I think bread is my favorite food group. But I don’t like to play favorites among types of bread, but focaccia has to be up there. I really love a good, airy/bubbly focaccia with a darker crust, and a ton of salt. Don’t give me any of that dense bread! This is truly my perfect vegan focaccia recipe, it ticks all the boxes for me, and I hope it does for you as well.
What is Focaccia?
Focaccia is a flat, airy bread that is similar to pizza dough. It is risen in a pan and dimpled with olive oil to create that classic look. My recipe clocks in around 80% hydration, but a typical focaccia recipe ranges from 75% to 85% hydration. Hydration is the amount of liquid relative to the weight of the flour in a bread recipe. Other ingredients in a focaccia recipe are usually flour, yeast, salt, sugar/honey, and olive oil. The ingredients are quite simple and the method of creating this vegan focaccia is as well!
Not all focaccia is vegan by the way, in fact a lot of recipes call for honey. In these recipes the honey can be easily swapped for granulated/cane sugar. There is so little sweetener in a focaccia recipe that it does not affect the overall flavor and texture with this swap. It is mostly used as food for the yeast. My last note on these ingredients is that in this vegan focaccia recipe, I use instant yeast vs. active yeast. The difference of the two is that instant yeast works a lot faster, and you do not have to active it (activating is adding warm water, and sugar to the yeast, then letting it sit until it becomes foamy).
The Method
While testing this recipe, I went down a lot of roads. I firstly decided I wanted this to be a no-knead focaccia recipe. Since the hydration is so high on this dough, it is pretty sticky and wet, I really didn’t want to have to knead this dough. Instead to give the focaccia it’s strength, we do a series of folds. These folds are very similar to the ones in my vegan cinnamon recipe. You are essentially pulling the dough up, and folding it back onto itself multiple times, every half hour. This will help create the gluten.
The next thing that was up for testing was rising. I wanted to test a version where it sat on the counter to rise the whole time. Then a version where I let is rise on the counter, then sit in the fridge overnight. My reasoning behind this was I was looking for different textures and flavors. I figured the fridge focaccia would have more flavor as the yeast got to develop more. But to my surprise there was not a ton of difference between the two.
The recipe outlined below will exclude the fridge, as I didn’t think it had a huge difference in texture and flavor. But I think it would be handy to use the fridge if you want to prep the previous day and get fresh bread in the morning. To do it this way, after letting the vegan focaccia rise 3-4 hours, put it straight into the fridge. Then the following day, bring it out and let it come to room temperature (about an hour). Then continue to follow the rest of the recipe. This method would really be a time saver if you are prepping for an event or just don’t have enough time the day you want fresh bread!
Equipment
In this recipe, I do not list out measurements in cups. The reason is, you should be using a scale when making bread! Things can go wildly wrong when using cups and measuring flour. Depending on how you scoop your flour, you can end up with much more or much less than the recipe calls for. Which can result in disappointing bread that you spent hours on. Scales are so cheap and such a versatile piece of equipment to have in your kitchen. This is the scale I have, and I highly recommend it. If you do not want to buy a scale and want to roll the dice, there are plenty of online conversions to convert grams to cups.
The last piece of equipment I call for is just a 9″ x 13″ non-stick pan. I love this pan, it is super non-stick and the heat distributes evenly, which makes for an amazingly browned crust.
Keeping it Fresh
A final note about fresh bread: this bread is really the best the day of baking it. It is good the next day but it really tastes so much better the day you bake it. To store leftovers, slice it into pieces and put in an air-tight container.
Finally, I have been eating this bread all summer with fresh tomatoes on it. It is truly amazing sandwich bread. I mean look at that! If you want to make a tomato sandwich, just like this, all you need is some vegan mayo, fresh tomatoes, salt and pepper!
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Vegan Focaccia
- V
- VG
- DF
Nutrition per portion
Ingredients
- 500g All Purpose Flour
- 125g Bread Flour
- 17g Kosher Salt
- 12g Granulated Sugar
- 9g Instant Yeast
- 37g Olive Oil
- 500g Water
- 1 ½ tbsp Olive Oil for Greasing the Pan
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil for Drizzling on Top
- Flaky Sea Salt for Topping
Method
- In a large bowl add the flours, sugar, yeast, salt, then whisk to combine.
- To the large bowl of flour, add in your water, and 37g of olive oil. Using a rubber spatula, mix the dough together really well until no dry spots remain and all the flour is incorporated.
- Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes perform a series of 6-8 folds. If you have ever made sourdough bread, these folds are the same method. Start by grabbing a section of the dough and gently pulling up and folding back onto itself in the middle. Rotate the bowl and continue until you have folded all the dough back onto itself. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and repeat this series of folds another 3 times, every 30 minutes for a total time of 2 hours, and 4 foldings.
- After your last set of folds, grab a non-stick 9" x 13" metal cake pan and add in 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil. Using a brush, brush the olive oil all over the bottom and up the sides and corners of the pan.
- Once your pan is oiled, transfer your dough to the pan and cover and let it sit for 30 minutes. This will help relax the gluten so it will be easier to stretch the dough into the pan.
- Wet your hands with water, then slowly and carefully stretch/push the dough into the corners of the pan. It is okay if the dough doesn't fully reach the corners. It will fill them out once the dough starts to rise.
- Cover the pan again and let the dough rise for 3-4 hours. The rise time will vary based on how warm your kitchen is. You are looking for large bubbles, and the dough to be jiggly when you shake the pan back and forth.
- Once the dough has finished rising, preheat your oven to 450°F. Remove the plastic wrap and drizzle about 1 tbsp of olive to the top of the dough, and then wet your hands with water to dimple the top to get that signature focaccia look (dimpling is just pushing your fingers into the dough, all over). Top with as much flaky sea salt as you desire.
- Bake the focaccia for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown and the interior temperature reaches at least 205°F. Let cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire baking rack to fully cool.
- Once fully cooled, slice and enjoy!
