Focaccia muffins – small individual breads packed with flavour.
Do you love the light, airy texture of classic focaccia? Then you should try these focaccia muffins.
They are small, individual breads with the same wonderful structure as a traditional focaccia loaf – just in a handy muffin shape. Perfect with soup, salads or barbecued food, or as a little snack bread to take with you on the go.
The recipe is very easy and calls for just a few ingredients – and you can vary them to suit your taste and the season. Keep them classic with flaky sea salt and olive oil, or try fresh herbs, olives or whatever else the kitchen has to offer.
The muffins keep well for a couple of days in an airtight bag and freeze beautifully, so you always have home-baked bread to hand.
What is focaccia?
Classic focaccia is an Italian bread known for its airy, soft crumb and crisp crust – and of course the generous amount of olive oil that makes it so irresistible. It is often topped with flaky sea salt and fresh herbs, typically rosemary, which gives it a lovely aroma and flavour.
Focaccia is wonderfully versatile and works as a side for soups, pasta dishes and barbecues – or simply as a snack bread with a little good olive oil for dipping. It is an easy bread to bake, and you can play with fillings and toppings to suit your own taste. Olives, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic or a little chilli? The possibilities are many, and the result is always a hit.
Focaccia muffins
Ingredients
- 400 ml lukewarm water
- 25 g fresh yeast or about 8 g dried yeast
- 50 ml olive oil
- 500 g flour – ideally manitoba, pizza flour or tipo 00
- 1 tsp salt
- Extra olive oil and flaky sea salt
Method
- Dissolve the yeast in the water, then add the oil.
- Mix the flour and salt and stir it in a little at a time. Knead the dough, ideally in a stand mixer, until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. This takes anywhere from 8-15 minutes – depending on the power of your mixer.The dough should be slightly runny and sticky, but should still come away from the sides of the bowl.
- Rub your hands with a little olive oil, lift out the dough and shape it into a ball. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
- Brush the holes of a muffin tin with oil.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, shape each piece into a small ball and place them in the oiled holes. If the dough is very soft, you can simply use a spoon to scoop up dollops of dough and drop them into the muffin tin.Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to prove for a further 30 to 45 minutes.
- Drizzle a little oil over each roll, then press dimples into the dough with your fingertips and sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt.Don’t press them completely flat, just make dimples for the oil to run into.
- Bake in a preheated conventional oven (top and bottom heat) at 230°C for about 18-20 minutes – or until golden and baked through.
- Store them in an airtight bag, and warm them before serving if you like. Focaccia muffins can also be frozen.
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