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This garden herb focaccia with freshly ground flour is everything you want in homemade bread: light and airy, perfectly chewy, and made with 100% fresh milled whole grains.
This beginner-friendly recipe is easy to follow and bakes up beautifully every time. Topped with cherry tomatoes, rosemary, and sea salt, it’s absolutely delicious, too!
I made the most delicious cherry tomato and herb chicken for dinner last week, and my daughter suggested we pair it with a whole wheat focaccia bread.
I couldn’t say no! And she was so right — it was a match made in heaven.
The bread was pillowy soft and perfect for mopping up the delicious cherry tomato sauce in the chicken dish.
I’m still thinking about that meal, and now I’m sharing both recipes with you!
This freshly milled focaccia bread is going to be making a regular appearance on our dinner table. It’s a little easier than baking a regular boule, and it can make any meal more special.
We felt like we were in Italy eating it! Next batch I make is going to be served with some one pan chicken alfredo with freshly milled pasta. I can’t wait!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Beginner-friendly bread: As far as homemade bread goes, I think focaccia is one of the easiest and most foolproof. It’s perfect for beginners or anybody who wants an easy win in the kitchen!
- No mixer or kneading: This recipe uses stretch and folds to build up the gluten structure in the bread dough. That means no mixer needed, and you get to skip the hand kneading too!
- Freshly milled flour: There’s nothing like fresh milled flour to give your baked goods a wonderful depth of flavor. This recipe is so much better than any focaccia bread I’ve made with all purpose flour!
- Customizable: I like topping my focaccia with cherry tomatoes and rosemary, but the possibilities are endless! You can swap them out for whatever you have on hand, whatever you love, or just keep it simple with flaky salt.
Key Ingredients
- Hard red wheat: Freshly milled hard red wheat berries give this rustic focaccia bread its delicious, chewy texture and strong gluten structure.
- Water: Make sure it’s heated to around 100°F. Too hot can kill the yeast, while too cold will inhibit its bloom.
- Olive oil: The secret to a delicious focaccia bread is to be very generous with a good olive oil. You’ll definitely want to break out your favorite oil for this one!
- Rosemary: Fresh rosemary adds such a lovely flavor to the focaccia bread! Feel free to substitute other fresh herbs that you have on hand.
See the full list of ingredients, with measurements, at the bottom of this post!
How to Make Garden Herb Focaccia with Freshly Ground Flour
Step 1. Whisk the water, yeast, and honey in a large bowl and let it sit 5 to 10 minutes, until it looks foamy on top. This wakes up the active dry yeast. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon to a shaggy dough with no dry spots. Cover and let rest 25 minutes.
Step 2. Add the salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Wet one hand and do a round of stretch-and-folds: grab an edge, pull up, fold to the center, rotate the bowl, and repeat 8 to 10 times. The dough will be very wet and sticky. That is correct.
Step 3. Cover. Over the next 90 minutes, do 3 more fold sets spaced about 30 minutes apart. After the last fold, let it rise until nearly doubled and pillowy, about 30 to 60 more minutes. Also note, the dough will be sticky to work with at first, but by the last stretch and fold, it should be smooth!
Step 4. Pour 3 tablespoons olive oil into the skillet and swirl to coat the sides. Scrape the dough in, turn once to oil the top, and gently stretch it toward the edges. Cover and proof 30 to 45 minutes, until puffy.
Step 5. Heat the oven to 450°F. Oil your fingertips and dimple the dough all over, pressing down to the pan. Nestle in the tomatoes and herbs, then drizzle with the last 1 tablespoon oil, and finish with flaky salt.
Step 6. Bake 22 to 28 minutes, until deep golden with a crisp bottom (lift an edge with a spatula to check). Cool in the pan 5 minutes, then move to a rack so the bottom stays crackly.
Tips + Notes
- The dough will be sticky at first, and by the last stretch and fold, it should be smooth and perfect.
- The rise times will vary depending on the temperature of your house. It’s best to watch the dough and adjust the time based on how it’s rising rather than just setting the timer and forgetting about it.
- To make-ahead: After step 2, refrigerate the covered dough overnight (up to 24 hours) instead of same-day folds. Cold fermentation deepens the flavor and makes whole wheat easier to handle. Bring to room temp about 1 hour before panning.
- In step 4, if the dough springs back on you while trying to stretch it to the edges, let it rest for 10 minutes, then finish stretching.
- I cook this for exactly 25 minutes. All ovens are different, so I suggest beginning to check it around 22 minutes.
- Serve your focaccia bread with a dish of dipping oil with balsamic vinegar and dried Italian herbs for a fun and fancy appetizer.
Variations
The fun of focaccia bread is that you can top it with nearly anything! If you want to branch out from the cherry tomatoes and rosemary, here are some ideas you can substitute:
- Other fresh herbs: thyme, oregano, basil, parsley
- Onions: fresh or caramelized
- Garlic: raw or roasted
- Olives or capers
- Cheese: parmesan, feta, or goat cheese
- Mushrooms
- Zucchini
- Sundried tomatoes
- Artichoke hearts
What to Serve with Garden Herb Focaccia Bread
I told you earlier in this post that I made this bread to be the perfect side dish for my cherry tomato skillet chicken. I have big plans for how I’m going to incorporate it into other meals too, because it’s just that good!
You can whip up a batch of focaccia bread any time you need to bulk up a meal or have a simple yet elegant side/appetizer. My top choices for main dishes to pair it with are Tuscan roast chicken, carne pizzaiola, chicken pesto pasta bake, or garlic butter shrimp pasta.
This is also the perfect recipe for soup season! A big bowl of steaming soup with a side of fresh focaccia bread is one of my favorite meals of all time. May I suggest Dutch oven lasagna soup, our favorite pizza soup, or sausage tortellini soup?
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can! I share exactly how in the recipe card notes, or above under the ‘Tips + Notes’ heading.
I used hard red wheat. Both hard red and hard white work great for yeast bread like focaccia because of their high protein content. The hard red gives it a more robust flavor and a slightly sturdier crumb, which makes for a great focaccia!
I buy all of my whole grains from Azure Standard because they consistently have the best price and quality. I share more about the different sourcing options in my article on where to buy milling grains.
I use and love the Mockmill professional grain mill. I tried a few different options before that one, and the mill really made a difference in the final texture of my baked goods!
I know you’re going to love this focaccia bread as much as my family and I do! It’s really such a fun and easy recipe, and how beautiful is that bread?!
If you’re new to baking with freshly milled flour, be sure to check out my beginner tutorials. You can learn how to mill your own flour and the basics of baking with whole grains before you get started.
Related Recipes
- Whole Wheat Artisan Bread
- Baguettes with Freshly Milled Flour
- Freshly Milled Flatbread
- Whole Wheat Pizza Dough with Freshly Milled Flour
- Brioche Bread With Freshly Milled Flour
If you tried this Garden Herb Focaccia with Freshly Ground Flour or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Garden Herb Focaccia with Freshly Ground Flour
Equipment
- 12-inch cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 500 g freshly milled whole wheat flour hard white wheat (about 4 cups, spooned)
- 425 g warm water around 100°F
- 7 g active dry yeast 2¼ teaspoons, one packet
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 10 g sea salt 2 teaspoons
- 6 tablespoons olive oil divided
Toppings:
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
- flaky salt
Instructions
- Whisk the water, yeast, and honey in a large bowl and let it sit 5 to 10 minutes, until it looks foamy on top. This wakes up the active dry yeast. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon to a shaggy dough with no dry spots. Cover and rest 25 minutes.
- Add the salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Wet one hand and do a round of stretch-and-folds: grab an edge, pull up, fold to the center, rotate the bowl, and repeat 8 to 10 times. The dough will be very wet and sticky. That is correct.
- Cover. Over the next 90 minutes, do 3 more fold sets spaced about 30 minutes apart. After the last fold, let it rise until nearly doubled and pillowy, about 30 to 60 more minutes. Also note, the dough will be sticky to work with at first, but by the last stretch and fold, it should be smooth!
- Pour 3 tablespoons olive oil into the skillet and swirl to coat the sides. Scrape the dough in, turn once to oil the top, and gently stretch it toward the edges. Cover and proof 30 to 45 minutes, until puffy.
- Heat the oven to 450°F. Oil your fingertips and dimple the dough all over, pressing down to the pan. Nestle in the tomatoes and herbs then drizzle with the last 1 tablespoon oil, and finish with flaky salt.
- Bake 22 to 28 minutes*, until deep golden with a crisp bottom (lift an edge with a spatula to check). Cool in the pan 5 minutes, then move to a rack so the bottom stays crackly.
Notes
- The dough will be sticky at first, and by the last stretch and fold, it should be smooth and perfect.
- The rise times will vary depending on the temperature of your house. It’s best to watch the dough and adjust the time based on how it’s rising rather than just setting the timer and forgetting about it.
- To make-ahead: After step 2, refrigerate the covered dough overnight (up to 24 hours) instead of same-day folds. Cold fermentation deepens the flavor and makes whole wheat easier to handle. Bring to room temp about 1 hour before panning.
- In step 4, if the dough springs back on you while trying to stretch it to the edges, let it rest for 10 minutes, then finish stretching.
- *I cook this for exactly 25 minutes. All ovens are different, so I suggest beginning to check it around 22 minutes.
- Serve your focaccia bread with a dish of dipping oil with balsamic vinegar and dried Italian herbs for a fun and fancy appetizer.
