This festive Christmas Focaccia bread is a delightful recipe for the holiday dinner table. Make it by hand or in a bread maker, then design a beautiful and edible Christmas tree made of fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, and lavender flowers.
Table Of Contents
Crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside, this focaccia is designed with a Christmas tree made of fresh rosemary, sage and thyme. Sprinkled with lavender leaves and decorated with cranberry and blueberry, the flavor is sweet, robust, and a dash of earthy. It's based off my rosemary garlic focaccia bread, but with a merry and bright Christmas topping.
What better way to start off dinner with your family and friends than while sharing a flavorful bread, good conversation, and cheers to another great year?
This will be an eye-catching centerpiece at any holiday celebration. You may not want to eat it! Next to this red and green bruschetta appetizer and a Christmas charcuterie board, your dinner table will be worthy of lots of love!
Ingredients and Substitutions
For the focaccia bread dough:
- Bread flour: substitute with all-purpose flour if necessary
- Yeast: instant or active dry
- Olive oil: a good quality oil gives the best flavor
- Salt
For the toppings:
- Fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme sprigs: not only do these herb sprigs come together to look like a Christmas tree, they pair extremely well together especially with the tartness of cranberry and sweetness of blueberries.
- Cranberries
- Blueberries
- Dried lavender flowers: this fragrant flower pairs well with rosemary and will add a lot of flavor to the bread. Substitute with purple basil if desired. I use these organic dried lavender flowers for baking.
- Lemon slice: for the tree star, use any thin and circular sliced fruit such as an orange.
Tips from the Chef
Focaccia toppings are extremely versatile. You can use any fruit you'd like, sprinkle the entire loaf with parmesan cheese or more fresh herbs, and even add diced vegetables to look like ornaments. Olives, colorful bell peppers, and cherry tomato slices are great additions.
Tools Needed
You'll need:
- Baking sheet or jelly roll pan: 9x13 or 10x15 inch pans both work
- Cooling rack
- Basting brush
- Large bowl
- Pizza peel: not absolutely necessary but it makes transferring the focaccia to a cooling rack easier.
- Bread machine (if making the dough in a bread maker): I love my Cuisinart CBK-200!
How To Design The Christmas Tree
Christmas focaccia art comes in the form of many different toppings and designs. Some bread artists use vegetables while others use edible flowers and fruits.
To make this focaccia art really stand out on the table and to be packed with amazing flavor, we're using fresh herbs as the tree branches, lavender flowers as garland, and cranberries and blueberries as decorative ornaments. A slice of lemon shines on top as the tree's star.
Step-By-Step Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes, until foamy. If using a bread machine, you can skip steps 1-3 (see bread machine instructions below).
- Add 1 cup of the flour and stir 3-4 times. Add the remaining flour and salt and stir to combine. If the dough is too sticky to knead add ⅛ cup more of flour. If it feels too dry, add warm water 1 tablespoon at a time until pliable and tacky.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 3 minutes, until the dough is smooth. Place the dough ball in an oiled bowl, cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Move dough to a floured surface when done rising.
- With dough on a floured surface, punch down a few times, cover with a towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, brush a baking sheet with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal.
- Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and roll into a large, flat oval. With oiled fingertips, press holes into the dough about ½ inch deep. Cover with plastic wrap and move to a warm place. Let rise for 30 minutes.
- Once risen, preheat the oven to 450° Fahrenheit. Uncover the dough and brush with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Create the Christmas tree design by first placing the thyme sprig in the center of the dough as though it's the tree trunk. Next place the sage leaves around the thyme in the shape of a triangle Christmas tree. Put the rosemary sprigs around and on top of the sage leaves to fill in gaps. Sprinkle with lavender flowers to look like garland and arrange blueberries and cranberries to look like ornaments. Finish with the lemon slice on top of the tree as the star. Press all herbs and fruit gently into the dough to help them stick.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until light golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer bread to a cooling rack. Let cool for 30 minutes before serving.
Bread Machine Instructions
Add all the bread ingredients to the bread machine in the order listed. For non-Cuisinart bread makers, follow the instructions for the order to add ingredients in your manual. Set to the dough cycle and when finished, remove the dough to a floured surface. Then follow steps 4-8 above.
Recipe FAQs
All of the herbs in the recipe are edible. The stems, while not harmful if eaten, will be too hard to enjoy so I'd advise not to eat them. It's best to remove the big sprigs of herbs after slicing the focaccia and removing the leaves from their stems.
Yes, the lavender flowers are safe as long as you purchased edible ones. You can find a huge assortment of lavender flowers for baking on Amazon or in health food stores.
Store focaccia bread in a bread bag or airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. It can be frozen for up to 6 months.
Enjoy!
Recipe
Christmas Focaccia
Ingredients
For The Focaccia
- 1 ¼ cup warm water 115°F
- 2 ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 ⅛ cups bread flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for brushing (do not add to dough)
For The Christmas Tree Topping
- 10 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 sprigs fresh sage
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- ¼ cup dried lavender flowers
- ⅛ cup cranberries
- ⅛ cup blueberries
- 1 slice lemon
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes, until foamy.
- Add 1 cup of the flour and stir 3-4 times. Add the remaining flour and salt and stir to combine. If dough is too sticky to knead add ⅛ cup more of flour.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 3 minutes. Place dough ball in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. (Skip to step 5 when complete)
- If Using A Bread Machine: Add all bread ingredients to the bread machine in the order listed. For non-Cuisinart machines, follow the instructions for the order to add ingredients in your manual. Set to dough cycle. When cycle completes, remove the dough to a floured surface and follow instructions below.
- With dough on a floured surface, punch down a few times, cover with a towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, brush a baking sheet with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal.
- Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and roll into a large oval. With oiled fingertips, press holes into the dough about ½ inch deep. Cover with plastic wrap and move to a warm place. Let rise for 30 minutes.
- Once risen, preheat the oven to 450°F. Uncover the dough and brush with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Create the Christmas tree design by first placing the thyme sprig in the center of the dough as though it's the tree trunk. Next place the sage leaves around the thyme in the shape of a triangle Christmas tree. Put the rosemary sprigs around and on top of the sage leaves to fill in gaps. Sprinkle with lavender flowers to look like garland and arrange blueberries and cranberries to look like ornaments. Finish with the lemon slice on top of the tree as the star. Press all herbs and fruit gently into the dough to help them stick.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until light golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer bread to a cooling rack. Let cool for 30 minutes before serving.
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