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Sourdough Baklava focaccia squares stacked on top of each other.

Sourdough Baklava Focaccia

Sourdough Baklava Focaccia is everything you love about a sticky, nutty dessert layered onto the pillowy base of a sweet sourdough focaccia. With spiced nuts, honey syrup, and a chewy open sourdough crumb, this bake is a joyful twist on two classics — unexpected, impressive, and seriously delicious.
5 from 9 votes
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Prep Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
18 hours
Total Time 21 hours 55 minutes
Course Bread, Brunch, Dessert, Sweet Bread
Cuisine Assyrian, Fusion, Greek, Italian, Sourdough, Turkish
Servings 9 portions
Calories 286 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
  

Sourdough Focaccia Dough

  • 110 g active sourdough starter 100% hydration
  • 260 g strong white bread flour with at least 12% protein content
  • 180 g water
  • 5 g salt
  • 1 teaspoon honey or sugar
  • 25 ml olive oil

Baklava Topping

  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • zest of an orange optional
  • 60 g pistachios
  • 60 g walnuts
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Honey Syrup

  • 40 ml water
  • 50 g granulated sugar or caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste optional
  • 40 g honey

Instructions
 

DAY 1:

  • First thing in the morning, feed your sourdough starter and leave it in a warm spot to at least double in volume. We typically feed our starter in a ratio of 1 part starter: 1 part water: 1 part flour, and it doubles (or even triples) within 4 hours.

Fermentolyse and Mixing The Dough

  • In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, water, and active sourdough starter. Mix the dough in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment for a few minutes on low speed, until the flour is hydrated. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave the dough to fermentolyse (a type of sourdough autolyse where sourdough starter is added too) for an hour.
  • After an hour, scatter the salt and sugar (or honey) on top of the dough. Drizzle the olive oil all over, and using your hands, squish the salt and oil into the dough, aiming to distribute it evenly.
  • TIP: Don't be tempted to just mix the oil in by running the stand mixer – the dough will split, separated by oil layers.
  • Once incorporated, run your mixer on medium speed for 10-12 minutes, until you have a very smooth and elastic dough. It will be wet, but should start gathering around the dough hook attachment.

Coil Folds, Bulk Fermentation, Cold Retardation

  • Scoop the dough into a lightly oiled bowl (we like to use a heavy shallow dish – it helps with coil folds later). Cover the dough with a damp tea towel or cling film (plastic wrap) and leave it in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
  • Over the next 3 hours, at 30-minute intervals, perform a set of coil folds, using wet hands. See the coil folding video below.
  • After all 6 sets of coil folds are completed, cover the dough and let it finish its bulk fermentation undisturbed for 1.5-3 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
  • Place the dough in the refrigerator for 8-24 hours (or simply overnight).
  • OPTIONAL: If you want to introduce orange flavour to your baklava focaccia, at this point, infuse the oil with orange zest. Add the zest of an orange to a small saucepan with the olive oil. Gently warm the oil until it is just warmer than body temperature. Take it off the heat, cover, and leave it to infuse further at room temperature overnight.

DAY 2:

  • The next day, grease and line a baking tray (approx 24x24cm) with parchment paper. Brush the parchment paper with a little extra olive oil.

Second Rise

  • Take the dough out of the fridge and very carefully transfer it into the prepared baking tray, trying not to deflate it too much. Stretch it out into the corners of the baking dish.
  • Cover it again and leave it in a warm spot to proof for another 1-2 hours. It will increase in volume, puff up and have very noticeable blisters across the surface.

Topping and Baking

  • Chop the pistachios and walnuts (or pulse them in a food processor). Mix the nuts with cinnamon.
  • Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
  • Drizzle the infused olive oil (or just olive oil if you haven't infused it) all over the surface of the sourdough.
  • Scatter the nut mixture all over.
  • Oil your fingers and dimple the top of the dough all over, aiming to squish the nuts deep inside the dough.
  • Bake the sourdough baklava focaccia for 20-22 minutes.
  • While it is in the oven, prepare the honey syrup. Place water and sugar to a small saucepan over medium heat. Stirring, bring it to the boil. Add the honey and vanilla bean paste (optional) and simmer on low-medium heat, stirring once in a while, for 10-15 minutes. It should thicken to a syrupy consistency.
  • Once the focaccia is cooked, drizzle the top with the honey syrup.
  • Cool the focaccia for at least 20 minutes before taking it out of the baking tin and slicing into portions.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 286kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 6gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gSodium: 218mgPotassium: 130mgFiber: 2gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 30IUVitamin C: 0.5mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 1mg
Keyword Baklava Focaccia, Nutty Sourdough Focaccia, Sourdough Baklava Focaccia, Sweet Sourdough Focaccia
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