Sus Hive Recipe Library

Garlic-Confit Big & Bubbly Focaccia

Lofty square focaccia adapted from King Arthur Baking's Big and Bubbly Focaccia, finished with Uncle Cheese garlic confit oil and soft confit cloves for a premium bread service, soup side, board item, or sandwich base.

HotBreadFocacciaGarlic ConfitVegetarian

Ingredients

Dough

  • 360 g all-purpose flour
  • 9 g table salt
  • 5 g granulated sugar
  • 3 g instant yeast
  • 284 g warm water, 90–110°F
  • 18 g reserved garlic confit oil, or extra-virgin olive oil

Pan + topping

  • 26 g reserved garlic confit oil, divided
  • 10–16 soft garlic confit cloves
  • Flaky sea salt, to finish
  • Optional: rosemary, thyme, cracked black pepper, lemon zest, or parsley

Prep / Cook Method

  1. Mix dough: Whisk flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Add warm water and garlic confit oil. Mix until no dry patches remain.
  2. Rest: Cover and rest 15 minutes.
  3. First fold: With wet hands, stretch one side up and press into the center. Rotate and repeat 8–12 times, then flip smooth side up. Rest 15 minutes.
  4. Build strength: Repeat the fold three more times, resting 15 minutes between folds.
  5. Bulk rise: Cover and rise at warm room temperature about 1 hour, until puffy and nearly doubled.
  6. Pan: Oil a 9" square metal pan with 1 tablespoon of the garlic confit oil. Use parchment tabs if desired.
  7. Transfer: Move dough gently into the pan and flip once to coat in oil. Cover.
  8. Final proof: Rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until jiggly, marshmallowy, and close to the pan edges.
  9. Heat oven: Preheat to 475°F.
  10. Dimple + top: Oil fingers, dimple deeply but gently. Drizzle remaining garlic oil, press confit cloves into dimples, and finish with flaky salt and optional herbs.
  11. Bake: Bake on the lower rack 15–18 minutes, until bronzed and crisp at the high spots.
  12. Crisp sides: Remove from pan, pull parchment, then return bread directly to the oven rack with the oven off for 5–7 minutes to crisp the sides.

Finish + Service

  • Cut into squares for catering boards, soup service, salad add-ons, or premium sandwich bread.
  • Brush warm focaccia with a little extra garlic confit oil and finish with lemon zest and parsley when appropriate.
  • Pairs well with whipped ricotta, burrata, tomato salad, roasted peppers, charcuterie, baba ganoush, hummus, or Greek dips.

Holding / Reheat / Catering Notes

  • Best served same day.
  • For leftovers or pre-baked catering, wrap loosely in foil at room temperature and reheat/re-crisp before service.
  • Do not hot-hold long enough to steam out the crisp edges; use short reheat windows instead.

Scaling Notes

  • One batch fits a 9" square metal pan. For sheet-pan production, scale by pan area and run a test bake before a large event.
  • Keep garlic clove topping proportional; too many cloves can weigh down the top and soften the crumb.
  • Record final pan yield and cut size after production for catering packout standardization.

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