Crispy Sheet Pan Focaccia with Rosemary

4.41 from 5 votes

Crispy Sheet Pan Focaccia with Rosemary

Rosemary focaccia is crispy on the bottom, soft and salty on the top, baked in olive oil, and sprinkled with buttery rosemary.

Prep Time25

Cook Time18

Rise Time1 40

Total Time2 23

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Calories: 389kcal

Author: Lauren Skardal

Ingredients

Dough

1 ¾ cups water
1 tablespoon honey
1 package yeast
2 tbsps olive oil
2 ½ teaspoon salt
4 cups bread flour

Toppings

½ cup olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves removed and minced
½ cup warm water
½ teaspoon salt or reduce to ¼ tsp, see note below*

Instructions

Add warm water and honey to a large bowl and combine. Ensure that the water is warm, but not hot. Add the yeast and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes until it starts to bubble.
Add the olive oil, salt and flour and combine roughly with a spoon. Turn out the dough onto a flat surface and knead the dough for ten minutes.
Place the smooth ball of dough back in the bowl and coat in a thin layer of olive oil, about one tablespoon. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in the fridge for 24 hours. Or alternatively place in warm spot and allow to double in size, 1-2 hours.
If the dough was in the fridge overnight, take it out and leave it on the counter to bring it up to room temperature (or at the back of a warm oven, or by a window in the sun).
Pour ½ cup olive oil onto a large half baking sheet. See note about the amount of olive oil below.
Move the dough from the bowl to the baking sheet and using your hands gently start to spread the dough out to fill the shape of the rectangular baking sheet. The dough will be elastic and will pull back towards the center. Keep working the dough and stretch it all the way to the edges and corners of the baking sheet. This will take a little persistence and you’ll get lots of olive oil on your hands. That’s part of the fun!
Once the dough is stretched out to cover the baking sheet, cover it in plastic wrap and allow to rise for about 40 minutes in a warm place, or until the dough has risen to about the top of the rim of the baking sheet. I put it on top towards the back of the stove with the oven on underneath at 350°F so that it warms up that part of the kitchen especially in cooler months.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Move a rack to the bottom of the oven.
Gently press your fingers into the dough to create rows of dimples in the dough, about 1 inch apart.
Combine ½ cup warm water and ¼-½ teaspoon salt depending on preference (see note on salt below). Stir to dissolve. Slowly pour the salt water into each of the dimples in the dough.
Add a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle the rosemary evenly over the dough.
Bake on the lowest rack at 400°F for 16-18 minutes.

Notes

Saltwater Brine: This recipe uses a saltwater brine technique inspired by Salt Fat Acid Heat on Netflix with Samin Nosrat, author of the book by the same name. Dissolve salt in water and pour it over the top of the focaccia. It gives it a wonderfully salty and soft top while allowing the bottom to get crispy. This style of Focaccia is from a region in Italy known as Liguria, the northern crescent-shaped region on the Mediterranean not far from France which includes Cinque Terre.
- **Less Salty: I make the salt brine with ½ teaspoon salt in ½ cup of water and I love it. It is salty and amazing. Though this may just be too salty for some people’s pallets. For a less salty brine, reduce the salt to ¼ teaspoon in ½ cup of water.
Overnight Rise: Letting the dough rise overnight is a really nice way to make this on your own time, either after work or after the kids are in bed. You’re using your hands a lot so it can be relaxing and meditative and it’s a convenient way to get warm fresh food on the table the next day with minimal work while you likely have so many daytime distractions.
Extra Crispy Bottom: Adding the ½ cup of olive oil and placing the sheet pan on the lowest rack makes the focaccia extra crispy on the bottom, but still soft on top.
- Less Olive Oil: If you prefer less olive oil in the bread, you can reduce the amount to ¼ cup olive oil in the bottom of the pan when you spread out the dough.

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