Baking Great Bread at HomeThe tangy, bubbly canvas for peak summer produce
IntermediateSourdough Summer GardenFocaccia
by Henry Hunter Jr.
An overnight sourdough focaccia you decorate like a garden
Fermentation
12-16 hours cold, plus a levain build
Bake Time
25-28 minutes
Yield
One 9x13 pan, serves 10 to 12
Perfection is not required
"Perfection is not required. Progress is."— Henry Hunter Jr.
By Henry Hunter Jr., founder of Crust & Crumb Academy and Baking Great Bread at Home.
Authentic Flavor
Come bake this one with us. Every Saturday, the kitchen at Crust and Crumb Academy fills up with bakers building their own gardens and cheering each other on. Join us at https://www.skool.com/crust-crumb-academy-7621/about
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
The Levain
Build this the night before, or first thing in the morning if you keep a lively starter. It is the engine of the whole bake.
The Dough
One bowl, no mixer. Just the levain, water, flour, salt, and oil coming together into a soft, wet dough.
The Pan and Finishing
Do not skimp on the oil. It is what gives focaccia those crisp, golden edges.
The Garden
Your paint box. Use at least three colors and up to six. Swap in whatever your garden or market is giving you: mini sweet peppers, radish, scallion, asparagus, kalamata or green olives, or edible flowers. Skip anything watery like mushrooms or cucumber, they weep and go soggy.
Pro Tip
This dough sits at 72%, a hair tighter than the yeasted version, mostly because a slightly firmer sourdough is easier to handle. Do not count on those three points to protect your design though. What actually keeps your garden intact is a proper proof and pressing every topping in deep, both covered below.
Night Before or Early Morning
Build the Levain
A strong, active is what makes sourdough focaccia rise tall and taste alive. Do not skip it or rush it.
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Feed and wait
Stir together the starter, bread flour, and water in a small jar. Cover loosely and leave it at warm room temperature until it has doubled and looks domed and bubbly, about 4 to 8 hours depending on your kitchen.
Check it with a
Drop a small spoonful into a glass of water. If it floats, it is full of gas and ready to work. If it sinks, give it more time. This is the single best predictor of a good rise.
⏱ Wait Time
4 to 8 hours
Pro Tip
No time to babysit a levain? The yeasted version of this recipe skips it entirely and bakes on the same schedule. Both make a gorgeous garden.
Day 1, Evening
Mix the Dough
Everything goes in one bowl. No kneading, no mixer. You are just bringing a shaggy, wet dough together and letting time do the work.
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Dissolve the levain
In your large bowl, whisk the active levain into the water until it looks milky and loose. This spreads the culture evenly through the dough.
Add flour, salt, and oil
Add the bread flour, fine sea salt, and the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir until you do not see any dry flour. It will look rough and sticky at 72% . That is right. Do not add more flour.
Rest
Cover and rest 30 minutes. The flour drinks up the water and the folds ahead get much easier.
⏱ Wait Time
30 minutes
Precise Timers
Use these interactive timers to track your stages.
Flour Hydrating
Day 1, Evening
Build Strength with Bowl Folds
Instead of kneading, you will strengthen this dough with gentle folds in the bowl. This builds the structure that holds those big sourdough bubbles.
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First fold
Wet one hand. Reach under one side of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it to the middle. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat, four times around. This is a .
Fold three more times
Cover and rest 45 minutes, then fold again. Do four rounds total over about 2 to 3 hours. Sourdough moves slower than yeast, so give it the time. With each round the dough gets smoother, tighter, and stronger.
⏱ Wait Time
2 to 3 hours
Pro Tip
Watch the dough, not the clock. Warm kitchen, it moves faster. Cool from the AC, it takes longer. You want it noticeably puffier and jigglier by the last fold.
Slower, deeper
Your starter works at its own pace, and that slow fermentation is exactly where sourdough gets its tang and its keeping quality. Rushing it gives you dense, flat focaccia. Time gives you flavor and lift.
Structure for bubbles
Sourdough tends to throw bigger, wilder bubbles than yeast. The folds build a gluten net strong enough to trap all that gas, which is what makes the crumb tall and open.
The Takeaway
Fold, rest, and trust your starter. Sourdough rewards the baker who waits.
Precise Timers
Use these interactive timers to track your stages.
Between Folds
Overnight
The Overnight Cold Rise
The dough goes into the fridge to slowly build flavor and bubbles. This cold rest is where sourdough focaccia earns its tang.
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Cover and chill
Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate 12 to 16 hours, overnight. This long, cold deepens flavor and sets up that airy, bubbly crumb.
Trust the
The dough rises slowly in the fridge and should look puffy and dotted with bubbles by morning. Cold dough is also easier to handle, which is a bonus when you go to pan it.
⏱ Wait Time
12 to 16 hours
Pro Tip
If life happens, this dough will hold in the fridge up to about 24 hours. It just keeps getting more sour. Any longer and it starts to lose its lift.
Day 2, Morning
Into the Pan, Second Rise
The dough moves to its oiled pan for a warm, patient rise until it is pillowy and ready for your garden. Sourdough takes longer here than yeast, so plan for it.
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Oil the pan well
Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the finishing oil into your 9x13 metal pan, coating the bottom and sides. A parchment sling makes lift-out easy, but oil alone works.
Transfer and stretch
Scrape the cold dough into the pan, drizzle a little oil on top, and gently coax it toward the corners with your fingertips. It will shrink back at first. Rest 20 minutes and stretch again. Two or three tries over an hour fills the pan.
Warm rise
Cover loosely and let it rise at warm room temperature until puffy, jiggly, and full of life, about 3 to 4 hours. This second is what gives you the tall lift and strong . Sourdough is slower here, so do not rush it into the oven.
⏱ Wait Time
3 to 4 hours
Pro Tip
Cool summer kitchen from the AC? Set the pan in a turned-off oven with just the light on. That gentle warmth keeps a sourdough rise moving.
Precise Timers
Use these interactive timers to track your stages.
Stretch Rest
Warm Rise
Day 2
Dimple, Oil, and Plant Your Garden
The fun part, and the part where sourdough bakers have to be a little smart. Read the whole phase before you start so your garden survives those big bubbles.
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Dimple with confidence
Oil your fingertips, then press straight down through the dough to the bottom of the pan, all over. Those deep dimples hold oil and give focaccia its look. Press firmly, but do not fully deflate it.
Oil everything
Drizzle the last tablespoon of finishing oil over the top so it pools in the dimples, then oil your vegetables too. Every piece of your garden should be lightly slicked in olive oil before it touches the dough. This one rule saves your bake.
Press the garden in deep
Lay down your design with the tomatoes, peppers, onions, and olives, and press each piece a little deeper than you think you should. Sourdough puffs hard in the oven, and pieces that sit on top will slide right off the bubbles. Anchor them into the dimples. Hold your delicate herbs back.
Salt and go
Finish with a pinch of flaky sea salt. Soft herbs like dill, basil, and parsley go on later, in the oven, so they do not scorch. Now you are ready to bake.
Pro Tip
Toppings shift and spread as the bread rises. Cluster your design a little tighter than looks right, and press hard. On sourdough, pressing deep is the whole trick to keeping your picture intact. Lay cut cherry tomatoes cut-side down too, or they weep water and leave a soggy spot.
Shaping
Design Your Garden
Focaccia is a blank canvas, and this is where the whole community shows off. There is no wrong design. Two rules never change, and they matter even more on sourdough: oil every piece so nothing burns, and press each piece in deep so the big bubbles do not push it off. Hold delicate herbs until the last 10 minutes in the oven. Pick a style below or invent your own.
Flower Garden
The classic showstopper. Flowers, stems, and grass built from vegetables.
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Lay your stems
Run long chives, thin scallion strips, or thin asparagus spears upward from the bottom of the pan for stems and grass. Press them into the dough.
Build the blooms
At the top of each stem, ring thin bell pepper strips or red onion slivers into petals. A cherry tomato half or an olive in the center becomes the flower's heart.
Add leaves and fill
Tuck small basil or parsley leaves along the stems as foliage. These sturdier herbs can go on before baking. Scatter a few tomato halves low as bushes.
Wildflower Meadow
The most forgiving design and a great place to start. No straight lines, no pressure.
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Scatter with intention
Press your oiled vegetables across the whole surface in loose clusters, letting color land where it wants. Think of a field, not a bouquet.
Vary the heights
Mix tomato halves, pepper strips, and olives so no two spots match. Uneven is the whole point of a meadow.
Summer Sunset
For the baker who wants a picture, not a pattern. A little ambitious, a lot of fun.
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Set the horizon
Lay a band of thin red onion across the middle for a hazy sky, with rows of tomato and yellow pepper below for hills and fields.
Place the sun
Cluster tomato halves or a ring of yellow pepper in one corner as a low sun. Radiate thin pepper strips outward for rays.
Finish the sky
Once baked and out of the oven, a few torn basil leaves or dill sprigs read as clouds and greenery.
Kids' Garden
Hand the pan to a young baker and let them run with it. Faces, rainbows, their name, whatever they dream up.
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Give them the palette
Set out small bowls of oiled, pre-cut vegetables. Let the kids place every piece. It only needs to look like theirs.
Let them dimple and press
Little fingers are great at dimpling. Show them how to press down firm and anchor each piece, then step back and let them plant.
Proof Test: Before you decorate, make sure the dough is truly ready. It should look puffy and full, and jiggle like a waterbed when you nudge the pan. Sourdough often needs the full 3 to 4 hours. If it still looks flat and tight, wait. A rushed rise gives you dense focaccia no matter how pretty the top.
Day 2
Bake
High heat and a hot oven give you crisp edges, a golden top, and roasted vegetables nestled into a tangy, open crumb.
Step by Step
Preheat hot
Preheat to 450F (230C) for at least 30 minutes while the focaccia finishes rising. A truly hot oven and a metal pan give you deep golden color.
Bake
Bake on the lower rack for 25 to 28 minutes until the top is deep golden and the vegetables look roasted. If a heavily decorated garden browns too fast, tent it loosely with foil.
Add the delicate herbs
With about 10 minutes left, scatter on your soft fresh herbs and rosemary. Late is the key to keeping them green instead of scorched.
Cool and admire
Lift the focaccia out of the pan onto a rack so the bottom stays crisp. Cool at least 15 minutes before cutting. Take your photo first. This one earns it.
Preheat
Bake
Cool
Want extra-crisp sides? Once you lift it out, slide the bare focaccia back onto the oven rack for 5 minutes. Every edge goes golden.
Baking Methods
The reliable path for a golden top and crisp bottom.
Equipment: 9x13 metal baking pan
Preheat
Preheat to 450F (230C) for at least 30 minutes. A hot oven from the start is non-negotiable for color.
Bake low
Bake on the lower rack for 25 to 28 minutes until deep golden. Add delicate herbs in the last 10 minutes.
Crisp the sides
Lift it out onto a rack. For extra crunch, slide the bare focaccia back onto the rack for 5 more minutes.
"Focaccia is done when it is deep golden all over and the vegetables look roasted, not just warmed. Color is flavor. Do not pull it pale."
Nutrition Facts
Per 1 piece • 12 servings per recipe
* Values are estimates based on standard ingredients; actual values vary by brands and portion size.
Storage
Room Temperature
2 to 3 days, wrapped or in a bread bag. Best the day it is baked.
Refrigerated
Not recommended. Refrigeration accelerates staling.
Frozen
Up to 3 months. Slice before freezing for easy portions.
Refresh
Warm slices in a 350F (175C) oven for 5 to 10 minutes to bring back the crisp crust.
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Troubleshooting
Baker's Notes
Common questions and solutions for perfect results
Temperature is the quiet variable that makes or breaks a sourdough. SourHouse built the Goldie and the Dough Bed to hold your starter and dough in the sweet spot without guessing, without babysitting. Same tools I keep on my counter. Use code HBK23 for 10% off everything in their store.
SourHouse Goldie and Dough Bed
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