If you saw our post on Basic Focaccia Bread, then you know that focaccia bread is a use it or lose it kind of bread.
After 24 hours focaccia bread starts to get dried out and tough. It’s at this point that you use it for bread crumbs or croutons or this simple and delicious cheesy garlic focaccia bread recipe!
If any of you know my husband, he is more of a foodie than I am. He has that incredible talent of eating something and being able to pull out specific ingredients just by taste.
He’s also very good at coming up with and creating tasty recipes on the whim like this one.
We had made a good dent on our pan of focaccia bread but were unsuccessful in eating the entire pan of it. So after about 36 hours, it was time to start thinking of what to do with it. Originally I was just going to chop it up into tasty croutons. However my husband decided to create this.
It was so easy and delicious I immediately had to take a few photos and write it down for the website! The partially dried out focaccia came back to life and was soft and oh so delicious!
This is a recipe I highly recommend! If you don’t have leftover focaccia, then don’t delay and make this! If you don’t have focaccia bread, then I’ll put the recipe below to make this from scratch!
From Scratch Cheesy Garlic Focaccia Bread
Ingredients
- 2 packages (5 teaspoons) of active dry yeast
- 1 3/4 cups warm water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 5 cups of all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 2 Tablespoons of Garlic Paste (found in the produce section of grocery store) or 2 Tablespoons of finely diced garlic.
- 1 stick butter, room temperature
- Colby Jack Cheese, shredded
- Marinara, spaghetti or favorite dipping sauce
Instructions
In a stand mixer, with a dough hook, add warm water and yeast and mix slightly. Cover with a towel and let sit for 5 minutes.
Once yeast has poofed, add sugar, 1/2 cup of olive oil, flour and the fine sea salt. Mix for 5 - 7 minutes on low until dough is smooth and elastic.
Spray a large bowl with cooking spray (bottom and up the sides) and place dough in bowl. Cover with a towel or saran wrap and place in a draft free spot for 1 - 1 1/2 hours until doubled in size.
When dough is ready, pour remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil into a large cookie sheet and smooth around the entire sheet.
Preheat oven to 450*
Plop dough onto cookie sheet and push around until dough covers entire sheet.
Mix up garlic and butter. Spread over dough.
If dough is thick and puffy then dimple dough with fingers and bake for 20 - 30 minutes (depending on oven). 5 minutes before you remove bread from oven, top with cheese and continue baking until cheese is melted and gooey!
If dough is thin and not puffy, cover and allow to rest for 1 additional hour. Then dimple dough with your fingers, bake for 20 - 30 minutes. 5 minutes before you remove bread from oven, top with cheese and continue baking until cheese is melted and gooey!
Serve with your favorite dipping sauce!
Use within 24 hours, warm or cold and wrap leftovers in tinfoil.
----------------------------------------------
If you already have leftover focaccia bread, then mix butter and garlic together to create a paste.
Spread over pre-made focaccia bread, top with cheese and bake for 10 minutes at 350*F or until cheese is melted and gooey!