Rosemary Focaccia Bread (small batch recipe) - Dessert for Two (2024)

Rosemary focaccia bread! How to make a small batch of focaccia in a quarter sheet pan. Easy focaccia recipe in just 2 hours.

Hey! Hi. Hi! I've been eating a lot of bread. And I think it's related, but I'm feeling very happy these days.

It's a very good thing. The weather got cold again and so I sat in front of the oven, tore off large pieces of this homemade focaccia, and dunked it in excessive amounts of peppery olive oil. My fingers are greasy, but my belly is full. I love being well-fed.

I put a call outon instagrama few weeks agoasking forrecipe requests. After scanning the list several times (thank you guys so much), and noticed an overwhelming number of requests for small batch yeast breads.

Baking bread is one of my favorite things to do with a spare few hours in the kitchen. Working with yeast brings me joy. (Have you seen my small-batch cinnamon rolls?) It's magic in the kitchen! I'm so happy to tackle this request for you guys. There are quite a few breads on my list to make, but I wanted to start with something easy.

Something quick. Minimal effort, maximum reward. You know how I roll.

This is also how I roll:

Rosemary focaccia bread. You've had it, right? It's a rich dough made with olive oil and covered with herbs, and it's typically not more than 1" high. It's thicker than a flat bread, but not suitable for making a true bread loaf.

After 5 failed recipe attempts, I've decided that the reason focaccia doesn't rise veryhighis due to the copious amounts of olive oil. I also decided that the reason focaccia is so delicious is due to the copious amounts of olive oil.

Rosemary focaccia bread is the BEST sandwich bread, if you ask me. It's light and fluffy, and very easy to bite through. I love eating it simply dunked in olive oil, but I also love to make a salami, brown mustard, marinatedartichoke and pickled carrot sandwich with it (I'm not high maintenance, I swear).

Some people compare focaccia to pizza dough, but this is a comparison I don't understand. Pizza dough is thin and chewy; focaccia is soft and fluffy. If your pizza dough is fluffy, I don't think you're making pizza dough correctly. But that's just me. I think the comparison is referring to the Italian roots of both doughs.

Rosemary is traditional on top of focaccia dough, and I have a heavy hand with it. I used the older, woodier tips of my rosemary plants, and I mention that because if you use young, tender rosemary leaves, it hasa tendency to stain your dough green. No big deal, really, but I don't like explaining to dinner guests why I'm serving green bread. I already have to explain so manythings, like why my child eats all of the food on her plate and then begs for yours too. And how is it possible that a child of her size puts away so much sauerkraut. Oh, and did I notice my baby has quite a large belly and is looking rather chunky today? Yes yes, and that's just how I like my babes.

We've strayed off course. Rosemary focaccia bread made in a quarter sheet pan (<--link to the one I use) for a smaller serving size. That's what you're here for today, correct?

Rosemary focaccia bread recipe notes:

1. A quarter sheet pan sounds super fancy. It's not. It's basically half of a normal-sized sheet pan. If you don't have one, you can absolutely make this breadwith a regularsheet pan, but know that it will spread a bit more. Keep an eye on the edges while it bakes.
2. Olive oil. Be generous and loving with it. Pour it in the dough, pour it liberally on the pan, and then lovingly brush it again when it comes out of the oven. It's the key here.
3. Please make sure your yeast is fresh and alive. Wait a full 15 minutes to make sure it blooms in the warm water. If its alive, it will be very noticeablyfoamy. The most common failure with yeast bread is using water that is too hot, which kills the yeast. Don't be a murderer. Use slightly warm, not hot, water.
4. I call for ½ cup of olive oil, which is 8 tablespoons total. You'll use ¼ cup in the actual dough, and then divide the remaining ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) between the pan and the top of the dough before baking. Easy, right?
5. Can you double this recipe and make more? Honestly, guys, I have no idea. I spend my life scaling down recipes, so I don't turn around and then scale them back up. That would probably landme in the crazy house, you know? This recipe makes 9 generous pieces. Enough for 4 sandwiches (and a snack for the cook!)

I love you, and can't wait until our next yeast bread adventure!

This focaccia would be awesome with artichokes and olive on top, too! If you love artichokes and olives, you've got to make my Mediterranean Pasta. This focaccia is a great side dish for it, also.