French Focaccia Bread is what happened when I had leftover French bread dough and starting experimenting. The result was a deliciously tasty, crispy, chewy satisfying bread!

French Focaccia Bread, a fusion of flavours!
Originally published March 2011.
So, what’s French Focaccia Bread?
It’s what happens when you discover leftover French Bread dough in the fridge. Then, you decide to throw a few ingredients at it that I normally add to an Italian bread like focaccia.

French Focaccia Bread, a fusion of flavours!
The result was a very flavourful, crispy, chewy bread that would be perfect beside any number of things. Serve with meals such as a great lasagna or other pasta to a simple great salad for lunch.
Plus it looks gorgeous on the table too!
This time around we served it with this utterly amazing Braised Beef Oven Chili.
You can find my method of making Garlic Olive Oil right here.

French Focaccia Bread, a fusion of flavours!
If you can’t get enough of great pasta dinner recipes, please check out our collection of 20 Best Pasta Dinners!
Like this French Focaccia Bread recipe?
You’ll find lots of other great ideas in our Bread & Baking Category and in our Side Dishes Category.
It’s easy to keep up with the latest home style cooking & baking ideas from Rock Recipes. Be sure to follow Rock Recipes Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram.
Plus you’ll see daily recipe suggestions from decadent desserts to quick delicious weekday meals too.
You can also sign up for our FREE newsletter to know immediately when we add new recipes. You’ll also get weekly suggestions for great family friendly meals and desserts too!

Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.

French Focaccia Bread
French Focaccia Bread is what happened when I had leftover French bread dough and starting experimenting. The result was a deliciously tasty, crispy, chewy satisfying bread!
Ingredients
For the bread dough
- 4 cups flour, for whole wheat focaccia use 2 cups of white flour and 2 cups of whole wheat flour
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- 1 tbsp instant yeast
- 2 tsp sea salt
You will also need
- cherry tomato halves
- pitted kalamata olives
- sea salt
- black pepper
- fresh thyme or chopped fresh rosemary
- freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Add all ingredients except 1 cup of the flour to the bowl. Using the dough hook on your electric mixer, mix together well and allow to run on low speed for about 10 minutes. The dough will be loose and sticky but don't worry about that, just allow it to rise in a warm spot for a couple of hours or more before turning it out into a bread board and kneading in the other 1 cup of flour by hand. You may have to use a little more or a little less flour depending factors like local humidity.
- Divide into two portions and roll out into about 10 inch rounds. Push the tomatoes and olives into the dough
- Brush the entire surface of the dough with garlic olive oil (Garlic Olive Oil recipe here) then sprinkle the sea salt, pepper, rosemary and parmesan over the entire loaf.
- Allow the dough to rise on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet until doubled in size. Bake in a very hot oven fromn 425 - 450 degrees for about a half hour or until evenly golden brown.
Nutrition Information
Yield
20Serving Size
20 servings (2 large loaves)Amount Per Serving Calories 98Total Fat 1gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gSodium 286mgCarbohydrates 20gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 3g
Gail
Monday 23rd of March 2020
I love all your bread recipes. I was wondering with this focaccia dough if 2 or more hours of rising time will over-proof the dough? Most of the time 1 hour or so is enough to double the volume but that is not mentioned here "to let rise till doubled". Does this matter? For a single focaccia, just simply cut the ingredients in half. I was also wondering if this dough can be frozen and later used for a deep dish pizza dough by bringing to room temp and rolling out to 10-12 inches? If so, then small families or couples can get two different meals from one fantastic recipe and nothing goes to waste.
Shirley
Friday 20th of March 2020
If one does not want 2 focaccias, what can do with 2nd half?
Barry C. Parsons
Thursday 24th of March 2011
Thanks for the catch. I've corrected the typo.
Anonymous
Wednesday 23rd of March 2011
There seems to be an error in the ingredients list. Should it have been 2 cups whole wheat flour and 2 cups white flour, to make the whole wheat version?
Caroline
Wednesday 23rd of March 2011
This looks amazingly delicious! I need to get back on the bread-baking bandwagon. The tomato and kalamata sounds amazing on this focaccia, I'll definitely have to try that!