Rosemary Pumpkin Focaccia

This Rosemary Pumpkin Focaccia is fall in a bread - cozy, warm, and perfectly spiced! Your house will smell HEAVENLY while you're baking this bread.

Course Appetizer, Bread, Side Dish

Keyword bread, bread flour, extra virgin olive oil, olive oil, yeast

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Rising Time 12

Servings

Calories 274kcal

Add the yeast, the water, and the honey to a large mixing bowl, and stir. Let the mixture sit until the yeast starts to bubble, about 5-10 minutes.

Once the yeast mixture is bubbly, add in the water, olive oil, and pumpkin purée, and whisk together until evenly combined.

Then, add in the flour, and mix with the wet ingredients until a shaggy (messy / lumpy) dough is formed. The dough should be very soft and slightly sticky. If the dough is so dry that flour won’t fully incorporate, sprinkle in 1–2 tablespoons of water at a time. If it’s so wet that it won’t hold a rough shape, add 1–2 tablespoons of flour.
Take another mixing bowl and spread olive oil on the inside using your hands. Add the dough to that bowl, and cover. Leave it in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, stretch and fold the dough. Using wet hands (this is crucial - the dough will stick to your hands otherwise), reach under one side of the dough and gently lift it upwards until you feel resistance (you want to stretch the dough without tearing). Fold that stretched section back over itself toward the opposite side of the bowl. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the process on the next side, continuing until you’ve stretched and folded all four sides of the dough. This counts as one full “set.”
Do two more sets of stretches and folds, then let the dough rest in the oiled bowl, adding more oil to the bowl if necessary.
Cover the bowl with cling wrap or a damp towel, then put it in the refrigerator overnight, or for at LEAST 10-12 hours (or up to 24).

Take the dough of the refrigerator, and add it to a well-oiled baking tray. It will deflate a little bit. Do another stretch and fold set, then shape the dough into a rough rectangle (in a similar shape to the baking tray).
Cover the tray with cling wrap or a damp towel, and let it rest for 1-2 hours, or until the dough re-rises to the edges of baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Drizzle about 2 tbsp of olive oil over the top of the dough. Then, using your hands, "dimple" the dough by pressing your fingers straight down into the dough to create indentations across the entire surface. Don't poke holes all the way through - just press firmly enough to create bubbles.
Sprinkle crunchy sea salt or Maldon salt on top, then add on about 1/4 cup of fresh rosemary, using your hands to press it in to the dough.
Bake the focaccia in the oven for about 20-22 minutes, or until the top is golden and just starting to brown.
When done, remove from the oven and let cool slightly before taking it out of the pan.
Cut into slices and enjoy!

Baking disclaimer: From 2025 on, I will be posting ALL of my baking recipes in grams. I will still provide Imperial, volume measurements in the notes, but I HIGHLY recommend purchasing a kitchen scale. I have this one from KitchenAid (affiliate link) and it’s super, super easy to use. Baking with a scale is more accurate and much easier.
You MUST use bread flour here, NOT all-purpose flour!

Tried this recipe?Let me know @wellandfull or tag #wellandfull! :)