Sourdough Focaccia with Butter

I am just learning the art 

of sourdough bread making.  

My daughter, my DIL and 

my daughter's niece are all 

into sourdough and so I 

decided it was time I learned. 

One of my favorite recipes 

has been this focaccia bread. 

It can be a quick overnight 

bread that always gets rave 

reviews.  

Two things I have learned - 

well, really I have been 

learning a lot and I am 

still learning - but I have 

learned #1 I like the flavor of 

butter in the bottom of the 

pan for my focaccia and 

#2 If I need the bread to 

rise a little faster so it 

meets my time schedule 

and not its - I place it on 

my regular heating pad on 

the lowest setting to finish 

that final rise.  There are mats 

you can buy for this purpose, 

but my heating pad works 

great. 

Sourdough Focaccia with Butter

Sourdough Bread Dough

1 2/3 C. water (bottled or tap water

that has been left out overnight uncovered

to get rid of any bleach in the water)

1 1/2 T. honey

1 T. salt (I prefer Redmond's Real Salt)

1 C. sourdough starter

4 C. flour

Place the water, honey, salt and starter 

in a container that you will let it rise in.  

It is nice to have a 

proofing container with a lid

that has markings so you can see

 when the dough has doubled.  

Stir in the flour.  Cover and let sit for 

30 minutes and then fold in all four 

sides, stretching a little as you do that. 

Cover and repeat the stretch and 

fold.  Then cover lightly and 

let the dough rise until doubled.  

For this batch I wanted it fresh 

for the next day so I then placed 

it in the fridge to retard the 

growth.  For another batch I just 

gently poured it into the pan 

after the dough had doubled. 

 Melt 6 T. 

butter and place it in a 9x13 inch 

pan.  (You can use olive oil for 

this part, but the butter gives it 

such a great flavor.)  Gently scrape 

the dough into the pan and press it 

towards the edges as much as you 

can.  Cover and let rise until 

double.  It will almost reach the 

top of the cake pan.  This will take a 

few hours if it is cold from the fridge.

 

If it isn't 

rising fast enough for your time 

schedule, place it on a warming 

mat or on low on a heating pad, or 

I have even placed it in a warm 

oven that has been heated to 100 

and then turned off.  (I placed 

mine on the heating pad the 

last hour before I was ready 

to bake.)

Now dip your fingers in melted 

butter or olive oil and dimple 

the bread all over.  Pour about 

2 T. olive oil on top of the bread 

and then sprinkle with oregano, 

rosemary, garlic salt (I like Jane's 

Crazy Salt) and finish with salt flakes.

You can also top it with parmesan, 

olives, thinly sliced tomatoes, etc.  

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.  

I have also had fun making 

sandwich loaves.  This one 

had Asiago cheese added in 

during the shaping stage and 

also sprinkled on top before 

the final rise.

Our favorite way to eat 

homemade bread - 

a classic BLT!  

The Asiago really 

brought this one up 

a few notches.

This is a loaf my DIL made 

at Christmas time.  My daughter's 

niece has made me some chocolate 

chip sourdough and my daughter 

has made me some jalapeno and 

cheddar bread made with 

Trader Joe's

Hot and Sweet Jalapenos!

It is so fun to be learning from 

these young mothers and 

sharing their great bread.

Sourdough is not a science 

as much as an art and an 

exercise in patience, but 

we sure think it is worth it.