Does Paul Hollywood's focaccia deserve a handshake? I tried it in order to find out.
I Tried Paul Hollywood’s Focaccia Recipe, and I Gave It a Handshake
Published on May 16, 2025
I don’t mean to brag, but I’m a Great British Bake Off superfan. I’ve seen every episode and baked through many of the challenges. I even ran a fantasy league with my friends for last year’s season. So when I stumbled upon Paul Hollywood’s focaccia recipe, I knew I had to give it a try and see if it would live up to the hype.
True to form, Paul’s recipe features exact instructions for ingredients in metric measurements for more precision. You’ll need a kitchen scale to measure accurately, but the small kitchen tool is worth it. Paul also specifies exact times for kneading and proofing the dough, which makes for easy baking. Unlike a technical challenge, his recipe leaves no room for guesswork.
How to Make Paul Hollywood’s Focaccia
Ingredients
- 500 grams strong white bread flour
- 8 grams fine salt
- 10 grams instant dried yeast
- 30 milliliters olive oil, plus extra for oiling
- 370 milliliters water
- 75 grams pitted Kalamata black olives
- 1 small red onion
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- About 150 milliliters olive oil, to drizzle
- Flaky sea salt
Directions
Step 1: Mix the dough
First, mix the base dough. Unlike some bread recipes I’ve made before, where the yeast has to “wake up” in warm water, this recipe calls for combining all of the dough ingredients (flour, salt, yeast, olive oil and water) together at once until they’re mixed well. From there, jump right into kneading, either by hand or with a bread hook in an electric mixer.
Step 2: Let the dough rise
Next, transfer the dough back to an oiled bowl and leave it to rise in a warm place for two hours or until it has roughly doubled in size. My kitchen doesn’t get a lot of sun, so I find it’s best to use the proofing setting on my oven. Make sure the dough is covered in cloth or storage wrap, or sealed in a proofing bag.
Step 3: Transfer it to the pan for a second rise
Once the first rise is complete, the dough should have doubled in size. It will feel light and airy—just right for the texture of focaccia. Grease the pan you’re using for baking, and carefully tip the dough in, spreading it into a rectangle as best you can. Cover or seal it again, and leave it for another 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Step 4: Garnish and bake
Once the final rise is complete, preheat your oven and garnish the focaccia. Try to evenly distribute the tomato, red onion and olives, then top it off with a seasoning of dried oregano. Drizzle the focaccia with more oil, then bake it until it’s golden brown.
Paul Hollywood Focaccia Review
I think we all know by now that Paul Hollywood knows bread. He is, after all, the king of Bread Week! This recipe proved that to me all over again. It’s hard to make a good focaccia in a short amount of time, and I’m often disappointed with recipes that try to shorten the process. Paul Hollywood’s focaccia, though, was the exception: it baked up in just a few hours with the ultimate airy, soft texture.
I loved how simple it was to mix everything together at the same time, and I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t negatively affect the final product. I love an easy recipe that doesn’t cut corners on taste, and this one fit the bill perfectly. If you’re looking to experiment with other focaccia recipes, try our classic focaccia recipe, which features honey and an artistic design. You could also make any of these into focaccia sandwiches!
How to Store Focaccia
Because of the delicious crunch that the olive oil produces, it’s best to store focaccia wrapped in foil. Avoid plastic wraps, which can trap moisture with the bread and leave you with the infamous soggy crust. To reheat focaccia, put it in the oven in the foil, and it’ll crisp right up.
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