A simple and delicious Apple Cheddar Focaccia. This light, airy, and crispy focaccia is topped with melty cheddar cheese and piled high with thinly sliced apples.
If there is anything we love it’s a baked good that acts as a vessel for flavours and toppings. Scones, cookies, and focaccia – three of our favourite treats all able to be loaded with different flavours and textures. For our apple series we took our focaccia dough recipe and loaded it with dairy-free cheddar shreds and fresh sliced apples.
Focaccia ingredients are fairly simple, just yeast, water, maple syrup, all-purpose flour, salt, olive oil, and whatever you decide to top it with; in our case cheese and apples. It’s the perfect bread to make for a dinner party, sandwich, or a weekly snack.
Why you’ll love this focaccia recipe:
- Light and airy texture.
- Easy, no knead focaccia recipe.
- Comes together in just one bowl.
Top tips for making apple cheddar focaccia:
- Make sure the yeast is not expired. Yeast will make or break focaccia. If it’s expired, we recommend getting new yeast. If the yeast mixture does not have a yeast-y smell or isn’t foamy (or at least creamy), its likely that the yeast is dead and you need new yeast.
- Use good olive oil. Olive oil is a big part of focaccia and a part that you can taste! This doesn’t mean the most expensive oil you can buy, it simply means an olive oil that you like the taste of.
- Let rest overnight. We’ve tried to make focaccia in a day, and have determined it really is next level when you make the dough the night before and proof overnight in the fridge. This will yield the best flavour and texture. Don’t take any shortcuts, we promise you won’t regret it.
- Generously grease the baking pan. The worst that can happen is your focaccia sticks to the pan – we grease our pan generously with both vegan butter and olive oil to ensure it comes out nice and easy.
- Load up on toppings. Don’t be afraid to really load on the dairy-free cheddar and apples, and really dimple it into the dough – this is the best way to get all the flavour in every bite.
Focaccia ingredient notes:
- Active Dry Yeast – It’s vital that your yeast is not expired and that you don’t kill it. If the yeast is expired, you’ll need to get new yeast before you start the recipe. When proofing the yeast be sure to not overheat the vegetable broth, it should be 40℃-50℃, or else it could kill the yeast and your focaccia won’t rise.
- Maple Syrup – Sugar helps yeast rise. If you don’t have maple syrup you can using white granulated sugar or another liquid sweetener.
- All-Purpose Flour – We use our unbleached store brand all-purpose flour, in this case the regular store brand will do.
- Olive Oil – Use an olive oil that you like the flavour of, as it is a big part of this recipe flavour profile.
- Dairy-free Cheddar – We use the Daiya cheddar block and shred as much as we want.
Other focaccia recipes you’ll love:
How to make Apple Cheddar Focaccia:
Apple Cheddar Focaccia
A simple and delicious Apple Cheddar Focaccia. This light, airy, and crispy focaccia is topped with melty cheddar cheese and piled high with thinly sliced apples.
Print Pin ItServings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 240 g 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil, (divided)
Toppings
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 100 g dairy-free cheddar, grated
- 1 Granny Smith Apple
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Whisk together yeast, warm water, and maple syrup in a large bowl. Set aside to activate for 5 minutes.
- Add all-purpose flour, kosher salt, and 1 tbsp olive oil to the yeast mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until combined. It will be a very hydrated, sticky dough – this is what you want. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of olive oil and gently toss the dough to keep from sticking to the bowl.
- Cover and let rest at room temperature for about 60-90 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Stretch and fold the focaccia dough up and onto itself, rotating the bowl a quarter turn and repeating. Do this until you move around the bowl twice, 8 folds in total. Cover and set in the fridge to rise overnight or at least 12 hours.
- Prepare a 10 x 7 inch sheet pan with parhcment paper and grease with 1 tbsp olive oil.
- Turn the dough out onto the prepared pan and gently stretch. Cover and let rise once more until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Once the dough has risen, drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with cheddar shreds and apple pieces across the top. Grease your hands with olive oil, then gently dimple the dough using your fingers. Let rest while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Bake the focaccia in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown on top and around the edges.
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