What to do

1. For the Bread: In a medium saucepan, place olive oil, garlic, shallot and thyme. 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.

2. Place flours, 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. Drizzle the bread with a little olive oil Cover tightly and chill in the fridge over overnight. Focaccia should double in size.

3. 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 another ~50 minutes (*see note below).

4. For the filling, place onions, a generous pinch of salt and sugar in a medium size skillet. Cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. As the onions begin to soften, add balsamic. Continue to cook until onions turn a beautiful brown- this could take up to 30 minutes (we want to cook the onions low and slow so they are beautifully brown and not burnt). Once onions are cooked, remove from heat and cool completely.

5. Remove pan that is covering the focaccia dough. At this point the dough should have filled up the pan. Drizzle olive oil over the dough and begin dimpling the bread with your fingers (see video). Be gentle as you dimple, the dough should express some air bubbles and have quite a jiggle to it. Even sprinkle about 2/3 of the cooked onions onto the bread. Cover onions with half of the gruyere cheese. Then pull all edges of the dough to the middle and begin tucking fillings. Fold the dough so that all of the filling is tucked away and gently flip the dough over so that the seam is on the bottom of the pan. Drizzle with a little more olive oil, then cover with the pan again and let the dough rise for another 40 minutes (in a warm place!).

6. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove top pan and give the bread some more dimples (we want the pan to be completely filled with the dough), sprinkle with flaky sea salt and then bake for about 14 minutes (*Note: place bread on the lowest rack of the oven, this gets the bottom nice and crunchy!) . Remove from the oven, drizzle with a little more olive oil (yes I know, we use a lot of olive oil!) then top with the remaining onions and gruyere. Sprinkle the sides of the bread with the Parmesan cheese (this gives the edges a nice crisp!). Bake for another 15-20 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 with be fluffy and moist!).
Serve warm or at room temperature with yes, more olive oil and balsamic for dipping! Enjoy! Bread should be stored in refrigerator.

Pro Tip: To reheat, set oven to 375 and bake for 15 minutes.

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!

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!

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