Whole wheat focaccia is even more delicious than normal focaccia. It has all that intense garrulous Italian soul, but with extra “molto delizioso” nutty notes thrown in. This recipe is actually made with only half wholemeal flour. After various experiments, I’ve found a mix of half wholemeal and half white flour is the best blend for flatbreads.
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Dive Right In
- Why Make Whole Wheat Focaccia?
- Whole Wheat Focaccia Bread
- Ingredients And Variations
- How To Make Whole Wheat Focaccia
- Other Whole Wheat Bread Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- The Recipe
Why Make Whole Wheat Focaccia?
If you’re after a delicious and nutritious bread that works well as a side dish but is also great for mopping up, scooping or dipping, whole wheat focaccia bread is what you need.
- Baking Fun – Baking focaccia at home is fun and hopefully rewarding too. If you haven’t made it before it’s a great way to try different techniques and flavours in the kitchen.
- Healthier Option – Whole wheat flour contains many more nutrients than refined white flour. By using a substantial proportion of wholemeal flour in the recipe you get extra fibre as well as vitamins and minerals in your diet. It also has a lower glycemic index, which means it can help regulate blood sugar levels more effectively.
- Homemade Goodness – If you bake your own bread from scratch, it enables you to control the ingredients and thus avoid any added preservatives or artificial flavours often found in commercial bread.
- Rich Flavour – Extra virgin olive oil gives a bonafide robust flavour to focaccia. Add rosemary and garlic and you’re there – sheltering from the blazing sun. Whole wheat flour has a nutty and hearty flavour which adds depth and richness to the taste of focaccia bread.
- Satiety – The higher fibre content in whole wheat focaccia can help you feel fuller for longer. This makes it a great option for satisfying hunger and preventing overeating. Or that’s the theory anyway.
- Versatile – You can customise this easy whole wheat focaccia with various toppings and seasonings to suit different tastes and preferences. It makes a great accompaniment to various dishes as it’s so good for mopping, dipping and scooping. It’s also a delicious sandwich bread. Hooray for such a versatile bread option for meals, snacks and appetisers.
Whole Wheat Focaccia Bread
Focaccia originates from Genoa and its environs in Liguria, Italy. Apparently, this is where you’ll find the best tasting focaccia. I wouldn’t know, because sadly, I’ve still never visited Italy.
It’s a dimpled bread, so perfect for soaking up olive oil and whatever flavours you care to throw at it.
I’ve called this whole wheat focaccia just to clarify it’s made with wheat flour not anything else. But it’s exactly the same as wholemeal focaccia.
The scent of freshly baked focaccia is irresistible. You’ll find it very hard to resist not tearing into it as soon as it’s out of the oven. So my advice is bake it just before you plan to eat it.
My whole wheat focaccia is really delicious. It’s crisp on the outside and moist and slightly chewy on the inside but also nice and light. In fact it’s wonderfully springy. When you press the baked dough between your fingers, it springs back the moment it’s released – perfect.
Focaccia should never be dry, heavy or doughy. It should look rustic.
It’s great for mopping up sauces, dipping into soups and scooping up stews. It also works as a delicious appetiser with a bowl of good quality olive oil and a bowl of vinegar for dipping.
Or just use it as a simple side to accompany whatever else you’re eating. It makes a lovely lunch when paired with a crisp green salad. And somewhat surprisingly, it’s a really good sandwich bread.
Ingredients And Variations
The ingredients needed to make focaccia are pretty simple really. It’s a basic flatbread after all, though being Italian, olive oil is thrown into the mix. Flour, salt, yeast and water are the other ingredients. However, there are toppings and they make quite a difference.
Flour
After much experimentation with flatbread recipes, I’ve stopped using one hundred percent whole wheat flour. The result is just a bit too tough. I now stick to a 50:50 percentage mix of wholemeal and white flour.
Unlike many flatbreads, focaccia needs strong bread flour. So I use strong whole wheat bread flour and ordinary plain white flour, which seems to give the perfect result.
As bread is such an important part of our diet, I use organic flours. My wholemeal flour is also stoneground. It’s more expensive, but I feel it’s important.
By all means use a hundred percent whole wheat flour if you’re after an even healthier loaf. Just don’t expect a light springy texture. It will still taste good though.
Olive Oil
Olive oil at the base and a brushing on the top gives both top and bottom a lovely crunchy crust when fresh from the oven. It also stops the garlic and rosemary (or any other toppings you use) from burning.
It has to be extra virgin olive oil for focaccia though. The oil gives so much flavour to the bread as well as texture. Use a nice fruity one if you can.
I use less oil than many focaccia recipes, but still enough that you can taste it.
Yeast
Ideally, I like using fresh yeast. It always gives such good results. I find dried yeast a bit more hit and miss. Sadly, I lost my supply of fresh yeast when Covid hit and haven’t managed to find another one.
Recently, I’ve also started using fast action yeast, as my local supermarket has stopped selling dried active yeast. It’s definitely easier to use, but is frowned upon by The Read Bread Campaign.
Toppings
There are any number of toppings you can garnish focaccia with. I’ve gone with garlic and rosemary. They’re both robust flavours and thus permeate the whole bread. Both the scent and taste are extremely appetising.
The garlic sort of caramelises and becomes very sweet whilst the rosemary becomes crisp and toothsome.
Whilst rosemary is the most common herb used to flavour focaccia, sage is often substituted instead. We grow rosemary, but have problems with sage, so it’s rosemary focaccia for us.
Other good topping ingredients include small black olives, halved cherry tomatoes, caramelised onions and roasted peppers. Alternatively use halved or quartered large green olives. Keep it simple or mix and match to create your own favourites.
If you’re not bothered about keeping the focaccia vegan, you can also add cheese to the top. Grated veggie parmesan-style cheese, sliced mozzarella or crumbled feta are all good.
It’s traditional to scatter flaky sea salt over the top, but as the bread is already quite salty, I skip that bit.
How To Make Whole Wheat Focaccia Bread
You can make this whole wheat focaccia with an electric mixer, or by hand. Either way, despite the number of steps involved, it’s an easy bread to make.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions, timings and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Mix Dough
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, stir the flours, yeast and salt together. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm water and one tablespoon of the olive oil.
If kneading by hand, stir the mix from the inside out with a sturdy spoon or your hands until it more or less comes together. If using an electric mixer, you can skip the mixing part.
Top Tip
If using a different type of yeast, adjust quantities accordingly and apply appropriate fermenting method. Fresh yeast and dried active yeast both require a pre-ferment before adding to the main body of flour.
Step 2. Knead Dough
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it becomes smooth and elastic. Alternatively use the dough hook of your mixer and knead for five minutes. I use a stand mixer.
Step 3. First Rise
Place the dough back in the bowl, cover it with a plate or plastic bag and leave it to rise in a warm place for one to two hours, or until it has doubled in size.
How long it takes will depend on the freshness of the flour and yeast as well as the warmth of the room.
Top Tip
You can oil the bowl before you put the dough in to rise. This makes it easier to get out again. However, I don’t do this and just use a dough scraper to extract it. It’s not difficult.
Step 4. Prepare Tin
Meanwhile prepare your tin. An oblong traybake tin (affiliate link) measuring 30 x 23cm (9 x 12 inch) is best. If using a non-stick tin line it with baking paper, otherwise there’s no need. Mine is an aluminium tin which is great for even heat distribution, but isn’t non-stick.
Pour olive oil into the tin (or over the paper) and brush it around the sides and bottom. This gives a delicious crispy outside to the bread as well as flavour.
Step 5. Shape Dough
Once the dough has doubled in size, scrape it out of the bowl and into the tin. A dough scraper makes the process nice and easy.
Gently press and stretch the dough with your hands so that it fits the tin in a more or less even layer, about 1 ¼ cm (½ inch) thick. Remember focaccia is a rustic bread, so it doesn’t need to look uniform.
Step 6. Second Rise
Cover the shaped dough with a plastic bag or clean tea towel and let it rise again for half an hour or so. It doesn’t need to double in size as it will continue rising in the oven.
Step 7. Prepare Focaccia
While the dough is proving, peel and roughly chop the garlic.
Once the dough has risen for the second time, use your fingers to make deep dimples all over the surface of the dough. Press your fingers in right down to the bottom – the dough will spring back a little anyway.
Push the chopped garlic and rosemary sticks into the holes. Mix the remaining olive oil with warm water, then brush it all over the top. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, if liked.
Top Tip
Dip your fingers into the oil and water mix before dimpling the focaccia. This stops the dough sticking to your fingers.
Step 7. Bake
Place the baking sheet on the bottom shelf of the preheated oven and bake until the focaccia is crisp and golden brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Step 8. Serve
Remove the focaccia from the oven and let it cool slightly on a wire rack. Slice it into twelve squares and serve warm for the best texture, although it’s good to go once cool too.
Because focaccia contains a fair amount of olive oil, it doesn’t go stale as quickly as some other breads. It will keep in a sealed container or plastic bag for three days, but the outside won’t remain crisp. It works even better for soaking up sauces, soups and stews though.
If you want to warm it up again, pop it in a hot oven or air fryer for four to five minutes. Set the oven to 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) and the air fryer to 160℃ (320℉). The outside will crisp up nicely.
Other Whole Wheat Bread Recipes You Might Like
- Cheese baps
- Chocolate chilli lime bread
- Fluffy yoghurt flatbread
- Malted wholemeal & rye loaf
- No-knead spelt bread
- Spelt burger buns
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this easy whole wheat focaccia bread, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or advice for making this type of Italian flatbread?
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Choclette x
Whole Wheat Focaccia. PIN IT.
Whole Wheat Focaccia Bread
Equipment
- stand mixer (affiliate link) optional
Ingredients
- 250 g strong wholemeal flour
- 250 g plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 2 tsp instant yeast / fast action / easy bake
- 1 ¼ tsp sea salt
- 325 ml lukewarm water
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil divided
Topping
- 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 12-16 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp warm water
- sea salt flakes optional
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your mixer, stir the flours, yeast and salt together. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm water and 1 tbsp of olive oil.250 g strong wholemeal flour, 250 g plain flour (all purpose flour), 2 tsp instant yeast / fast action / easy bake, 1 ¼ tsp sea salt, 325 ml lukewarm water, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5-7 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic. Alternatively use the dough hook of your mixer and knead for 5 minutes.
- Place the dough back in the bowl, cover it with a plate or plastic bag and let it rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
- Meanwhile prepare your tin. If using a non-stick tin line it with baking paper, otherwise there’s no need. Pour 1 tbsp of oil into the tin and brush it around the sides and bottom. This gives a delicious crispy outside to the bread as well as flavour.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, scrape it out of the bowl and into the tin. Gently press and stretch the dough so that it fits the tin in a more or less even layer, about 1 ¼ cm (½ inch) thick.
- Cover the shaped dough with a plastic bag or clean tea towel and let it rise again for about 30-45 minutes.
Topping
- While the dough is rising, peel and roughly chop the garlic. Preheat the oven to 220℃ (200℃ fan, 425℉, Gas 7).2 cloves garlic
- Once the dough has risen for the second time, use your fingers to make deep dimples all over the surface of the dough. Press your fingers in right down to the bottom – the dough will spring back a little anyway.
- Push the chopped garlic and rosemary sticks into the holes. Mix the remaining tbsp of olive oil with the warm water, then brush it all over the top. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, if liked.12-16 sprig fresh rosemary, 1 tbsp warm water, sea salt flakes, 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Place the baking sheet on the bottom shelf of the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the focaccia is golden brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Remove the focaccia from the oven and let it cool slightly on a wire rack. Slice it into 12 squares and serve warm for the best texture, although it's good to go once cool too.
sherry says
oh my this sounds so delicious!
cheers
sherry
Choclette says
Thank you. It’s a good one and an easy to make bread too.
A N Dean says
Mama mia, that looks really good!
Choclette says
It is really good. We think so certainly. Let us know if you get around to giving this focaccia recipe a try.