Last Updated on May 6, 2022 by Kathryn Donangelo
Olive and Herb Focaccia is super easy to make from scratch! Crusty on the outside & soft in the inside. Topped with olive oil, herbs & olives!
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Say hello to your new favorite homemade bread or should I say, Focaccia recipe! This Olive and Herb Focaccia is incredibly simple and easy enough for anyone to make! Herbs, chopped olives, seasoning and olive oil is baked on top of this focaccia bread making the crust perfectly golden brown.
Making bread from scratch is so fun and easy. It takes a few minutes to make the dough and then you let it rise for 8 hours to over night so the dough can rise.
This Rustic Olive Bread is another favorite bread and takes less than 20 minutes to prep.
This focaccia dough is remarkably soft, fluffy and delicate. All of the flavors come together perfectly and you won’t believe how easy it is to make from scratch. From the rustic and slightly crunchy crust to the fluffy inside and savory toppings!
The little dimples in the bread creates more room for olive oil, olives and herbs! Once the bread gets baked, the dimples absorbs all of those wonderful flavors making this focaccia extra delicious!
ADD YOUR FAVORITE OLIVES! I love the combination of black and green olives but you can use any of your favorites- even canned black olives will work great! You can never have too many olives in my opinion!
Every savory bite of this focaccia bread has fresh herbs, olives, and rich olive oil. You don’t have to worry about making this bread perfect because it will automatically bake to perfection.
One of the best things about Focaccia bread is it goes with almost any meal. It goes perfectly with this Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies, Bacon Spinach Salad, Skinny Chicken Mac and Cheese, Turkey Zucchini Meatballs, or Crock Pot Rosemary Lemon Chicken.
INGREDIENTS TO MAKE OLIVE & HERB FOCACCIA
- Warm water
- Active dry yeast
- Sugar
- Bread flour
- Salt
- Kalamata olives
- Green olives
- Rosemary
- Basil
- Oregano
- Thyme
- Garlic powder
- Coarse salt
- Olive oil
HOW TO MAKE OLIVE & HERB FOCACCIA
- Mix together warm water, yeast and sugar until frothy. Let sit for 3 minutes.
- In a large glass bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until dough forms. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 8 hours or up to overnight.
- Remove from fridge and drizzle an 8-inch cake pan with ½ Tbsp. oil and place the dough in the center. Stretch the dough to cover the pan. Let dough rise for 1 hour on the counter.
- Once dough has risen, heat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine all of the herbs and seasoning in a small bowl. Drizzle the top with remaining oil and press the bottom of a wooden spoon or your finger down all around the bread to create dimples. Sprinkle with herbs and chopped olives. Bake for 22-25 minutes. Enjoy!
KEY NOTES ABOUT YEAST
Activating the yeast properly is extremely important because if your yeast isn’t active, your bread won’t rise. In step #1, once you combine the warm water, yeast and sugar the yeast should start to fizz and you can smell the activation of the yeast. You may also see tiny bubbles. That will indicate that your yeast is good to use!
It’s also crucial that you use warm water to activate the yeast, the water can’t be too cold or too hot, warm water is about 120 degrees F.
Yeast will last in the refrigerator for about 3-4 months after opening. If you are unsure about how old your yeast it- test it out by activating it with warm water and sugar to see if it fizzes. Unopened dry yeast will last about 6 months in the pantry or a cool area.
HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER FOCACCIA
You can either store at room temperature or freeze leftover focaccia. Place the focaccia on a plate and cover with plastic wrap or in an air tight container. Store at room temperature for up to 4 days. To freeze, simply wrap the focaccia in plastic wrap tightly and then wrap it again in foil and freeze for up to a month.
LOOKING FOR OTHER EASY BREAD RECIPES? TRY THESE!
- Copycat Restaurant Breadsticks
- Sweet and Moist Cornbread
- Lemon Poppy Seed Yogurt Bread
- Cheesy Garlic Bread
- Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread
- Apple Cinnamon Bread
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Olive and Herb Focaccia
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water (100 degrees F)
- 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 2 cups bread flour
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
Ingredients for crust of focaccia
- 1/4 tsp. fresh or dried rosemary; chopped
- 1/4 tsp. dried basil
- 1/4 tsp. fresh or dried oregano; chopped
- 1/4 tsp. fresh or dried thyme; chopped
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. coarse salt
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil; divided
- 1/4 cup kalamata and or green olives; chopped
Instructions
- Mix together warm water, yeast and sugar until frothy. Let sit for 3 minutes.
- In a large glass bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until dough forms. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 8 hours or up to overnight.
- Remove from fridge and drizzle an 8-inch cake pan with ½ Tbsp. oil and place the dough in the center. Stretch the dough to cover the pan. Let dough rise for 1 hour on the counter.
- Once dough has risen, heat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine all of the herbs and seasoning in a small bowl. Drizzle the top with remaining oil and press the bottom of a wooden spoon or your finger down all around the bread to create dimples. Sprinkle with herbs and chopped olives. Bake for 22-25 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
- Activating the yeast properly is extremely important because if your yeast isn't active, your bread won't rise. In step #1, once you combine the warm water, yeast and sugar the yeast should start to fizz and you can smell the activation of the yeast. You may also see tiny bubbles. That will indicate that your yeast is good to use!
- It's also crucial that you use warm water to activate the yeast, the water can't be too cold or too hot, warm water is about 120 degrees F.
- Yeast will last in the refrigerator for about 3-4 months after opening. If you are unsure about how old your yeast it- test it out by activating it with warm water and sugar to see if it fizzes. Unopened dry yeast will last about 6 months in the pantry or a cool area.
You are right! Focaccia goes perfectly with so many meals…and I just love this flavour combination. I’m not a big olive fan but I love it in little bits like how it is in this recipe.
I am so excited to try this Olive and Herb Focaccia! it looks incredibly delicious and mouthwatering.
I haven’t had focaccia bread in so long and I don’t know why. Your recipe looks amazing!
Thank you 🙂 I hope you get a chance to try it!
I am loving everything about this bread! 🙂 Definitely making this soon.
Thank you Carrie! I hope you love this focaccia recipe!
So tasty, my whole family loved it. I served the focaccia with a simple pesto pasta.
This is great to hear! Thank you!
I love how this is crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. I bet it would be perfect for lunch, dinner, or brunch.
Yes I agree to all three! Thanks for trying my recipe!
This was super easy to make! Loved using my fresh herbs to flavor it!
Yay! I’m glad it was so easy and you used fresh herbs, thank you!
What a beautiful combination of flavours! I love how perfectly round the bread is – good idea baking it in a container! My husband loves olives so I know he’s going to love this olive and herb focaccia!
Thanks Aleta! Any olive lover will be sure to love this focaccia bread!
Olive and Herb Focaccia has all the right flavor notes and is so easy to make! I cannot tell you enough how much I loved this recipe. I will be making it again soon!!!
That is so wonderful to hear. Thank you for trying my recipe Heidy!
Love foccacia and this is one of the best flavor combo. I will soon try this recipe. Thanks for sharing
I hope you love the recipe! Thank you!
I absolutely love focaccia! It’s so soft and delicious…the olives speckled throughout is so good! Yum!
The olives are the best part!! Thanks so much!
This Olive and Herb Focaccia is not only easy to make, its absolutely delicious! The flavors are perfect!
Thank you so much! So glad to hear 🙂
We simply love the aroma of bread baking — and I can imagine that the herb and olive foccacia smells heavenly. My family is getting together this afternoon and I’ve already started to gather the ingredient. I know this will be a big hit with them.
It is truly the best aroma! I hope you love it!
This focaccia looks so tasty and flavorful and seems easy to make also. Looks like the perfect texture as well!
Thank you!!
This is one of my favorite breads! Such an easy recipe and so so good. I add extra olives!!
I add extra olives too 🙂 Such a great idea! Thank you so much!