“This is the best thing you’ve ever made,” my husband declared after trying a fresh batch of sourdough focaccia muffins. And I have to say, I agree. These small but flavorful muffins are incredibly soft, chewy, and crusty, everything you want in a bite of focaccia, right? I’m already thinking of how ideal they will be for dinners, breakfast sandwiches, and packed lunches. If you love the classic sourdough focaccia recipe, you will adore these sourdough focaccia muffins. 

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A note on sourdough starter: be sure you have an active, bubbly starter before you bake! You can read more about how to achieve this below

Sourdough Starter Tips

A few tips for making the perfect sourdough focaccia muffins

From my recipe testing, I made a few mistakes that could have been prevented had I known the following tips: 

Don’t be afraid to dimple the dough

Focaccia is unlike other sourdough recipes in that you can really abuse the dough when dimpling. Normally I’m quite gentle with my dough in order to avoid degassing it, but with sourdough focaccia muffins you don’t need to be afraid of that. You want to dimple the dough really well to get the toppings into the dough and to keep the dough from puffing up too much. 

Working with a high-hydration recipe

A high-hydration dough gives the best sourdough focaccia muffin results possible: chewy, soft, with a lovely crust on the bottom. That being said, this dough is very sticky and loose, especially when the ingredients are first combined. If it looks too soupy, don’t despair! Let it rise and wait, I promise everything will come together in the end. As always, be sure to wet your hands (or coat in olive oil) before touching the dough. 

Sourdough Focaccia Muffins Toppings

• Garlic and rosemary 
• Sundried tomatoes and feta
• Caramelized onions and thyme
• Pesto and tomatoes
• Italian herb and cheese
• Jalapeno cheddar
• Goat cheese and pepper jelly
• Greek olive medley

Chewy and Crusty Sourdough Focaccia Muffins

Print Recipe

Servings 12 muffins

Ingredients

• Ingredients
• 150 g starter
• 400 g water
• 500 g flour
• 10 g salt
• Plus extra virgin olive oil and salt to taste

Instructions

• Weigh and mix the wet ingredients together first
• Add the flour and allow to autolyse for 20-30 minutes
• Add salt to the dough and combine everything well. The dough will be very sticky, but don’t worry, this will not be a problem later (see my note about hydration above)
• Place the dough in a well oiled bowl and cover. Place dough in the fridge for 8-12 hours or overnight
• Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into 12 even pieces
• Add a little bit of olive oil to each muffin cup
• Place each of the 12 pieces into the muffin cups
• Cover and allow the dough to come to room temperature for about 2 hours (it’s okay if you need to go a little over or under this time as the dough is very forgiving)
• After a few hours, the dough should be fairly bubbly and puffy
• After the 2 hours have passed, preheat your oven to 425 F.
• Coat your hands in olive oil as well as adding a little bit of olive oil to the tops of the focaccia muffins.
• Dimple the dough with your fingers or knuckles being sure to make large and small dents
• Add your toppings of choice, pressing them into the dough (see notes below for best toppings)
• Sprinkle generously with salt
• Bake uncovered for 30 minutes
• Tint the muffin pan with tin foil and bake for another 10 minutes
• This bread is best enjoyed hot and fresh from the oven