Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Focaccia

Nothing beats the freshness of homemade Focaccia, and it’s one of the easiest breads you can make yourself! This one is topped with caramelized onions and shredded gruyere cheese for delicious flavor.

If you think making bread at home is too advanced, then Focaccia is the first bread you should try. It’s so easy, and so good.

Focaccia is a flat baked Italian bread that’s kind of similar to pizza, only way fluffier and with more flavor.

It’s very common to throw a variety of ingredients on there, from herbs to olives to cheese, but I find myself going for caramelized onions and gruyere the majority of the time because gruyere monster is still very much a part of my inner self.

Now, the focaccia comes with a little bit of a warning…do you remember the first time you made cupcakes or buttercream at home, and you realized that buttercream frosting is mostly gobs of sugared-up butter?

It’s an alarming experience, isn’t it?

The same thing happened when I first made focaccia at home. Foccacia is a very oily bread. And the first time I made it, I thought “hm…this has too much oil, I’m going to cut the oil in half.”

I ended up with a really dry, stiff focaccia. And a lot of it too.

With that said, don’t cut back on the olive oil here, it won’t yield good results. Focaccia is an olive oil heavy bread, that’s just who it is, that’s its identity.

How to Make Focaccia:

To make it, you make a standard bread dough, then spread it out with your fingers onto a sheet pan:

In order to get a bumpy end result with lots of hills and valleys, you will want to poke holes with your fingers, like this:

Top the focaccia with some caramelized onions:

Then, go to town with the gruyere, and grate plenty all over the top.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes until puffed.

Then, devour.

More Favorite Bread Recipes:

• Croque Madame
• Asiago Black Pepper Bread
• Garlic Knots

Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Focaccia

Servings: 16

Prep Time: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Nothing beats the freshness of a homemade focaccia, and it's one of the easiest breads you can make yourself! This one is topped with caramelized onions and shredded gruyere cheese for delicious flavor.

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Ingredients

• 2 tsp quick rise yeast
• 1 cup warm water 110 degrees F
• 1.5 tbsp sugar
• 17.5 oz flour, by weight (3.5 cups, measured)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup olive oil divided
• 1/2 softball sized yellow onion
• 2 oz gruyere cheese add more if you like
• salt and pepper for sprinkling

Instructions 

• Place the yeast, water, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, and let it sit for 5 minutes until foamy. Add in the flour, salt, and 1/4 cup olive oil and mix it up by hand or with the paddle attachment. Attach the dough hook and knead for 10 minutes on medium low. Cover the bowl and let the foccacia rise for 1 hour.
• In the meantime, chop the onion and cook it in 2 tbsp olive oil. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes until translucent and then slightly caramelized.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Spread the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil all over a sheet pan, and add the focaccia dough. Stretch the dough to the sides with your hands, poking little holes with your fingers. Add the caramelized onion evenly over the top, as well as the gruyere. Finish it off with a sprinkling of coarse sea salt and cracked black pepper, and bake for 15 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 182kcal, Carbohydrates: 23g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 4mg, Sodium: 135mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g

Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Fifteen Spatulas