I’m always looking for sourdough discard recipes. This one caught my eye and produced the most beautiful, fluffy focaccia. Both my husband and I rated this 5 out of 5 stars!
For those who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas! I am fortunate enough to be spending it with my (fully vaccinated and boostered-up) family. Even our Addie is fully vaccinated, so that makes me feel better about her safety.
I have been doing my best to keep my sourdough starter alive and making sure I do a better job feeding him. In doing so, I am trying to find some recipes for the sourdough discard. While doing a simple Google search, I came across this recipe for a focaccia. Over Thanksgiving, one of our family friends gifted us with fresh rosemary from his garden. I wanted to highlight the ingredient so a focaccia seemed like a natural solution.
There were so many things that I loved about this recipe. First, it was no-fuss, so all I needed to do was form the dough, let it rest, spread it out, and let it rest again. Second, it used a lot of sourdough starter (170 grams!). And lastly but most importantly, the focaccia was among the best I’ve ever had. The top was nice and crispy, and the inside was light and fluffy. We dipped our focaccia in both marinara and pesto and enjoyed stuffing our faces with the bread.
The leftovers reheated well too. I cut the focaccia into individual serving portions and wrapped them individually in aluminum foil and sealed them in a zip-top bag. Then I reheated it in the oven (350 degrees F) for 10 minutes, and it was perfect. The bread hardly lost any moisture overnight and still tasted fresh the next day.
I recommend topping this with a generous amount of flaky salt on top. My focaccia did include salt in the dough, but it didn’t feel like it was enough for me. Regardless, I still gave this a rating of 5 out of 5, which is quite a rarity here on Eva Bakes.
Happy Holidays and Happy Baking!
Husband’s rating: 5 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4 out of 5
My rating: 5 out of 5
Sourdough discard focaccia
Ingredients
- 6 ounces (170 grams) sourdough starter discard active or inactive
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast can omit this if you are using an active starter discard
- 1 cup (120 grams) all-purpose flour can use white whole wheat
- 1 and ¾ cups (225 grams) bread flour can use all-purpose
- 1 and ¼ cups (285 millileters) lukewarm water
- 2 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (55 millileters) extra virgin olive oil I did not use as much - I used closer to 4 Tablespoons
- ¼ teaspoon flaky sea salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the sourdough discard, yeast, water, and flours together on low speed. Once the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium.
- Add the salt and mix well.
- Add more flour as needed in case your dough is too wet. You want to achieve a smooth and elastic dough that isn't sticky (it should not stick to your fingers).
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow it to double in size, about 1-2 hours.
- Line a 9"x12" pan with parchment paper. Then drizzle the olive oil on the parchment paper and up the sides of the pan (I only used about 2 Tablespoons of a flavored olive oil for this).
- Transfer the dough onto your prepared baking pan and gently massage it so it mostly fits into the pan. You may have some trouble getting into the corners, but get it as close as you can.
- Using your finger, push down on top of the dough so it forms a dimple. Do this across the dough so you have rows of dimples on top of the bread. Sprinkle on another 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil and cover the dough again and allow to double in size, another 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 500°F. Top your focaccia with the flaky sea salt and place your focaccia in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- Lower the oven temperature to 450°F and rotate your pan and bake for an additional 5-15 minutes or until the focaccia is golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Allow the focaccia to cool before slicing and serving.
Would it be possible to let the dough rise longer (say overnight) or would that ruin the recipe?
Author
I haven’t tried that but think it would work. Just let the dough come to room temperature before you bake it.
I did an overnight proof in the fridge, then let it come come to temperature a couple hours on the corner before shaping. It turned out beautifully.
Author
Yay – glad it worked!
Just a heads up, you didn’t note where in the process to add the 2 tsp of salt. I assumed with the rest of the ingredients to the mixer bowl, but it’s not listed. Maybe a quick edit?
Author
Thank you for noticing the omission! I’ve corrected it.
Nice recipe! When do you add toppings?
Author
I added them prior to baking
This is one of the best things I’ve ever made. In my whole life….. I will be 62 in September. I added rosemary and used garlic EVOO. oh my goodness! It is phenomenal.
Author
Oooh – I love the addition of garlic and Rosemary. I might have to try that next time! I’m so thrilled you loved this, Christine!
This was fantastic! I actually ended up turning it into garlic bread. I sprinkled the top with flaked salt and garlic powder, baked it for 15 min, then topped it with mozzarella cheese and baked it for just under 10 min. It was gone in the blink of an eye! Totally addicting! 🤗
Author
What a great idea, Sara! I will have to try this the next time!
I followed your recipe exactly but my dough was so wet. I ended up have to add another 3/4 cup of flour. Is that right??? I had my mixer on for almost 20 min before the dough would come together. I am not sure which part I did wrong.
Author
Hi Rita – this has happened to me before (on a different recipe). There are lots of variables that could cause your dough to be too wet or dry (like how humid it is where you live). When that happens, you should add water or flour until it’s pliable and elastic. The dough should not stick to your fingers.
I’ve made this twice and both times I had to add extra flour. I weigh and use grams, not sure if that changes things
Can the dough be mixed n the bread maker n the dough cycle?
Author
I haven’t tried it myself but I imagine it would work!
Modified the recipe slightly and added sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil to the dough. Used the oil from the tomatoes for olive oil in recipe. Topped with fresh ground garlic salt. Turned out beautifully and delicious.
Author
Ooooh – the sun dried tomatoes sound awesome! Glad you enjoyed this!
Do you think this recipe would be good with cheese? If so what kind and when should I add
Author
I think cheese could be a great addition on top. I’d add it in the final 5 minutes of baking so it doesn’t burn. I’m not sure how it would bake if it’s incorporated within the dough.
I’m really conflicted about this recipe. It’s not my first go at focaccia but the first time I’ve used this recipe and the end result is fine, but I found the recipe awkward. Like others, I needed to add an additional 150g flour. The initial consistency was like a moderately thick soup…sticky isn’t even the word for it. That can’t be because someplace might have some humidity. I’m in a dry climate and there’s just no way that’s why it’s like soup. The measurements are in tsp, g, and ml. Why not just keep them all in grams so measurements are accurate and consistent? In the ingredients it calls for an additional 1/4 cup of oil (and a note that she used closer to 4T…but 4T is 1/4 cup?) but then in the instructions it says 1-2 tablespoons. So much room for error and just a poorly edited recipe. I wish I’d have paid more attention before I started so I could choose a different one but I’m glad I tried it.