Rosemary Focaccia Bread with Sourdough Discard

I love this Rosemary Focaccia Bread with Sourdough Discard and Fresh Milled Flour. The sourdough flavor shines through without waiting for the normal lengthy sourdough rise. What’s the secret? The addition of a little yeast. It makes this a lot quicker bread to make. You don’t have to plan a day ahead to have delicious fresh baked focaccia on the table for dinner.

Highly Customizable:

You can use your imagination when choosing herbs for the dough and toppings for the bread. Topping options include garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, parmesan, flaky sea salt, rosemary, olives, caramelized onions, jalapeños, a plethora of fresh herbs and really any tasty topping you can think of. My husband and kids suggested a sweet focaccia, sounds interesting.

How to enjoy:

This bread can be made into a sandwich by slicing it into two halves and loading it up with tasty deli meat and cheese. I like to cut the bread into squares and serve with soup, pasta, or grilled chicken.

Let’s start making focaccia bread:

To start, measure and mill the hard white wheat berries, set aside. Then, with a fork, dissolve the sourdough discard into lukewarm water. Add the fresh milled flour, dried thyme and dried rosemary to the water mixture. With a wooden spoon, stir until a shaggy dough forms. Cover the bowl and let sit for 30 minutes.

Stretch and fold tutorial:

After the first 30 minute rest, mix in the yeast and salt by hand and complete the first round of stretch and folds. Keep a little bowl of water by your work station to dip your fingers in. This will prevent the dough from sticking to your fingers. Pull up a side of the dough and fold it to the middle. Turn the bowl 1/4 turn and repeat this step until you go around the bowl twice (8 stretch and folds total) shown below.

Let sit for 30 minutes (you and the dough) between each set of stretch and folds. Repeat this every 30 minutes 6-8 times total until the dough has risen by at least double and is quite bubbly and jiggly.

This video was after 5 stretch and folds. You can see how much the dough has risen and is already slightly jiggly.

Transfer to pan and second rise:

Next, spray sides of 9×13 inch metal pan with cooking spray. Pour 2 tablespoon olive oil in the bottom of the pan and spread out. Transfer the dough to the pan and gently stretch out. Add 2 tablespoons of oil on top and dimple the dough by pressing your fingers into the dough all over. Sprinkle on rosemary and coarse salt. Let sit for 45-60 minutes until the dough has risen again and looks puffy. Towards the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Dimple again with fingertips before baking. Bake for 25-28 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven. Cut a garlic clove in half and rub all over the dough for a little garlic flavor. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Rosemary Focaccia Bread with Sourdough Discard

Delicious bread with endless topping options and the perfect amount of sourdough flavor, combined with nutritious fresh milled flour and the convenience of a little yeast.

Author Laura M.

Ingredients

• 80 grams sourdough discard
• 410 grams lukewarm water
• 460 grams hard white wheat berries
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt 13 grams
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast 6 grams
• 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh rosemary for topping chopped
• coarse sea salt for topping
• 1 garlic clove optional

Instructions

• In a large bowl, add sourdough discard and water and mix with a fork until the discard has dissolved. Add the fresh milled flour, rosemary and thyme and mix with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
• Mix in the yeast and salt by hand and then perform the first round of stretch and folds. Keep a little bowl of water beside the dough so that you can dip your fingers in before the stretch and folds so the dough doesn’t stick to your fingers. Cover the dough and wait 30 minutes, then perform another round of stretch and folds. With quarter turns you’ll perform 8 stretch and folds, going all the way around the bowl twice each time. Repeat every 30 minutes 6-8 times, until the dough is quite bubbly/jiggly and has risen by at least double.
• Spray the bottom and sides of a metal 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray. Spread 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of the pan.
• With oiled hands, transfer the dough to the prepared pan and stretch it out a bit. Spread another 2 tablespoons of oil onto the top of the dough. Press your fingertips down, dimpling the dough all over and sprinkle with rosemary and coarse salt. Let rise another 45-60 minutes until puffy.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• After the second rise, dimple the dough with fingertips one more time.
• Bake the focaccia for 25-28 minutes, until the bottom and top are golden brown. Cut a garlic clove in half and rub over the baked focaccia to add a little garlic flavor at the end, optional. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool for 15-30 minutes before cutting.