Focaccia! (13)
- bridgetscooking
- Aug 9, 2025
- 4 min read
I'm pretty proud of the looks of this sourdough focaccia. But, before we get into the details of baking a delicious focaccia, let's talk a bit more about starter.
Most of the recipes I've shared with you guys use sourdough discard. Okay, if I'm being honest, gentle readers, virtually all the recipes I've shared are made with discard. đ The reason being is that I've had the most success with those types of recipes. My favorite traditional sourdough loaf recipe of course, is the Pain de Compaigne (from the King Arthur web site). It uses discard and I find it bakes up consistently every time. Practically "no fail".
I typically feed my starter a day or two before I bake this favorite bread recipe. At that point my starter is fairly "active". However active starter isn't necessarily a "ripe" starter.
I have been wanting to try making a sourdough focaccia bread and the recipe I found on the KA web site uses "ripe" starter. Â
I decided it was time to give it a try! I fed my starter after being in the fridge a couple of days since my last bake. I am including pictures of the changes in level as it "eats". Then I will mix the focaccia and include those directions and results with you also.
I checked my starter 1 hour post feed and not much changed. Kind of like watching a pot of water boil, right? I then checked it 2 hours post feed and the level was up slightly.
If I am being honest I've been a little nervous trying this recipe given my blog is all about how easy making sourdough can be! I still stand by that! Sometimes though, we want to try something a bit more challenging. This focaccia recipe isn't difficult, it simply uses a starter at the ripe stage and requires an overnight proof. Waiting to bake the next day can really help by breaking up your steps over a couple of days and allows you to synch timing with a company or family dinner.
While I'm waiting for my starter to get active I wanted to share a really great post on the King Arthur (KA) site about how to tell if your sourdough starter is ripe.
This post is very helpful in describing the differences in the stages as you feed your starter and I appreciate reading the comments. Early on in my sourdough journey, I learned so much from the KA site.
My jar pictures look a bit messy, but that may be how your jars look too. You can still tell the progress your starter is making through the glass and a trusty piece of painters tape! đ
Here is the starter about 3 hours post feed.
My starter was "ripe" and ready to use after about 5 hours. I mixed the ripe starter with water, bread flour, olive oil, table salt, honey and instant yeast according to the recipe. Once I mixed and kneaded the dough (using the dough hook on my KitchenAid mixer), I placed the dough in the dough bucket with lid for a 60 minute rise. After that first rise, I folded the dough 4 times and covered with the lid for a second 60 minute rise. I then oiled a metal 9x13 pan (I made a half batch) with olive oil, placed the dough in the pan and spread it gently into the sides of the pan. The dough pulled back a bit, so I let it rest a few minutes and then completed spreading the dough. I covered with plastic wrap and put it into the fridge overnight.
I didn't take pictures of the dough in the pan, but It looked nice and pillowy the next morning. I waited for my newest sourdough buddy to join me prior to baking. Tammy wanted to learn about making the Pain de Campaigne and I thought it would be great to share the focaccia bake with her. I took the focaccia pan out of the fridge while my oven preheated to 425 degrees. Just prior to placing the pan in the oven, I used my fingers to press "dimples" in the dough. Then I drizzled olive oil, fresh rosemary (I really enjoy my small herb garden in the summer) and kosher salt. Then I let it bake for just over 20 minutes. Voila!
I am so pleased with how this focaccia turned out! I just had to manage the timing of my starter post feed , monitor until it lifted in the jar and became very bubbly and active to use as the "ripe" starter ingredient. I'm glad to add this recipe to my recipe section. Please give it a try and let me know how it turns out! Tammy is going to experiment with including jalapeĂąo peppers and cheddar cheese to her first focaccia bake! Sounds yummy to me!
My husband and I had some with our dinner. It was delicious, light and airy.
Just a side note: There is no single "right" approach to baking with sourdough. My younger son Sean enjoys cooking so much more than baking. He recently told me that cooking is an art and baking is a science. I tend to agree with that. You can certainly be more creative when cooking and tweaking recipes, but baking may not be as forgiving to some tweaks. I have switched up some ingredients (primarily mix-ins) with success, but the basic measurements and baking directions I follow to the letter. That's me. I am a "process gal" as my husband likes to tell me. đ I'm hoping that by sharing some of my experiences, it will help you through your sourdough journey. I think having some frustrations along the way make the successes that much sweeter! Anyway, enough about that...( I would be interested in hearing your thoughts, please feel free to comment and let me know what you think!)
Until next time; Happy Baking!
Bridget
The focaccia was delicious. My family thought so too! Thank you Bridget for introducing me to this fascinating art of baking bread and other goodies.