Confit Garlic and Lemon Thyme Focaccia

If you’ve never baked bread before, this is the one to start with. No fancy gear, no stress, just a super simple dough, some patience, and a tray of golden, garlic-loaded glory at the end.

Focaccia has a high-hydration dough, which means it’s wetter and stickier than a standard bread dough, and instead of kneading it relies on a stretch-and-fold technique that builds gluten structure gradually over a series of rest periods. There’s no shaping involved: the dough goes straight from the bowl into a generously oiled tray and spreads itself out. The process is slow but largely hands-off, and the result is a thick, airy loaf with a crisp, olive oil-fried underside and a soft, open crumb.

We'll make confit garlic and lemon thyme while the dough is doing its rests. Confiting whole garlic bulbs at 140°C for 90 minutes converts the sharp, raw allium character into something sweet, nutty, and deeply savoury. The cloves are pressed directly into the dough before baking so they’re embedded rather than just sitting on top, and the flavoured oil from the roasting dish is drizzled over the dough as well.

Ingredient Notes

Bread flour: Bread flour has a higher protein content than plain flour (around 12-13% vs 10-11%), which forms more gluten and gives the focaccia its chewy, open crumb. Plain flour will work as a substitute but the texture will be denser and less structured. Strong bread flour, baker’s flour, and high-grade flour are all the same product under different names.

Olive oil: Olive oil is used three ways here: mixed into the dough, used to grease the baking tray, and as the base for confiting the garlic. The quality matters most in the garlic confit oil, which is drizzled directly over the bread before baking. A good extra virgin olive oil will make the finished loaf taste noticeably better than a light or blended oil. Don’t be tempted to reduce the amount on the tray: the generous olive oil base is what gives focaccia its distinctive crisp, almost-fried underside.

Equipment

• Large mixing bowl
• Small oven-proof dish (for garlic confit)
• Medium bowl
• 22x33cm heavy-based baking tray
• Tea towel or plastic wrap
• Kitchen thermometer
• Dough scraper
• Wire rack
• Chopping board
• Chef’s knife