Strawberry Sourdough Focaccia
This sourdough strawberry focaccia is soft, chewy, and bursting with juicy strawberries. Made with discard and instant yeast, it’s a sweet twist on classic focaccia that’s easy and fun to bake.
This sourdough strawberry focaccia is the kind of recipe that makes you fall in love with sourdough discard all over again. It’s soft, airy, lightly sweet, and packed with juicy strawberries folded into the dough and scattered across the top. It’s a simple, unexpected twist that turns classic focaccia into something fun, fresh, and perfect for sharing.
If you’re new to baking with sourdough discard, this is a great recipe to start with. It uses my easy discard focaccia dough, boosted with a bit of instant yeast to keep things beginner friendly and stress free. You still get that signature sourdough tang, but without the long fermentation time.
As the dough rises, the strawberries soften just enough to burst with flavor but still hold their shape. A sprinkle of powdered sugar on top after baking brings out the natural sweetness and gives the crust a golden, lightly crisp edge.
Whether you’re serving this for brunch, as a snack, or as a fun summer side, it’s a beautiful way to use fresh strawberries and give your sourdough starter another reason to shine.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- An easy and fun way to use sourdough discard with no kneading required.
- Juicy strawberries add fresh summer flavor to soft, golden focaccia.
- A kid-friendly bake that’s perfect for sharing at brunch or picnics.
If you’re loving the sweet and savory twist of this strawberry focaccia, be sure to check out my other sourdough focaccia recipes. Try the blueberry sage focaccia, where fresh berries meet garden herbs and a dreamy icing drizzle. Or go full dessert mode with my cinnamon roll focaccia, which has all the cozy flavors of a classic cinnamon roll in an easy, dimple-and-drizzle bread. And if you’re craving something savory, don’t miss my classic sourdough focaccia—a simple, versatile recipe that’s great for sandwiches, soups, or snacking. Each one starts with the same easy base and adds a little something unexpected.
How to make this discard focaccia recipe
Here is a brief overview of how to make this recipe so you get a general idea before you head into the kitchen. For the full set of ingredients and directions, please scroll down to the recipe card below.
Step One: Make the dough
In a large bowl, stir together the dough ingredients. Mix on low speed for 3-5 minutes, until a smooth, pliable ball of dough forms. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled— between 1 -2 hours.
Step Two: Shape and proof the dough
Grease a 9×13 baking pan with melted butter. Pour the dough into the pan and gently press it to stretch it to fill the space. Sprinkle the dough with half the diced strawberries, and then fold the dough in thirds (envelope style) to seal them in. Rotate the dough so it fits in the pan. Cover and let rest for another hour until doubled.
Step Three: Dimple and bake
Once doubled, sprinkle the remaining diced strawberries evenly over the top of the dough. Use your fingers to press into the dough and create deep dimples—this presses the strawberries into the bread and gives it that signature focaccia texture.
Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until golden and puffed. Allow the focaccia to cool for about 20 minutes and then dust with powdered sugar.
Storage
Store this focaccia covered at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Sourdough is better when shared
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Strawberry Sourdough Focaccia
Ingredients
Method
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, water, starter, olive oil, yeast, and salt. Mix on low speed until combined.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients have been incorporated.
- Use the dough hook to mix on medium speed for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth, but still sticky and quite loose.
- Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and allow to rise for 1-2 hours, until puffy and almost doubled in size.
- Coat the bottom of a 9×13 pan with melted butter.
- Transfer the dough to the pan and spread out with your fingers until it covered the bottom.
- Sprinkle half of the diced strawberries evenly over the dough.
- Carefully fold each end of the dough over the strawberries so that the dough is 1/3 of the size, envelope style.
- Carefully rotate the dough so that it fits the pan better again (some of the strawberries will escape, and thats ok!).
- Cover the pan and allow it to rise again for another 1-2 hours, until mostly doubled and puffy.
- Preheat the oven to 425 F with the rack in the bottom third of the oven.
- Sprinkle the remaining strawberries over the top of the dough, and the use your fingers to dimple the dough, pushing the berries into the dough. Move from one end of the pan to the other.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden.
- Allow to cool most of the way in the pan, and then remove to a wire rack.
- Dust with powdered sugar.
