Overnight Sourdough Focaccia with Herbs and Olives

Chewy and soft on the inside, with an extremely airy crumb and crispy exterior, this Sourdough Focaccia is one of the nicest breads we make! Made with naturally leavened dough and topped with soft plump olives and a mixture of herbs, this bread is lovely on its own, dipped in some olive oil and balsamic vinegar or served with soups!

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Or if you have plenty of discard to use up, try our Sourdough Discard Focaccia!

Why Make Sourdough Focaccia?

Success Every Time: When I first started baking with sourdough starter, I had very mixed success with the loaves that I made at the beginning. Unlike any other sourdough bread I made, Sourdough Focaccia has never failed me. It turns out perfect every time, no matter what toppings I use.

Health Benefits: Sourdough focaccia is a healthier alternative to traditional bread (that’s made with commercial yeast) since it’s made with a sourdough starter, which contains beneficial bacteria, that aid digestion and can help boost the immune system. Additionally, the fermentation process in the long rise of sourdough bread also helps break down gluten, making it easier to digest for those with gluten sensitivities.

Flavour and Texture: Sourdough focaccia has a unique tangy flavour and a chewy texture that’s hard to replicate with any other type of bread. The long fermentation process also helps develop the flavour and texture, resulting in a bread that’s more complex and satisfying than regular bread.

Versatility: Sourdough focaccia is incredibly versatile and can be used in a variety of ways. It’s perfect as a side dish, but also makes for a great sandwich bread or even as a base for pizza. Plus, you can customize the toppings to your liking, making it a great canvas for your favourite ingredients.

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Ingredients

Use the sourdough focaccia recipe below, but experiment with the toppings. One of my favourite focaccia toppings is this one I am sharing with you here. Mixed herbs and black olives with a rich tomato and olive oil glaze is a perfectly balanced combination of flavours. It has all the elements of Adriatic cuisine and takes you back to the holidays in Greece. Simple ingredients but maximum flavour!

For The Sourdough

• active sourdough starter: bubbly and active, 100% hydration starter.
• strong white bread flour: make sure that the gluten content in your flour is no less than 13%. All-purpose flour will not produce the best results.
• water: luke warm water will speed up the process of bulk fermenting, but you can use cold water and proof your dough for a bit longer.
• salt.
• olive oil: you may use extra virgin or not, it’s completely up to you. We prefer extra virgin olive oil, as it adds heaps of flavour to the sourdough focaccia.

For the Topping

• olive oil.
• garlic clove.
• tomato paste: also known as tomato puree.
• mixed dried herbs: can be replaced with dried thyme, oregano or parsley. You can also use finely chopped fresh rosemary.
• olives: we use black olives for this recipe, but feel free to experiment.
• coarse sea salt, for sprinkling.

Flavour Variations

1. Caramelized Onion and Feta: Caramelized onions add a sweet and savoury flavour that pairs perfectly with tangy feta cheese. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary for a delicious and aromatic topping.
2. Roasted Garlic and Parmesan: Roasted garlic is mellow and sweet, making it the perfect complement to the sharp, nutty flavour of parmesan cheese. You could also add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes for a little heat.
3. Mushroom and Truffle Oil: Sautéed mushrooms and truffle oil create a rich and earthy topping that’s perfect for a more indulgent twist on sourdough focaccia. Finish with a sprinkle of chopped parsley or chives for freshness.

These are just a few ideas to get you started but feel free to experiment with your favourite ingredients and flavours to create your own unique toppings for sourdough focaccia. Enjoy!

Equipment

I cook my focaccia is an iron cast skillet (here’s one of the ones I use). They are irreplaceable pieces of cookware in our kitchen. Not only great for bakings Sourdough Bread, Focaccia or Pizza, but we also make Banana Tart Tatin, various Frittatas and our Christmas Pommes Anna in them too.

Since the dough for Sourdough Focaccia is really sticky, I highly recommend mixing in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment and a large mixing bowl (we use Kenwood mixer). Whilst it can be done by hand, it is a challenge!

We also highly recommend that you measure the ingredients by weight, so a digital scale will come in handy.

Before You Start

This is an overnight recipe, so you will want to start a day (or even two) before you want to eat your Sourdough Focaccia. It is certainly fun to make: the dough is very wet, but you don’t actually need to work with it that much.

As usual, I use a 100% hydration starter in this recipe. That’s the one that’s been fed equal amounts (in weight) of water and flour. A mature active starter is key to a great open texture of good focaccia, so I wouldn’t recommend making one of these until you’ve had and maintained your starter for a good couple of months.

Download your guide on sourdough starter below.

This recipe is for 4 people to eat as a snack, or with soup. But the recipe can easily be doubled, as long as you use a large baking tray to bake it in.

The Night Before: Feed Your Starter

It is important to use your starter at its peak. And by the peak, I mean that it’s been fed and it at least doubled in size but hasn’t started deflating yet. How long it takes for it to double depends on various factors, like the flour you use, and the temperature and humidity of your kitchen.

Our kitchen gets cold at night in winter, so I can feed my starter in the ratio of 1 part starter : 2 parts flour : 2 parts water. I leave it overnight (12 hours even) and only then it doubles. However, if your kitchen is warm, you may need to adjust the amount of water and flour you feed. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, you can feed your starter in the morning if you know you can get it to double within 4 hours or so. In short, you will need 110g of active starter.

Day 1: Prepare Sourdough Focaccia Dough

In a large bowl of your stand mixer, mix active starter, water and 190g of the flour into a shaggy dough. Cover and leave this to rest for 1 hour. This process is called autolyse, during which enzymes in the flour are activated and gluten starts to develop.

After an hour, add salt, olive oil and the rest of the flour (75g) and knead in your mixer on low/medium speed for around 5-7 minutes, until the dough is clearly less sticky and more elastic. I will be honest, I never tried kneading focaccia dough by hand, as the dough is very very sticky to start with.

Tip the dough in a well-greased shallow dish and cover it with a tea towel. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 4-5 hours (again, depending on the temperature of the kitchen). This is called bulk fermentation. Every half an hour, uncover the dough, oil your hands (or use cold wet hands) and perform a set of coil folds (video below) or traditional stretch-and folds.

You will see how much more elastic, firm and easier to manage your dough gets with each of them. After your second fold, you will also start to see small blisters forming on the top of the dough. This is a great sign of an elastic and airy dough.

Pop the dough in the fridge fully covered or cling filmed and leave it there overnight.

Day 2: Bake your Overnight Focaccia

Take the dough out of the fridge. Lightly oil a 20-24cm cast iron skillet. Now the tricky bit! Using a dough scraper, carefully transfer your Focaccia dough out of the dish into the skillet without deflating it too much. Cover and leave in a warm spot for approx. 1 hour. Your dough should rise and have large visible blisters on the surface at this stage.

Preheat the oven to 200°C Fan. Then prepare your topping. In a small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of tomato paste, 1 teaspoon of mixed herbs and 1 small crushed garlic clove. Prepare your olives by cutting them in half.

Now oil your fingers, and dimple the dough all over. Place olive halves in the dimples. Then brush the olive oil mixture all over the surface of the Sourdough Focaccia, taking care not to burst any blisters. Sprinkle some coarse sea salt on top. Then place on the middle shelf of the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of your focaccia. We used a 24cm cast iron pan, and it took 17 minutes to cook.

The top of your focaccia should be golden brown. Cool it for at least 15 minutes on a wire rack before slicing. It’s lovely warm, when it still has a crispy crust and chewy crumb, but it is also delicious the next day!

Serve your Sourdough Focaccia with stews and soups, or appetizers, like Gambas Pil Pil, Prawn Saganaki or Hummus.

Storage

Sourdough focaccia bread can be stored at room temperature for up to 2-3 days, but it’s important to keep it in an airtight container or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.

If you want to extend the shelf life of your sourdough focaccia, you can also freeze it. To freeze, wrap the focaccia tightly in plastic wrap and then place it in an airtight container or freezer bag. It will keep in the freezer for up to 2-3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy it, simply thaw it at room temperature or reheat it in the oven for a few minutes to refresh it.

Recipe FAQs

Other Sourdough Recipes To Try

If you’re looking for other Sourdough Recipes to try, have a look at our:

• Sourdough Brioche Scented with Vanilla and Lemon
• Sourdough Ciabatta
• Sourdough Croissants
• Sourdough Stollen

Recipe Card

Overnight Sourdough Focaccia with Olives and Mixed Herbs

Chewy and soft on the inside, with an extremely airy crumb and crispy exterior, this Sourdough Focaccia is one of the nicest breads we make! Made with naturally leavened dough and topped with soft plump olives and a mixture of herbs, this bread is lovely on its own, dipped in some olive oil and balsamic or served with soups!

4.79 from 19 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Autolyse, Resting & Proving: 14 hours hrs

Total Time 14 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course Bread, Side Dish

Cuisine Greek, Italian

Servings 4 portions

Calories 329 kcal

Equipment

• 24cm Cast Iron Skillet (or see Notes below)
• Stand Mixer with a Dough Hook Attachment

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 110 g active sourdough starter
• 265 g strong white bread flour
• 150 g water
• 5 g salt
• 25 ml olive oil

For the Topping:

• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon mixed dried herbs
• 8 olives cut in half
• ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

 

Day 1: Make the Dough

• Make sure your starter is active and at least doubled in size before you use it.
• Mix starter, 190g of flour and water in a mixing bowl of your standing mixer. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for an hour – this process is called an autolyse (or fermentolyse).
• After an hour, add salt, olive oil and the rest of the flour. Using a standing mixer, with a dough hook attachment, knead your dough on slow/medium speed for 6-7 minutes until the dough is less sticky and more elastic.
• Scoop the dough out into an oiled shallow dish and leave at room temperature to rise for 5 hours. Every 30 minutes perform a set of coil folds – you can find a video below (you can stretch and fold instead if you prefer). Blisters will start forming on the surface of the dough after your second fold. By the time you fisnihed all folds, the dough will be lively, elastic and airy.
• Thoroughly cover the dough with a tea towel or clingfilm and pop in the fridge for an overnight cold-proof.

Day 2: Bake your Sourdough Focaccia

• Lightly grease an iron skillet (or see notes). Take the dough out of the fridge and very carefully transfer it into the skillet, trying not to deflate it too much. Cover again and leave in the warmest spot of the house to prove for another hour. It will increase in volume, puff up and have very noticeable blisters across the surface.
• In the meantime, prepare the toppings. Half eight olives. Then in a small bowl, mix olive oil, tomato paste, mixed herbs and crushed garlic.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C Fan
• When your focaccia dough has proved, oil your fingers and dimple the top of the dough all over. Pop the olives halves in the dimples. Then brush the top with the oil mixture, taking care not to burst any blisters. Sprinkle with some sea salt and pop in the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes.
• Cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. This Overnight Sourdough Focaccia is delicious both warm and cold, even the next day!

Video

Notes

If you don’t have a cast-iron skillet, you can use a round cake tin or non-stick baking tray. Just make sure you oil it properly to make sure your focaccia doesn’t stick!

Nutrition

Calories: 329kcalCarbohydrates: 54gProtein: 9gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 770mgPotassium: 90mgFiber: 2gSugar: 0.4gVitamin A: 65IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 22mgIron: 1mg

Keyword Focaccia Recipe, Focaccia with olives, Overnight Focaccia, Overnight Focaccia Recipe, Sourdough Focaccia, Sourdough Focaccia Recipe, Sourdough Focaccia with Olives

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