Bread Machine Focaccia Bread Recipe

I love visiting a small Italian restaurant and being greeted with the aroma of freshly made focaccia and a small plate filled with fine olive oil for dipping.  Now you can serve this appetizer at home.  What a great way to start a small dinner party by laying out a platter filled with our bread machine herb focaccia and a small bowl of garlic dipping oil.  It’s a great snack while sitting around an outdoor fire pit too.

Focaccia bread is also known as flatbread.  I’d say in the last few years what I see on restaurant menus is flatbread, but really that’s just another name for focaccia or for a thick crust pizza.  Focaccia is a yeast bread that rises but not as much as other breads and is SUPER easy to make.  It’s not fussy and takes very little hands on time, now that’s what I’m all about.

Easy

Just about any herb will enhance the flavor of the focaccia bread.  A popular choice is rosemary which gives the bread a strong flavor.  For simplicity sake and to appeal to more diners, I use dried oregano or Italian herb mix.  It adds just enough flavor without being overpowering and is always in my cupboard.

This Italian Focaccia Bread Recipe Is Quick And Easy To Make

Focaccia is very easy to make without a bread machine and I will be adding some future posts showing you how to do that.  But keeping on topic, if you have a bread machine you know what a wonder it is.  I use my bread machine for focaccia, pizza dough, hamburger and hot dog buns, whole grain breads, etc.  It’s incredibly easy to use and takes no hands on time at all.

Place the ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order that your machine directs.  For my Zojirushi machine the liquids go in first and then the dry ingredients.  You make a small well in the center of the flour and that’s where I put the yeast.  I keep the yeast and salt separate from each other because the salt can kill the yeast.  Place the salt either in the bottom of the pan with the wet ingredients or on top of the dry ingredients but on the side, away from the yeast.

For bread machine herb focaccia you will want to use the dough setting.  Also if you use warm water there is no reason to use the preheat function which will save you about 30 minutes.  On my Zojirushi machine the preheat is automatically turned on.  To turn  off the preheat function press the Time and Cycle buttons at the same time and hold for 3 seconds or more, the display will say “Preheat Off”.  You don’t need to turn it off, its just not necessary to wait those extra 30 minutes if you have room temperature ingredients and warm (not hot) water.

Flavorful Bread Machine Focaccia Bread

No fancy dough shaping needed.  When the bread machine beeps pull the dough out of the machine and place on an oiled baking sheet.  Press the focaccia dough out to fill the baking sheet.  If the dough keeps springing back then let it rest 5 or 10 minutes more.  Once the bread machine herb focaccia dough is stretched to the edges of the pan, press your knuckle about every inch or so, gently into the dough to form wells to catch extra olive oil.  Pour more olive oil evenly over the focaccia bread and brush, you will have olive oil sitting in the dimple wells which is a good thing.  Sprinkle with fresh or dry herbs and kosher salt.  Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rest while the oven preheats to 400 degrees.  The 15 minute or so wait for the oven to reach 400 degrees is enough to let the dough rest before baking.

Remove the plastic wrap and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.  Taste, if it seems a little dry brush additional olive oil over the surface of the bread machine herb focaccia.  Sprinkle with additional kosher salt to taste.

The world is your oyster on this one.  Well, I don’t know that I’d add oysters to focaccia, but this basic bread can host a number of flavorful toppings.  We keep this bread machine herb focaccia recipe simple.  Favorite focaccia bread toppings include caramelized onions, tomatoes, garlic and olives.  These previous ingredients can be placed on the bread machine herb focaccia dough and cooked with the bread.

Bread Machine Focaccia

Other toppings are better added after baking, like smoked salmon or rare tuna or toppings that will dry out in the oven like prosciutto.

For a sweet take on focaccia, cook with fresh stone fruits like apricots or cherries and drizzle a bit of honey for the finishing touch.  Also, leave the Italian seasoning out as it doesn’t compliment the fruit.

For breakfast you can make large dimples in the dough, fill with sauce and cook for a few minutes.  Then add a cracked egg in each sauce filled dimple and cook a few more minutes.  Be looking for a future post that will detail a breakfast focaccia recipe.

Bread Maker Focaccia

Strange question but I really wanted to know why all recipes call for “dimpling”.  Focaccia gets its great crust and chewy texture from an abundance of olive oil. The dimples create areas where the extra olive oil can pool and slowly sink into the focaccia dough as it bakes.  The best way to make dimples is to use your knuckle and press down gently to form a little well.  Don’t press all the way to the baking tray or you will cause the bread to rip.

Focaccia for picnics or tailgates are perfect.  Make delicious sandwiches by slicing the bread machine herb focaccia in half horizontally and add your favorite sandwich fillings.  Favorite fillings are cured meats like prosciutto or salami with heirloom tomatoes, dressed arugula and grainy mustard.  If making sandwiches with the bread machine herb focaccia recipe I would use a smaller pan so that the focaccia bread is thicker and heartier to stand up to the sandwich condiments.

Bread

If you are serving the bread machine herb focaccia as an appetizer or snack, place a small bowl of good extra virgin olive oil for dipping.  Our garlic dipping oil is the best with this focaccia bread recipe.  Olives make a great accompaniment too.

Simple Bread Machine Focaccia With Rosemary: A Slice Of Heaven

This bread machine herb focaccia is an Italian flatbread that is so versatile. Use it as an appetizer with dipping oil, as a base for sandwiches or with breakfast.

If using the bread machine focaccia for sandwiches, press into a 9” X 13” pan so that the focaccia bread is thicker and can stand up to the sandwich condiments.

Serve with Garlic Dipping Oil or blend some Extra Virgin Olive Oil with balsamic vinegar and a few turns of the pepper mill.

Traditional Focaccia Bread

Did you like the recipe? Did you make any changes?  Please leave a comment and star rating  letting us know how you liked it and/or any comments to help improve the post for other readers.

Keep up to date  on our new recipes and “how to techniques” by signing up for our weekly newsletter and by following us on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.  Thanks for your feedback.Using the dough cycle on your bread maker allows you to make this delicious bread! All you have to do is shape and bake!

Bread

While I love the ease of putting all the ingredients in the bread machine and having a warm loaf of bread when it beeps, like with my Bread Machine Sourdough Sandwich Bread, I also love using the dough cycle!

Bread Machine Focaccia Recipe Pdf Printable Digital

The dough cycle is just what it sounds like. You place all the ingredients in the bread maker and it makes the dough for you. It actually kneads the dough and does the first rise.

Today I am back with another favorite dough cycle recipe - focaccia bread! This is go to bread to serve with dinner. It's light and fluffy on the inside and has the most perfect crust!

Place all you ingredients in the bread machine according to your bread machine's instructions. In my case, wet ingredients go in first, then dry.

Whole Grain Bread Machine Focaccia

So, I put the water and onions in the pan (kind of swirled the onions around so that they weren't all clumped together.).

To keep the salt and yeast separate, I made two small wells in the flour and placed the yeast in one and the salt in the other.

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Place the bread pan in the bread maker and set the cycle to dough - in my case it's one hour and 50 minutes.

Golden Focaccia Recipe

Rub some olive oil on your hands and use your fingers to push down on the dough and stretch it out until it's about an inch thick.

Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise for about 40 minutes. I just left mine sitting on the counter, if you're house is really cold, you might want to find a warm-ish spot for it.

After 20 minutes, begin to preheat the oven to 425 and make sure a rack is in the lowest part of the oven.

Sun Dried Tomato Focaccia With Feta And Kalamata Olives (bread Maker Recipe)

Using your fingers, dimple the dough. Drizzle the olive oil over the dough, letting