An easier way to make it, this sourdough discard focaccia is made with both yeast and sourdough starter. It rises in the fridge overnight for the fluffiest, most tender focaccia with a perfect crisp crust.
Not only is this a great way to use sourdough discard, it's also makes a dough that's easier to work with and a little more forgiving than long-fermented sourdough focaccia made only with starter. You still get that delicious sourdough flavour but a dough that's a little less sticky and more reliable – it's great if your starter is new and not that strong!
Recipe Rundown: Sourdough Discard Focaccia
- It has a light, chewy texture with a thin crisp crust.
- Focaccia tastes like the olive oil it's made with and baked in, so choose one that you like the taste of.
- There are two rising periods for this dough, but both are before shaping – the bread is baked right away after shaping it.
- You need just two rounds of stretches and folds for discard focaccia: once before it goes into the fridge overnight, and one more when you take it out of the fridge. That's it!
- Refrigerating overnight makes the flavour more complex.
Ingredients
The ingredients here are simple and what you might expect from many enriched bread recipes. A little honey helps boost the yeast action and improves the taste.
- Flour: use all-purpose or bread flour for this recipe, both work well. We haven't tried with whole wheat flour.
- Sourdough discard: this is older starter, no longer active, that may have been in your fridge for a few days. You can use active starter but be sure to use weight measurements in that case and note that the timings might change a little.
- Yeast: the yeast is bloomed, so you can use traditional or instant. If using instant yeast you can mix it in with the dry ingredients if preferred. Fresh yeast is good too (half a cube, 21 grams).
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
Step by Step Photos
Step 1: whisk the water and honey together, then top with the yeast.
Step 2: set aside to bloom. The yeast should be foamy and active (if not, you need new yeast).
Step 3: add the remaining ingredients and mix to form a shaggy dough.
Step 4: do one round of stretches and folds, then let the dough rise in the fridge.
Step 5: deflate the dough, do another round of stretches and folds, then coat the dough in oil and rise again at room temperature.
Step 6: gently stretch the dough out in an oiled baking dish.
Step 7: top with more olive oil and use your fingers to create dimples in the top.
Step 8: bake until golden and cool on a wire rack.
Top Tips
- Don't deflate: unlike most bread recipes, you won't deflate focaccia dough before gently shaping in the baking dish. You want to keep that air in the dough so handle it as little as possible.
- Make sure to oil: the dough needs to release easily from the bowl after the second rise, so don't forget to oil it for this step. It will still release if not oiled but you'll lose the rise (speaking from experience!).
- Give it time to rise: the dough usually rises a lot in the fridge and it may even over-prove a little, depending on how cold your fridge is, but that's okay. The second rise is more important and you need to give it enough time to double in size. In testing we found that can be anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours.
- Flexible refrigeration time: rising until doubled in the fridge might only take 3-4 hours, so if you want to do everything on the same day, you might be able to. The dough can stay in the fridge longer, too. Kelly left it once for 48 hours and it was great. You can also let it rise at room temperature twice if you don't care about the flavour as much.
- Cool on a rack: if possible, try to remove the focaccia from the baking dish shortly after it's out of the oven so that the bread can cool on a wire rack rather than in the dish. This helps preserve the crisp crust.
How to Store
Storage: cool fully, then transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. The crust will soften but the bread will still taste good.
Freezing: transfer fully cooled bread to an airtight container and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature. Refresh by spritzing with a little water and heating in a warm oven before serving.
More Sourdough Discard Recipes
If you make this Sourdough Discard Focaccia recipe or any other sourdough recipes on the Baked Collective, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more baking, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Sourdough Discard Focaccia
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
- 9x13 in. (23x33 cm) baking dish
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 330 grams water, 1 ⅓ cups
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 ¼ teaspoon dry yeast
- 100 grams sourdough discard, ~ ½ cup
- 40 grams olive oil , ¼ cup, plus more for bowl and pan
- 550 grams flour, ~ 3 ⅔ cups
- 12 grams salt, 2 teaspoons
Instructions
- Add the water and honey to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Sprinkle the yeast over top and set aside to bloom, about 15 minutes. After this time the mixture should be foamy and active (if not, you need new yeast).330 grams water, 1 tablespoon honey, 2 ¼ teaspoon dry yeast
- Whisk in the sourdough discard and olive oil.100 grams sourdough discard, 40 grams olive oil
- Add the flour and salt, then stir to form a shaggy dough. Cover and set aside to rest for 10 minutes.550 grams flour, 12 grams salt
- Once the dough has rested, wet your hands and do one round of stretches and folds to the dough.
- Cover the bowl with a tea towel and plate, then place in the fridge to let the dough rise overnight, or until doubled in size. It might take less than 8 hours to double but can stay in the fridge for up to 48 hours at this stage.
- The next morning, take the dough out of the fridge and do another round of stretches and folds. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the bowl, then turn the dough to coat well in the oil. Set aside to rise again, covered, until doubled in size. This will take anywhere from 1 to 4 hours depending on temperature – it usually takes 1.5-2 hours for us.
- Oil a 9x13 in. (23x33 cm) baking dish with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and gently tip the risen dough into it. Use your hands to carefully stretch the dough to fill the baking dish and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Once hot, top the focaccia with another 2 tablespoons of olive oil and press your fingertips in all over the dough to create the characteristic dimples. Top the bread with any desired toppings like flake salt, herbs, and so on.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a deep golden colour. Remove from the oven and cool in the dish for about 10 minutes before carefully removing and cooling on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Flour: use all-purpose or bread flour for this recipe.
- Yeast: the yeast is bloomed, so you can use traditional or instant. If using instant yeast you can mix it in with the dry ingredients if preferred. Fresh yeast is good too (half a cube, 21 grams).
- Don't deflate: unlike most bread recipes, you won't deflate focaccia dough before gently shaping in the baking dish. You want to keep that air in the dough so handle it as little as possible.
- Make sure to oil: the dough needs to release easily from the bowl after the second rise, so don't forget to oil it for this step. It will still release if not oiled but you'll lose the rise (speaking from experience!).
- Give it time to rise: the dough usually rises a lot in the fridge and it may even over-prove a little, depending on how cold your fridge is, but that's okay. The second rise is more important and you need to give it enough time to double in size. In testing we found that can be anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours.
- Flexible refrigeration time: rising until doubled in the fridge might only take 3-4 hours, so if you want to do everything on the same day, you might be able to. The dough can stay in the fridge longer, too. Kelly left it once for 48 hours and it was great. You can also let it rise at room temperature twice if you don't care about the flavour as much.
- Cool on a rack: if possible, try to remove the focaccia from the baking dish shortly after it's out of the oven so that the bread can cool on a wire rack rather than in the dish. This helps preserve the crisp crust.
- Storage: cool fully, then transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. The crust will soften but the bread will still taste good.
- Freezing: transfer fully cooled bread to an airtight container and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature. Refresh by spritzing with a little water and heating in a warm oven before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and is provided as a courtesy. For precise nutritional data, please calculate it independently using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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