The Best Cranberry Walnut Sourdough Focaccia Bread
Focaccia bread is an Italian flatbread that is super simple to make. Adding cranberries, walnuts, cinnamon, clove and orange make for a sweet combo to be enjoyed for breakfast or as a not-too-sweet dessert. Once you make this bread, you'll be addicted!
Print Recipe
Equipment
- Rimmed sheet pan or non-stick rectangular pan (9×13-inch or 10×14-inch)
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 50 g bubbly active sourdough starter
- 350 g water
- 25 g honey
- 500 g bread flour or all purpose flour
- 10 g fine sea salt
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil to coat the pan
- 2-3 tbsp cinnamon
- 1-2 tsp ground clove
- 5 drops orange essential oil or orange extract
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 2-3 tbsp organic cane sugar to sprinkle on top
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil to use on the pan
Instructions
- Feed your starter: about 3-4 hours before starting your dough, add equal parts flour and water to your starter with a clean fork. Cover and let rest for a couple of hours until it’s bubbling and doubled in size.
- Make the Dough: whisk the sourdough starter, water and honey together in a large bowl. Add the flour and salt. Add in the cinnamon, clove, orange essential oil, walnuts, and cranberries. Mix to combine and then finish by hand to form a rough dough. It will be wet and sticky. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes to an hour. Timing is flexible here. Then do the stretch and fold method the same way you would for the sourdough bread loaf (4 times over a period of 2 hours aka once every 30 minutes 4 times).
- Bulk Rise: Cover the bowl of dough with an airtight lid or plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature for about 6-10 hours (if your house is colder than 65 degrees F, it may take up to 12 hours). The dough will double in size when ready. Note: if the weather is warmer than 70 F (20-21 C) the dough will rise faster than 8 hours. Please adjust your timeframes accordingly.
- At this point you have two options: 1) bake the focaccia the same day, or 2) long-ferment the dough to help break down the phytic acid and gluten in the flour even more.
- If you are long-fermenting your dough- After the bulk rise: take a dough scraper or your hands and fold the dough into a ball, keeping it in the bowl, but removing any air bubbles/pockets so that it looks like one lump of dough again. Cover the bowl again with plastic wrap or an airtight lid, and let the dough sit in the fridge for up to 3 days (sometimes 4 or 5 is ok). On the day you are ready to bake your focaccia bread, prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper, and add 2-3 tbsp olive oil in the middle. Take your dough out of the fridge and shape the dough into a ball, placing it in the middle of the olive oil. Follow the rest of the instructions below. If you want to bake it right away, then follow the instructions below immediately after the bulk rise.
- On Bake Day: Pour 2-3 tbsp. of olive oil onto a rimmed sheet pan that is covered in parchment paper.
- Final Rise: With your oiled hands, remove the dough from the bowl onto the pan, shaping it into a loose ball as you go and placing it onto the olive oil. Stretch your dough out gently. Let rest for 10 minutes, then stretch it out again until it reaches the desired shape and size. Let rest for 2-3 hours at room temperature on the countertop until it has risen and is bubbling slightly.
- Preheat your oven to 425 F (220 C).
- Assemble the focaccia: Gently dimple the dough with oiled fingertips. As you dimple, the dough will naturally stretch outwards as well.
- Add Focaccia Toppings: sprinkle the top of your dough with sugar or cinnamon sugar.
- Bake the Focaccia: Place the dough onto the center rack. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack before cutting. Enjoy!