Cheesy Garlic Focaccia Bread Recipe

This Cheesy Garlic Focaccia Bread offers the perfect combination of soft, airy bread, fragrant garlic, and a melt-in-your-mouth blanket of bubbling cheese. It’s truly a game-changer for snack time or serving alongside your favorite meal. Ready in under two hours (mostly hands-off rising time!), this easy recipe delivers maximum flavor with minimal fuss, making homemade bread totally approachable.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Ultimate Comfort Food: The flavor combo of warm, soft bread, savory garlic, and two kinds of cheese is simply irresistible. It’s like a hug in bread form!
• A Beginner’s Bread: Focaccia is one of the most forgiving and easiest breads to master. No complicated shaping or intense kneading required—it’s super low-stress!
• Incredible Aroma: As soon as you sprinkle that fresh garlic and herbs on top and slide it into the oven, your house will smell absolutely divine.
• The Perfect Vehicle: It’s ideal for dunking in soups, serving with pasta, or just eating straight off the cutting board (we won’t judge!).

Ingredients

All you need for this Cheesy Garlic Focaccia Bread are a few simple pantry staples and a little patience! But first, gather up these essential ingredients:

• All-Purpose Flour: This is the base of our soft, chewable bread. It gives the focaccia its beautiful structure.
• Warm Water: Essential for activating the yeast! Make sure it’s warm, not hot (we want to wake up the yeast, not scare it!).
• Active Dry Yeast: Our magical ingredient that makes the dough rise and gives us that light, airy texture.
• Sugar: A small pinch helps feed the yeast and gives the bread a touch of flavor complexity.
• Salt: Crucial for balancing the flavor and controlling the yeast’s activity. Don’t skip it!
• Olive Oil: Used both to enrich the dough and to create those beautiful, crispy edges and iconic dimpled surface.
• Garlic: We’re mincing this fresh, my friends! It provides that incredible, fragrant, savory punch we all crave.
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese: Melts perfectly to create a gooey, bubbly, cheese layer that covers the entire top.
• Grated Parmesan Cheese: Adds a sharper, salty, nutty layer of flavor that complements the richness of the mozzarella.
• Dried Oregano and Dried Thyme: Classic Italian herbs that give this bread its signature savory, aromatic flavor.
• Fresh Parsley (Optional): Used at the end to add a pop of color and a fresh, clean contrast to the rich cheese and garlic.

Note: The specific measurements for these ingredients, along with the detailed recipe instructions, will be provided right under this article in the recipe card!

How to Make the Cheesy Garlic Focaccia Bread

Making focaccia is so much easier than you think, and the process is totally therapeutic!

Step 1: Activate the Yeast

In a large bowl, whisk together the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let this mixture hang out for about 5 to 7 minutes until you see a nice foamy layer on top. This foam tells you your yeast is happy and ready to work!

Step 2: Form the Dough

Add the flour, salt, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the wet mixture. Mix everything until you have a soft, shaggy dough. Now, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it gently for just 5 minutes. You’ll feel it transform into a smooth ball.

Step 3: Let it Rise

Place your lovely dough ball into a bowl that has been lightly greased with olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let it sit in a warm spot for about 1 hour, or until the dough has impressively doubled in size.

Step 4: Prep and Dimple

Preheat your oven to a cozy $400^{\circ}\text{F}$ ($200^{\circ}\text{C}$). Now, transfer the risen dough into your greased baking pan. Gently use your fingers to stretch it out into an even layer—don’t punch it down! Drizzle the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Here’s the fun part: use your fingertips to create those famous little dimples all over the surface.

Step 5: Top and Bake

Sprinkle the minced fresh garlic evenly across the dough, followed by the mozzarella, parmesan, oregano, and thyme. Pop this beauty into the preheated oven and bake for 20 to 22 minutes until the top is a gorgeous golden brown and the cheese is beautifully melted and bubbly.

Step 6: Cool and Serve

Let the focaccia cool slightly in the pan. If you’re using the fresh parsley, sprinkle it over the top now. Slice it up into squares and prepare for immediate deliciousness!

Pro Tips for Making the Recipe

• Perfect Water Temperature: Make sure your water is truly warm (around $105^{\circ}\text{F}$ to $115^{\circ}\text{F}$ or $40^{\circ}\text{C}$ to $46^{\circ}\text{C}$). If it’s too hot, you’ll kill the yeast, and if it’s too cold, it won’t activate properly.
• The Dimple Factor: When you dimple the dough, don’t be shy! Press your fingers all the way down to the bottom of the pan—this prevents the focaccia from rising too much in one area and creates that wonderful texture that holds all the oil and flavor.
• Fresh Garlic is Key: Skip the jarred stuff for this recipe! Using freshly minced garlic makes a massive difference in the fragrance and savory flavor.
• The Right Pan: A standard $9\times13$ inch pan works beautifully, but you can also use a cast iron skillet for crispier edges!

How to Serve

This Cheesy Garlic Focaccia is so versatile; it practically begs to be paired with something rich and saucy.

• Soup and Salad MVP: Cut it into thick strips for dunking into your favorite tomato soup, or slice it thin to serve alongside a fresh, peppery arugula salad.
• The Italian Spread: Serve it warm with a simple balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil for dipping. Chef’s kiss!
• Party Starter: Cut it into small, appetizer-sized squares and arrange them on a platter for an easy, crowd-pleasing finger food.
• Next-Level Sandwiches: Use the baked focaccia as the base for a truly epic deli sandwich—it adds so much more flavor than standard bread.

Make Ahead and Storage

Storing Leftovers

Place any leftovers in an airtight container or wrap them tightly in foil. It will keep well at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Freezing

You can definitely freeze this! Once fully cooled, wrap individual slices tightly in plastic wrap, then place them in a freezer-safe bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Reheating

To bring the life back to your focaccia, my favorite method is reheating it in the oven or a toaster oven at $350^{\circ}\text{F}$ ($175^{\circ}\text{C}$) for about 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese is soft and bubbly again. The microwave works in a pinch, but the oven will restore that crispy crust!

FAQs

1. Can I prepare the dough ahead of time and bake it later?

Absolutely! This is a great time-saver. After the initial knead (Step 3), instead of letting it rise at room temperature, place the greased, covered bowl in the refrigerator for $12$ to $24$ hours. The cold temperature slows down the yeast. When you’re ready to bake, let the dough come to room temperature for about 30-60 minutes before proceeding with the dimpling and topping steps.

2. Why didn’t my focaccia dough rise?

The most common culprit is usually the yeast or the water temperature. If your water was too hot, it might have killed the yeast. If your yeast is old or expired, it won’t activate. Always check the expiration date on your yeast and ensure the water is just warm to the touch, not hot.

3. What can I substitute for the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese?

You can easily customize the cheese blend! Feel free to use a good quality shredded provolone, Asiago, or even a nice aged white cheddar. The key is using a cheese that melts beautifully (like mozzarella) paired with one that adds a sharp, salty punch (like Parmesan).

4. Can I add other toppings to this recipe?

Please do! Focaccia is all about creativity. Before sprinkling the cheese, you can add thin slices of caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, or even a few sprigs of fresh rosemary. Just make sure not to add overly wet ingredients, as this can prevent the bread from rising properly.