This festive Christmas Focaccai is cheesy, herby, and scrumptiously savory. Served as centerpiece or starter it is festive, fun, and will disappear before you know it.
When I want to wow my family and friends at Christmas without going overboard in the kitchen, I make this Christmas focaccia bread. It’s soft, golden, and fluffy, decorated with cherry tomatoes and herbs, and looks like a festive treat straight out of a bakery window.
The best part? It’s made with simple pantry staples and is so much easier than it looks. And since I can prep the dough ahead of time, I get a stunning centerpiece and a stress-free holiday kitchen. Total win.
What Makes This Next Level
Here’s why this Christmas bread has become a Christmas tradition for me:
- It’s affordable: I can easily throw this together with pantry staples.
- Multi-use: It works as an appetizer, side dish, or the edible star of the table.
- Scalable: I can double or triple the recipe, with enough baking trays.
- Fun: It’s always a conversation starter at Christmas dinner.
- Adaptable: I easily change it up to suit various occasions, eg star shapes for New Year, bunny shapes for Easter etc.
Ingredient Notes
Here’s what usually goes into my this, plus a few ideas of how I like to change it depending on what’s in the fridge/freezer:
- Instant yeast: I prefer using instant yeast instead of active dry yeast, since this doesn’t need to be bloomed first. Instant yeast can be mixed directly with the flour and other dry ingredients, which saves a step.
- Water: Use warm water, not hot as the hot water would kill the yeast.
- Flour: I use tend to use all-purpose flour but bread flour works too.
- Salt: Use your favorite salt. I sometimes use flavored salt.
- Olive oil: Adds that signature focaccia flavor and golden crust.
- Wreath details: Use whatever you have. I used cut cherry tomatoes and fresh rosemary sprigs. Make it as silly and festive as you like.
- Sea salt flakes: I love adding flavour and a bit of crunch with flaky sea salt such as Maldon brand. I love sprinkling on some Italian seasoning too.
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How To Make It
Grab all your ingredients and let’s make this treat. Get the complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.
Make the Dough, Let It Rise and Second Rise
- Whisk flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl.
- Add water; stir until a sticky ball forms.
- Drizzle with olive oil, cover, and let rise 1 to 2 hours, until doubled.
- Grease a 9×13 pan; transfer dough in.
- Drizzle with olive oil, cover, and rise again 30 mins to 2 hours.
Decorate, Bake and Serve
- Preheat oven to 375°F / 190°C.
- Oil hands, dimple dough surface and drizzle lightly with olive oil.
- Arrange rosemary as a wreath; add cherry tomato “berries.” Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
- Bake 25 to 35 minutes, until golden, set and ready to wow.
- Cool slightly, lift from pan. Slice into squares to serve, sandwich, or gift.
Bintu’s Recipe Tips
I’ve made this enough times to know that these tips and tricks make a big difference:
- Don’t rush the rise, give the dough time to rise get fluffy.
- A serrated knife or pizza cutter are the best way to cut this.
- Be generous with olive oil, before baking.
- Add toppings right before baking so they stay bright and pretty.
- For extra shine, I brush it with olive oil as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Storage
- Room temp: Wrap it in foil and keep for up to 2 days.
- Fridge: Chill in an air tight container for up to 4 days, reheated in the oven.
- Freezer: Wrapped well, freeze for up to 1 month.
More Festive Recipes
Love festive treats? Then check out these other recipes too.
- Reindeer Pretzels.
- Ninja Creami Gingerbread Ice Cream.
- Grinch Dip.
- Christmas Tree Cheese Board.
- Easy Brie Appetizers.
Serving Suggestions
This is best served warm, straight from the oven.
- Serve simply with pizza sauce, marina sauce, aioli or a garlic sauce.
- Serve this along with some of your favorite soups like Tomato Soup and Cabbage Roll Soup.
- Serve it alongside dips like hummus, Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Dip and Spinach Dip Christmas Tree.
Did you make this recipe? Then I would love to hear how it turned out. Please leave a comment and star rating below. And I really appreciate you sharing this recipe with your family and friends. Enjoy every mouthful 😊🍲 – Bintu
Get the Christmas Focaccia Recipe
Christmas Focaccia
Ingredients
- 1 (7g) packet instant yeast
- 2 cups (480ml) warm not hot water
- 4 cups (480g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- Olive oil for greasing
- 5-6 cherry tomatoes
- 5-6 sprigs fresh rosemary
- Flaky sea salt such as Maldon brand
Instructions
Mix the dough:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and yeast.
- Pour in the water and stir with a mixing spoon until a wet, sticky dough forms into a ball.
- Drizzle the dough liberally with olive oil and cover the bowl with plastic cling wrap or cheesecloth.
Let the dough rise:
- Allow the covered bowl to sit and let the dough rise for a minimum of 1-2 hours or until doubled. The dough should be fibrous and sticky when pulled away from the side of the bowl.
- When the dough is doubled in size, grease a 9×13 baking dish with butter or olive oil, and turn it over into the baking dish.
For the second rise:
- Again, drizzle the dough with olive oil and cover it.
- Allow to rise for a minimum of 30 minutes to 2 hours at room temperature.
To decorate and bake the bread:
- Preheat your oven to 375⁰ F.
- Coat your hands with a small amount of olive oil, then use your fingers to poke or “dimple” divots all over the surface of the dough.
- Drizzle the dough lightly with olive oil.
- Spoon the minced garlic onto the dough in ¼ increments, dotting all over.
- Arrange the rosemary sprigs into the shape of a wreath over the dough and then place cherry tomato halves, cut-side-up, around the wreath to resemble berries or ornaments.
- Sprinkle flaky sea salt over the surface of the focaccia dough.
- Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the underside of the focaccia is golden browned, the surface of the bread is just starting to brown, and the center of the loaf is set and baked through.
- When the focaccia has cooled to the touch, use a small serving spatula to gently lift the loaf out of the baking dish.
- Slice into squares and and serve as an appetizer, sandwich bread, or accompaniment to a meal, or wrap and give as gifts.
Notes
- Don’t rush the rise, give the dough time to rise get fluffy.
- A serrated knife or pizza cutter are the best way to cut this.
- Be generous with olive oil, before baking.
- Add toppings right before baking so they stay bright and pretty.
- For extra shine, I brush it with olive oil as soon as it comes out of the oven.
- Fridge: Chill in an air tight container for up to 4 days, reheated in the oven.
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