Focaccia is the ultimate blank canvas: Here's what bakers are doing with it
Focaccia can be anything you want it to be.
It started with the garden focaccias — pretty, pastoral scenes made of vegetables meant to emulate a sun or a flower or even a starry night.
I thought the trend would fade, but turns out it was merely the warning shot in a coming campaign, and proved what many bakers now know to be true: Focaccia is a blank canvas on which to project just about anything.
There’s almond croissant focaccia. Miso-maple focaccia. And even the obligatory pumpkin spice focaccia. As food reporter Bettina Makatinal wrote in a recent Eater newsletter on this subject, “Focaccia is so compelling because it’s hard to mess up and it’s easy to modify, and these are the foundational elements of any TikTok-era food trend. Like many things in the food culture, it has taken a maximalist turn as bakers increasingly test focaccia’s limits.”
Baker Cybele Roland-Holst, who often shares sweet spins like Strawberry Streusel Focaccia and Apple Fritter Focaccia on @yummyliciousdeliciousness, says, “Aside from its approachability and versatility, there is just something captivating about watching people work with bubbly, yeasted bread dough, and I think that satisfying element is what makes these recipes translate so well to a visual format.”
Sweet renditions are especially popular: Crunchy streusel toppings and sweet vanilla glazes abound, like in this Lemon and Blueberry Focaccia or Coffee Cake Focaccia. Or bakers take inspiration from other desserts; such is the case with this maximalist Tiramisu Focaccia, which is creamy, chocolatey, and perfect for brunch. Some bakers are doubling up on carbs by making Focaccia Au Gratin and layering cheese and sliced potatoes on top of their bread. Others mashup savory dishes, like private chef Caroline Anderson, who has made Spinach Artichoke Dip Focaccia, Elote Focaccia, and Cacio e Pepe Focaccia as part of her weekly rotating focaccia flavors.
Lacey Ostermann has perhaps pushed the focaccia envelope furthest, pioneering a series called “Will It Focaccia?” that has spanned everything from Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Focaccia to Banana Bread Focaccia to Mojito Focaccia. She says, “I’ve had a few comments from focaccia purists saying these things shouldn’t be done to focaccia and it’s not traditional. That’s the whole point of the series — it’s not traditional, but if it’s delicious, then why not?!”
How to make your own creative focaccia
Inspired by these bakers’ creativity? Play around with your own focaccia, starting with our current Recipe of the Year, Big and Bubbly Focaccia.
King Arthur’s Recipe Development and Test Kitchen Manager Sarah Jampel was recently inspired by the uber-popular sweet focaccia trend and developed this Big and Bubbly Cinnamon Roll Focaccia. The pillowy dough is studded with Cinnamon Sweet Bits for pockets of gooey sweetness, while the dimpled top is drenched in a buttery, brown sugar-cinnamon mixture and drizzled with icing after it’s baked.
More into savory focaccia? Take a cue from food writer Jess Eng, who made this Chili Crisp Big and Bubbly Focaccia. To make it, follow the original Big and Bubbly Focaccia recipe and simply swap out olive oil for Sichuan chili crisp in steps two, nine, and 14.
When it comes to customizing your own focaccia, “Make sure you watch the moisture content of things you are putting in — you don't want to make it too soggy,” says Erin Clarkson of @cloudykitchen, who has been making focaccia spins that include Cheeseburger Focaccia and Caramelized Onion and Potato Focaccia. She adds, “Having a really good base dough you are confident with helps a lot too.”
If you’re playing around with our Big and Bubbly Focaccia dough, Sarah recommends choosing flavor treatments and topping additions that are added once the focaccia is out of the oven. “That's often the place where I think someone can have the most creative license — and biggest impact — without compromising the structure of the dough. We've found that adding additions directly to this dough changes its texture; because the dough is high-hydration, there have been some instances of gummy or less-cooked dough around additions,” she explains.
One example of this approach is Lacey’s viral Jam Donut Focaccia. To make it, “Add a tablespoon of sugar into the base dough, dimple and bake it as normal and then poke holes into it when it’s out of the oven. Then you pipe jam into the holes and glaze the entire slab of focaccia. The glaze hardens up and it’s basically just a giant jam donut.”
With a solid foundational base recipe like our Big and Bubbly Focaccia, this beloved bread becomes a blank canvas for your imagination. What will you do with it?
Cover photo (Big and Bubbly Cinnamon Roll Focaccia) and food styling by Liz Neily.
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