Olive Focaccia Loaf with Rosemary and Kalamata Olives
This olive focaccia loaf is baked in a bread pan, so you get a taller, softer slice than the usual sheet-pan version. The dough is very wet and sticky, closer to a thick batter than a traditional dough, and that’s what gives the crust its open, airy crumb. A stand mixer does most of the work, and a few rounds of stretching and folding work the Kalamata olives and rosemary through the dough.
Olive Focaccia Loaf with Rosemary and Kalamata Olives
A wet, sticky dough mixed in a stand mixer, folded with Kalamata olives and rosemary, then baked in a 4.5×8.5 bread pan for a tall, airy loaf with a crisp olive oil crust.
Equipment
- 1 Stand Mixer with Hook
Ingredients
Focaccia Dough Ingredients:
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- ½ tsp honey
- 3 cups bread flour 390g
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1.5 cups lukewarm water 340g
- ¼ c Olive Oil
Add Ins
- 1 tbsp Rosemary chopped
- ⅓ cup Kalamata Olive whole halved and sliced
Instructions
- Add the lukewarm water to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Whisk in the yeast and honey and let sit 5 minutes, until foamy. (If it doesn’t foam, your yeast may be dead or the water too hot or cold.)
- Add the flour and salt. Mix on low until the flour is incorporated, then increase to medium-high for 5 minutes. (If your mixer struggles or walks across the counter, drop to medium.)
- Turn off the mixer, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and rest for 10 minutes.
- Resume mixing on medium-high for another 15 minutes. The dough will be very wet and sticky, closer to a thick batter than a traditional dough. That’s correct, and it’s what gives the crust its open, airy crumb. Don’t add more flour.
- Pour ¼ cup olive oil into a large bowl. Scrape the dough into the bowl with a rubber spatula and coat the top in oil. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, [about 1½-2 hours depending on your kitchen’s temperature].
- Stretch and fold the dough 6-8 times, until the olives and rosemary are fully incorporated. Cover and let sit 15 min.
- Move dough to bread pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes to 1 hour. Begin preheating oven to 450F.
- Dimple, drizzle with olive oil, salt and bake at 450F for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes
Why is my focaccia dough so wet and sticky? That’s correct. A very wet dough gives the open, airy crumb, so don’t add flour.
My yeast didn’t foam. What now? Start over. Dead yeast or water that was too hot or cold is the usual cause.
What does dimpling do? It deflates the surface gas pockets so the loaf bakes with the classic dimpled top and pools of olive oil.
My mixer is walking across the counter. Drop the speed to medium.
