I just had to get this Sweet Potato Focaccia out of my system. I’ve created a lot of bread recipes in my life, but this one just hits different. It’s so fluffy, chewy, simple and so good. Plus, you can whip it up in one morning, which is really all a girl can ask for.
Sweet potato lends such a fun color and flavor to focaccia, and what it does to the texture is unmatched. This is a kind of hybrid of my other two favorite focaccias, but it adds a fluffiness and texture that is completely unique.
Table of contents
What does sweet potato do in focaccia?
Sweet potato does two main things to a bread dough – it adds moisture and flavor, but also simultaneously acts as a gluten inhibitor, which essentially neutralizes gluten. In this bread, that’s not a bad thing! In fact, focaccia is a gluten-building machine, so adding an extra element that helps slacken the dough brings a bit of softness and tenderness to another wise crispy and chewy dough.
Sweet potato also gives the bread a gorgeous orange color, as well as pockets of sweet potato flavor. The goal is to mash the sweet potato finely so that it blends with the dough, but every now and then you’ll hit a patch of moist, perfect sweet potato and it just adds a little something extra to the whole focaccia experience.
It might not be traditional focaccia, but sweet potato focaccia is one of a kind.
Ingredients for the sweet potato focaccia
- 3.5 grams active dry yeast (a heaping 1 teaspoon)
- 60 mL water at 85°F-95°F (1/4 cup)
- 115 grams cooked and mashed sweet potato (1/2 cup)
- 390 grams bread flour (3 cups)
- 300 mL water at 85°F-95°F (1 1/4 cup)
- 1/2 tablespoon Morton’s Kosher Salt, or 1 teaspoon if using Diamond Crystal
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
How to make the sweet potato focaccia dough
The dough is simple, but I highly recommend using a stand mixer for it. Focaccia dough functions at a high hydration, so kneading is possible, but not very fun at all. Here’s my preferred method for making this dough:
- Prick holes in a medium sweet potato and cook in the microwave or oven. Mash until smooth and set aside 1/2 cup of the sweet potato mash.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the active dry yeast and the 1/4 cup of warm water. Let sit for 3-5 minutes or until it starts to bubble slightly.
- When the yeast is active, add the bread flour, water and salt. Mix by hand until you have a shaggy dough. Then use the dough hook attachment to mix the dough on low for 2 minutes. It should look very wet, almost like batter.
- Add in the sweet potato mash and mix on low for another two minutes until the sweet potato is fully incorporated.
- Cover the bowl and let it rest for 15 minutes. Then mix the dough on medium-high for 10 minutes. The dough is ready when you see it start to pull away from the edges of the bowl and cling to the dough hook.
- *To do this without a stand mixer, knead by hand in your bowl for 15 minutes. Get ready to do some WORK. 😉
- While the dough is mixing, pour 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil into a large bowl. Swirl the bowl around to coat the edges.
- Place the dough into the bowl and lift it slightly with your hands to make sure that it is surrounded by oil. This will prevent sticking.
- Cover with cling wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
How to shape and bake this dough
After the dough is made, everything else is very standard focaccia making. This is meant for a baby pan, so just be prepared to double up if you need to!
- Generously oil your 13″x 9.5″ baking sheet. Plop the dough in the center and gently stretch it towards the edges. It won’t reach all the way (yet) but do your best.
- Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes to let the gluten relax, then stretch it all the way towards the edges of the pan.
- Cover with oiled cling wrap and put the dough in a warm place for the second proof. You can also proof it in your fridge for 12 hours if you want to bake the next day. If baking on the same day, let it proof for 1 hour or until it has bubbled up to the top of the sheet pan.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and set a rack in the center of the oven.
- When the dough has risen, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the top. Using your fingers, gently dimple the dough. You can indent your fingers all the way to the sheet pan and watch the dough bounce back. It’s fun!
- Top with your favorite toppings or just flakey salt, and bake at 425°F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and crusty.
- Serve warm!
Looking for other baking recipes?
If you are looking to take on a project, here are a few of my favorite comfort baking recipes:
Vegan Blood Orange Chocolate Cupcakes
Whole Wheat Pull Apart Bread
Pistachio Honey Carrot Cake
Why is everything in grams for this focaccia?
Baking, and bread especially, is a very finicky and exact science. The only way to ensure complete accuracy is through measuring by weight, and not volume. As much as I wish I could give you multiple ways to measure ingredients, in this recipe measuring by cups might cause some volatility and miss-matched results. I want to ensure you get the best results with this recipe (and I want to keep this recipe fool-proof!) so I highly recommend getting a small affordable kitchen scale if you want to move forward with this bread recipe!
And that’s it for this Sweet Potato Focaccia!
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3
Equipment
- 1 13" long, 9.5" wide, 1" tall baking sheet
Ingredients
- 3.5 grams active dry yeast, a heaping 1 teaspoon
- 60 mL water at 85°F-95°F , 1/4 cup
- 115 grams cooked & mashed sweet potato, 1/2 cup
- 390 grams bread flour , 3 cups
- 300 mL water at 85°F-95°F , 1 1/4 cup
- 1/2 tablespoon Morton's Kosher Salt, 1 teaspoon if using Diamond Crystal
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Instructions
- Prick holes in a medium sweet potato and cook in the microwave or oven. Mash until smooth and set aside 1/2 cup of the sweet potato mash.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the active dry yeast and the 1/4 cup of warm water. Let sit for 3-5 minutes or until it starts to bubble slightly.
- When the yeast is active, add the bread flour, water and salt. Mix by hand until you have a shaggy dough. Then use the dough hook attachment to mix the dough on low for 2 minutes. It should look very wet, almost like batter.
- Add in the sweet potato mash and mix on low for another two minutes until the sweet potato is fully incorporated.
- Cover the bowl and let it rest for 15 minutes. Then mix the dough on medium-high for 10 minutes. The dough is ready when you see it start to pull away from the edges of the bowl and cling to the dough hook.
- *To do this without a stand mixer, knead by hand in your bowl for 15 minutes. Get ready to do some WORK. 😉
- While the dough is mixing, pour 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil into a large bowl. Swirl the bowl around to coat the edges.
- Place the dough into the bowl and lift it slightly with your hands to make sure that it is surrounded by oil. This will prevent sticking.
- Cover with cling wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
- Generously oil your 13"x 9.5" baking sheet. Plop the dough in the center and gently stretch it towards the edges. It won't reach all the way (yet) but do your best.
- Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes to let the gluten relax, then stretch it all the way towards the edges of the pan.
- Cover with oiled cling wrap and put the dough in a warm place for the second proof. You can also proof it in your fridge for 12 hours if you want to bake the next day. If baking on the same day, let it proof for 1 hour or until it has bubbled up to the top of the sheet pan.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and set a rack in the center of the oven.
- When the dough has risen, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the top. Using your fingers, gently dimple the dough. You can indent your fingers all the way to the sheet pan and watch the dough bounce back. It's fun!
- Top with your favorite toppings or just flakey salt, and bake at 425°F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and crusty.
- Serve warm!
Comments
Hi, my dough never ever combined to anything that wasn’t very runny- am not an inexperienced bread baker (never foccacia though) and I kneaded and kneaded and mixed and it never formed a dough- read and re- read your recipe, measured everything out with scales… in the end I just poured it into the tray and baked it but it’s very flat. Yeast definitely activated (bubbled and can tell by the smell)- if this happens next time, would you suggest continuing to add flour until it forms a proper dough? i assume my sweet potato was just very juicy! Thank you!
Do you have a stand mixer? That will probably help the gluten come together better, even with a juicy potato!
Did I miss the recipe for the topping in your video? I can’t seem to find it anywhere
It’s in the caption of the Instagram video!
Hi! I’m in the process of making this and I’m going to proof the dough in the refrigerator overnight. Any special instructions when I go to bake it the next day? I know some bread recipes have you do another proof prior to baking to let the dough come up to room temp. I’m so excited to try this!
I’d also recommend letting it come to room temperature, so take it out while the oven is preheating and you should be golden!
Hi! Could I make this Gluten Free???
Thanks!
I haven’t personally tested it, but I’ve heard a few people had success using a gluten free 1:1 flour blend from King Arthur Flour!
Made this recipe , and it turned out AMAZING, I personally love sweet potatoes, and focaccia, so when I saw this on TikTok I knew I had to make it.
The only thing I did was I proofed it for one hour, and then the second proof for an hour, and it did come out just a bit dense, but I think it would have been better if i proofed it in the fridge overnight, which i will do next time.
Also, I did not have bread flour on hand, and used AP flour, and it still turned out great, Thank you so much 🙂
P.S. Please make a cookbook, i will buy it so quickly <3
This comment made my day, I am so thrilled you liked the recipe!
I had the same issue as a previous commenter where my dough never came together in step 5, even after 17 minutes of mixing with my stand mixer. It stayed wet and batter-like. I always use a scale when baking so I know the measurements were correct, I wonder if there are variables in flour absorbency by brand, or in moisture from the sweet potato, that led to this issue? I added two more scoops of flour to the batter (maybe half a cup, maybe a little more) and it immediately began to behave as the recipe described. I proceeded with the rest of the recipe as written and it turned out well. Thanks, Justine!
Hi! This dough does need a heavy amount of mixing, so if your sweet potato had a difference in moisture, that can change the mix time and cause a bit of drama (I’m talking mixing on the highest setting for three minutes straight – it’s intense). But thank you for the feedback and we’ll look into giving this recipe a retest on our end!
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