Rosemary focaccia bread! How to make a small batch of focaccia in a quarter sheet pan. Easy focaccia recipe in just 2 hours.
Hey! Hi. Hi! I've been eating a lot of bread. And I think it's related, but I'm feeling very happy these days.
It's a very good thing. The weather got cold again and so I sat in front of the oven, tore off large pieces of this homemade focaccia, and dunked it in excessive amounts of peppery olive oil. My fingers are greasy, but my belly is full. I love being well-fed.
I put a call out on instagram a few weeks ago asking for recipe requests. After scanning the list several times (thank you guys so much), and noticed an overwhelming number of requests for small batch yeast breads.
Baking bread is one of my favorite things to do with a spare few hours in the kitchen. Working with yeast brings me joy. (Have you seen my small-batch cinnamon rolls?) It's magic in the kitchen! I'm so happy to tackle this request for you guys. There are quite a few breads on my list to make, but I wanted to start with something easy.
Something quick. Minimal effort, maximum reward. You know how I roll.
This is also how I roll:
Rosemary focaccia bread. You've had it, right? It's a rich dough made with olive oil and covered with herbs, and it's typically not more than 1" high. It's thicker than a flat bread, but not suitable for making a true bread loaf.
After 5 failed recipe attempts, I've decided that the reason focaccia doesn't rise very high is due to the copious amounts of olive oil. I also decided that the reason focaccia is so delicious is due to the copious amounts of olive oil.
Rosemary focaccia bread is the BEST sandwich bread, if you ask me. It's light and fluffy, and very easy to bite through. I love eating it simply dunked in olive oil, but I also love to make a salami, brown mustard, marinated artichoke and pickled carrot sandwich with it (I'm not high maintenance, I swear).
Some people compare focaccia to pizza dough, but this is a comparison I don't understand. Pizza dough is thin and chewy; focaccia is soft and fluffy. If your pizza dough is fluffy, I don't think you're making pizza dough correctly. But that's just me. I think the comparison is referring to the Italian roots of both doughs.
Rosemary is traditional on top of focaccia dough, and I have a heavy hand with it. I used the older, woodier tips of my rosemary plants, and I mention that because if you use young, tender rosemary leaves, it has a tendency to stain your dough green. No big deal, really, but I don't like explaining to dinner guests why I'm serving green bread. I already have to explain so many things, like why my child eats all of the food on her plate and then begs for yours too. And how is it possible that a child of her size puts away so much sauerkraut. Oh, and did I notice my baby has quite a large belly and is looking rather chunky today? Yes yes, and that's just how I like my babes.
We've strayed off course. Rosemary focaccia bread made in a quarter sheet pan (<--link to the one I use) for a smaller serving size. That's what you're here for today, correct?
Rosemary focaccia bread recipe notes:
- A quarter sheet pan sounds super fancy. It's not. It's basically half of a normal-sized sheet pan. If you don't have one, you can absolutely make this bread with a regular sheet pan, but know that it will spread a bit more. Keep an eye on the edges while it bakes.
- Olive oil. Be generous and loving with it. Pour it in the dough, pour it liberally on the pan, and then lovingly brush it again when it comes out of the oven. It's the key here.
- Please make sure your yeast is fresh and alive. Wait a full 15 minutes to make sure it blooms in the warm water. If its alive, it will be very noticeably foamy. The most common failure with yeast bread is using water that is too hot, which kills the yeast. Don't be a murderer. Use slightly warm, not hot, water.
- I call for ½ cup of olive oil, which is 8 tablespoons total. You'll use ¼ cup in the actual dough, and then divide the remaining ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) between the pan and the top of the dough before baking. Easy, right?
- Can you double this recipe and make more? Honestly, guys, I have no idea. I spend my life scaling down recipes, so I don't turn around and then scale them back up. That would probably land me in the crazy house, you know? This recipe makes 9 generous pieces. Enough for 4 sandwiches (and a snack for the cook!)
I love you, and can't wait until our next yeast bread adventure!
This focaccia would be awesome with artichokes and olive on top, too! If you love artichokes and olives, you've got to make my Mediterranean Pasta. This focaccia is a great side dish for it, also.
Small Batch Focaccia
Homemade focaccia bread with rosemary--small batch bread recipe.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup barely warm water (105-110°F is ideal)
- 1 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus extra for sprinkling on top
- ½ cup olive oil, divided use
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Place the warm water in a small bowl, and sprinkle the yeast and sugar on top. Stir to dissolve, and let sit for 15 minutes. At the end of 15 minutes, it should be very foamy and noticeably alive. It may even bubble as you stare at it!
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a mini stand mixer*, add the flour, salt, and half of the olive oil (¼ cup). Fit the dough hook attachment into the mixer, and turn it on briefly to mix the ingredients together.
- Pour the foamy yeast water into the flour mixture. Turn the mixer to medium and knead for 5 minutes. Stop and scrape the dough down every minute or so.
- At the end of 5 minutes, the dough may be slightly sticky, but that's fine.
- Flour a surface, and knead the dough for about 30 seconds--the stickiness will completely disappear.
- Grease a small bowl, and place the dough inside. Let rest in a warm place until it doubles in size, about an hour in my cold, drafty house by the oven.
- Pour two tablespoons of the remaining olive oil on a quarter sheet pan (measures 9 x 13 x 1"), and spread it evenly. Add the dough to the pan, and use your fingers to spread it to the corners of the pan. Try not to make too many holes, but some are okay.
- Brush the final 2 tablespoons of olive oil on top of the dough, and place in a warm place to rise again until doubles, about 1 hour again.
- Preheat the oven to 425.
- Sprinkle the rosemary on top of the dough, and sprinkle additional salt (coarse is fun here) on top.
- Bake the bread for 18-21 minutes, until it starts to turn a light golden brown.
- Immediately after baking, flip the bread onto a cooling rack (do not let it cool in the pan). Let it cool completely before slicing and serving.
Notes
*To make this without a stand mixer, knead by hand for 10 minutes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 177Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 178mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 3g
Kat says
I used instant yeast which eliminates the first yeast/water step -- just put all of the ingredients in (excep 1/4 c. Olive oil) and proceed with the recipe. I added my finely chopped rosemary here because we love the flavor in the bread and baked in a cast iron skillet (11" I think) which gives it a really nice crust.
The leftovers kept better than the recipe I was using -- still fresh the next day. Thanks for the scaled down recipe.
Christina Lane says
Thanks so much, Kat! :)
Christine says
Has anyone tried halving this recipe?
Jane says
Hi Christina, this is such a wonderful recipe! I've been following your blog closely since there's only 2 of us and many recipes yields too much for 2 people. I made this yesterday since I treated myself to some good quality olive oil the other day. It was absolutely delicious!
For any readers that come by, I used 1tsp* of yeast and rested my dough overnight (about 13 hours) in the fridge. Everything else was kept the same as listed. Highly recommend this to anyone!
Sany says
I’m surprised this recipe doesn’t require overnight proofing so I’m excited to try it out !
Randy says
Just took this out of the oven. Smells delicious. I used instant yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes. I did not have a quarter sheet pan but I discovered I had a Swiss Roll pan never used and it worked out perfectly
Valerie says
I'm so glad I tried this. It was fluffy and delicious. I made garlic parmesan butter and spread that on for the last ten mins of baking. We were wanting garlic bread and this worked perfectly
Kim Van Houten says
Wish I could attach photos! I just used your recipe to do a design of flowers using vegetables — focaccia art!
Christina Lane says
Oh how beautiful! You can send it to me on instagram :)
Sandra Friesen says
I’ve made this twice now and it’s super easy and tasty. My kids requested it for their camp lunches as the sandwich bread. Tomorrow they’ll make it with me for our lunches for a day trip the next day.
Diane says
I mixed this in my bread machine. It came out GREAT!
Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Jean says
Thank you for the small batch recipe. I have made foccacia and know it is easy to make. This week I bought this size at the supermarket. And I just said to my husband I will be making it at home, to save money on the grocery bill (along with pizza because take out has become expensive and homemade is easy). We had it leftover grilled foccacia for breakfast. I had not thought of it for sandwiches. That is a good idea if I am out of bread. Thank you.
Anna says
This is an amazing recipe!! Thanks for sharing! I made it several times (as I did other of your recipes) Made it same as per recipe, then with caramelized onion + olives+ small tomatoes(cut in thin rounds) with slivered garlic incorporated in the dough, as well "decorated focaccia" - the dough is super to work with - end result is a fluffy -satisfying focaccia :)! Def my go to recipe as a snack, light lunch or just because :). Yum!