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
My rating is for the taste of the bread which was very good. However, you have an error in your instructions. I buy and use bulk yeast. So I know that the amount of yeast in a yeast packet is equal to 2.25 tsp. Your recipe states 1.5 tsp. though which is not enough. I like to follow a recipe exactly when I first make it and it definitely was not enough yeast to make the bread rise enough. My dough barely rose at all and after waiting 40 minutes, I realized I might as well go ahead and bake it. So you should change that amount in your ingredients. (Yes my yeast was fresh and bloomed)
Also, I think 2 T. Of oil in the skillet is too much. So I would cut back on that and 1 T. was enough for the topping.
Otherwise it was quite tasty.
Thank you for your feedback Nanci and you’re right — a packet of yeast includes 2.25 tsp. I will make that correction!
Super easy recipe! We ate it all before dinner was ready.
That’s so nice to hear — thanks for the feedback!
Thanks for the recipe! Have you ever used a gluten free flour like the King Arthur 1 to 1 substitute? Just curious about how it might turn out, thanks!
Hi Josh! I haven’t as I just haven’t found great results using them in baking yet. Most yield a sandy texture that I’m just not fond of.
Made this for the first time for dinner tonight and used a 9” nonstick cake pan. It came out perfectly! My family loved it. Served with a homemade dipping oil (EVO, red pepper flakes, a pinch of salt, cracked black pepper and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning). Will definitely make again!
Thank you for the feedback Connie, and I’m so glad that the recipe was a success for you!
From thinking “ooh, I could make focaccia” to finding your recipe to delicious focaccia with rosemary from my garden cooling in the pan, 1 hour and 15 minutes!! And I didn’t even use a mixer, just a fork.
I’m happy that you found the recipe so easy to make Amy and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
For the olive oil mix I used garlic, fresh rosemary and salt. I put that into the bread itself and then on top. Served with spaghetti. It was so good. Only one slice left and that has already been claimed. Easy and good!! Can’t wait to try other flavor options.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Do I need to make any adjustments to use dry active yeast instead of rapid rise?
Active dry yeast should be dissolved in lukewarm water before using. The instructions should be on the back of the package.
My first ever real bread (with yeast)! Delicious! Perfect first one to try but not sure I’d even bother with others as this is Devine and simple. Wish I could post a picture to prove it. Thank you and Pinterest winner!!!
I’m so happy that you had success your first time and that you love the recipe Roseann! Happy bread baking and thanks for your feedback!
Delicious! We dipped ours in a bowl of olive oil sprinkled with Italian seasonings and kosher salt! Love, love, love this simple recipe which results in a fantastic skillet bread! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
That sounds wonderful and I’m so glad you enjoyed the bread! I appreciate your feedback. 🙂
Awesome bread!! My son asks for this after a long day of working at the grocery store. It’s the least I can do!
I’m so glad you (and your son!) love the bread. My son works at a grocery store too — it’s such a crazy time for them there!
Can I use something other than a cast iron skillet? I don’t have one
You can simply form the dough into a 9” circle and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet, or grease an 8 or 9” cake pan and try that!
Two times a charm—there is a discrepancy in the recipe. In the directions it states to add rose mail and dough is done. In the recipe itself it says to add 2 tbls evoo with the rosemary and continue adding flour to dough. If you add the evoo to the dough it is a fail. Excellent second time.
I’m sorry that I left the oil out of the instructions in the post. There should always be olive oil in the focaccia dough itself.