Olive Oil Focaccia Bites
The best part of focaccia is the edge, and this is a recipe that is nothing but edge.
The highest crust-to-crumb ratio in the archive
The best part of focaccia is the edge, and this is a recipe that is nothing but edge. The same dough pressed into a muffin tin means every bite is surrounded by crisp, oil-fried crust, which is why these disappear faster than any loaf we have tested.
Because the portions are small, the timing is tight. Two minutes too long and they are dry; thirty seconds under and the centres are doughy. The visual cue is reliable: pull them when the tops are deep gold and the sides have pulled slightly away from the tin.
A quick same-day dough is right here. A long cold ferment would give more flavour but also a flatter bite, and this is a recipe that wants lift and crispness more than complexity.
Ingredients
Instructions
Mix the flour, water, fine salt, yeast and sugar until you have a shaggy dough. Cover and rest for 20 minutes.
Do two sets of stretch-and-folds, 20 minutes apart. The dough will be soft and slightly tacky, which is what you want for small portions.
Cover and prove for 60 minutes, until doubled and bubbly.
Heat the oven to 220°C fan. Put a 12-hole muffin tin in the oven for 5 minutes to heat through.
Pull the tin out and pour about a teaspoon of olive oil into each hole. It should sizzle. If it does not, put the tin back for another two minutes.
Divide the dough into 12 pieces of roughly 65 g. Roll each into a ball with lightly oiled hands, then press it into a hole, flattening it to fill the base and pushing it slightly up the sides.
Brush the tops generously with the remaining olive oil and scatter over the Parmesan, oregano and flaky salt.
Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, until the tops are deep gold and the edges are crisp. Rotate the tin after 12 minutes if your oven has hot spots.
Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then run a small knife around each one and lift them out. Best eaten within the hour.
Testing notes & substitutions
Heat the tin properly
The oil must be sizzling when the dough goes in. Cold oil means the dough sits rather than fries, and you lose the crust that is the reason for making these.
Oil your hands, not the dough
Rolling wet dough is impossible; rolling oiled dough is easy. Grease your palms and work quickly, and the pieces will come together in seconds.
The tin size changes everything
A shallow American-style muffin tin gives you the best result. A deep tin will produce something taller and softer, which is fine but closer to a bread roll than a focaccia bite.
Questions we get a lot
Can I make them in a mini muffin tin?
Yes, but halve the dough weight to about 30 g each and bake for 11 to 13 minutes. They are excellent for a party and completely impossible to stop eating.
Do they keep?
They are best within an hour, decent for a day, and can be revived in a hot oven for four minutes. Do not microwave them.
Can I add cheese inside?
Yes — press a small cube of mozzarella or a teaspoon of pesto into the centre before the final prove. It creates a hollow that collects the oil.
Dana Reyes
Dana has cooked professionally for eleven years and has been testing recipes for Hearth & Thyme since 2019. She writes about weeknight cooking, slow breads, and the small techniques that quietly change a dish. Every recipe she publishes is cooked at least twice, in an ordinary home oven.
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