Key Ingredients
Franks Red Hot – The classic, tangy and smooth hot sauce for buffalo wings.
Chicken– Tender juicy chicken that soaks up all of that butter and hot sauce.
Blue Cheese – Salty and savory with a deep umami richness and a touch of sweetness.
Flaky Sea Salt – Adds a cool, zesty contrast to the savory hot sauce.
FAQ’s
Helpful tips
Here are some important Pro tips by Maude
- You you mix and knead the focaccia, it will be wet, that is okay. You should wet your hands before kneading. If you find that your dough isnt coming together as you knead, add a tbsp of all purpose flour to help.
- If you need a warm, dry place when proofing your dough- try your microwave OR better yet… turn your oven on to the lowest ( I think mine is 175 degrees) setting and then once that temp is set, turn off the oven and then place your pan inside.
- Don’t forget to bake your focaccia on the lowest rack in the oven. Getting that crispy bottom is critical and oh so delicious!
- I love focaccia because it is hard to screw up! Just remember these three things, you need warm water no cooler than 105 degrees and no warmer than 115 degrees (this activates the yeast) a lot of olive oil (dont worry it only flavors the bread more!) and lots of rest time! Thats it! you will get beautiful, fluffy focaccia every time if you follow these tips!
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If you try this recipe, I would love your feedback! Please leave a star rating, a comment below or on the reel in Instagram! Also please share what you made and tag @eatmaudes !! Thank you so much for stopping by and making yumminess with me!
Buffalo Chicken Focaccia
Servings
10 servings
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Equipment
Ingredients
Focaccia
- 4 cups (500 g) bread flour
- 1 1/2 tsp (5 g) instant dry yeast
- 2 tsp (12g) salt
- 2 tsp (14g) honey
- 2 cups (473 ml) warm water, about 110-115 degrees
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (41g), plus more for pan and kneading
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Flaky sea salt for topping
Buffalo Chicken Topping
- 8 oz (225 g) mozzarella cheese, low moisture, shredded (you can also use monterey jack)
- 8 oz (225g) sliced or shredded chicken
- 2/3 cup (160 g) franks red hot
- 7 tbsp (100 g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 tbsp (10 g) honey
- 1/2 tbsp (7.5) white distilled vinegar
- 1/4 tsp (roughly 1 g) garlic powder
- Blue cheese for topping
- Scallions, chopped fine
- Parmesan cheese for topping (optional)
- Homemade Ranch
Instructions
Enable Step-by-Step Mode- For the focaccia: in a medium saucepan, place the 3 tbsp olive oil and garlic. Turn heat to low, mix with a wooden spoon. Let the mix come to a light simmer, then remove from stove. Garlic should be fragrant, not burnt. Let mix cool.
- Place flour, yeast, salt, honey and cooled olive oil mix in a large bowl. Pour in warm water and mix with a wooden spoon. Once the flour is wet, let the mix sit for about 10 minutes. Mix again until dough comes together and flour disappears. Wet your hands and begin kneading the dough (*see note below). I pull one chunk of dough up above the bowl, stretch it then wrap it around the rest of the dough. I repeat this about 8-10 times. Wait another 40 minutes and repeat this process. Drizzle the bread with a little olive oil. Cover tightly and chill in the fridge over overnight. Focaccia should double in size. Note: I use a bowl that has a lid that seals over the top- you can find it here.
- Using 3 tbsp of olive oil, grease a 9×13 pan. Place your focaccia dough into the pan. Spread gently with your fingers. Cover the dough with another pan of equal or greater size (the dough needs room to rise). Let the dough rise in a warm/draft free place for about 60-70 minutes (*see note below). While the dough proofs, make your buffalo chicken topping.
- Placer franks red hot, butter, honey, garlic powder and vinegar in a medium saucepan. Stir until butter is melted and sauce is smooth. Add the chicken, toss and coat. Set to the side.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove the top pan again and drizzle some olive oil on top of the focaccia. Gently dimple the focaccia and sprinkle with some flaky sea salt. (*Note: place bread on the lowest rack of the oven, this gets the bottom nice and crunchy!). Bake bread and then remove from the oven after about 15 minutes. Using a pastry or silicone basting brush, baste the focaccia with some olive oil. Sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan. Using some tongs, pull the buffalo chicken up out of the sauce and evenly spread all over the cheese and the focaccia. Feel free to drizzle just a little sauce on top before going back into the oven. Reserve remaining sauce until after baking.
- Bake for another 12-15 minutes and then remove and cool! Note: Ovens vary, when you remove your bread, you should be able to lift the edge of the bread with a knife… the bottom should be golden brown and crunchy… if it is not, bake it for another 5-10 minutes. While the outside of the bread is crunchy, the inside will be fluffy and moist!). Remove the focaccia and place on a cooling rack. Note: after about 10-15 minutes of cooking, you should be able to remove the focaccia with a metal spatula. Simply lift one of the edges, slide the spatula underneath, lift the focaccia from the pan.
- Top with blue cheese, ranch and scallions- to taste!. Slice and serve after about 10 minutes of cooling.
- Pro Tip: Focaccia should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, set oven to 375 and bake for 15 minutes.
Hi, I wanted to try this because it looks good but is confusing about how to bake and add ingredients during the baking process, which I’m doing now. I made a version of this combining other recipes. If you could edit what to do after making the focaccia, that might help! What I ended up doing was making my regular focaccia, putting on some sauce and cheese and baking for 10–15 min, then adding the remaining cheese and chicken plus blue cheese and baking 10-15 more (plus red onion or any other toppings). Then add scallions etc when it comes out.
Hi Maggie,
Im so sorry for this confusion- totally my oversight on the recipe! This buffalo focaccia recipe derives from another one and I didn’t remove a specific detail from the original before publishing this. I have updated the instructions so hopefully there should be less confusion now. I really appreciate you mentioning this and I apologize if it impacted your baking process or the final result. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do here- I appreciate the help and again, my sincere apologies!
For instance, in step 5 you say sprinkle another 1/3 of the butter but there was no reference to “the butter” before and by “ the butter” do you mean what you defined as “the buffalo chicken topping” or actual butter? And in the same step you say half of the remaining cheese so was I supposed to add it earlier? And when do I put the chicken on? Hope this helps!
I made this focaccia as part of our dinner last night and it was so yummy! We are big buffalo chicken fans in this house– and this was a first having it on focaccia. Thanks for the recipe, it will definitely be on rotation for us!
Hi Julie! Thanks so much for trying and for your feedback! Im so glad you enjoyed and excited for you to try again!