These quick and easy herb focaccia muffins are made with regular yeast, require no kneading and are ready to enjoy in just about one hour. They are a great addition to any meal or are lovely enjoyed with wine and cheese.
I love traditional focaccia, but when time is tight, I will often turn to these quick and easy herb focaccia muffins. The mini focaccia dough can be mixed up in a bowl, and no kneading is required. They are made with regular yeast, so you don’t need sourdough.
Ready to enjoy in just about an hour, these focaccia rolls are a great side for any meal or enjoy them together with wine and cheese.
Ingredients and substitutions
A few notes about the key ingredients …
Yeast – Note that this recipe calls for instant yeast. The beauty of instant yeast is that you can add it directly to the flour, and no proofing in water is required. I love SAF Yeast (Red), which is available in large packages from Amazon and some stores. Remove the yeast from the package to a large jar and place in the freezer. It will last forever, and you can use it directly from the freezer.
If you only have Active Dry yeast on hand, you can substitute it, but you’ll probably want to proof it in the lukewarm water before adding to the bowl.
Extra Virgin Olive oil – Olive oil is a key component of any focaccia, and it will introduce flavours to these muffins, too. Use your best olive oil for the nicest flavour.
Herbs – Fresh herbs are always nice, but if you don’t have any on hand, you can definitely substitute dried herbs as specified in the recipe card.
Optional garlic – If you’d like to add some garlic to the mix, opt for dried garlic powder or garlic salt. Fresh garlic spooned on top of the muffin may burn and introduce a bitter flavour.
How to make herb focaccia muffins
This is a visual summary of the steps to make this recipe. Always refer to the complete instructions in the Recipe Card below when making this recipe.
- The easy focaccia muffin dough can be mixed up in a bowl or a mixer. I’m using my stand mixer here with the paddle attachment. Start by adding all the dry ingredients to the bowl.
- Add the lukewarm water to the bowl.
- Mix together with the paddle attachment at medium speed for about a minute, or if mixing manually, use a wooden spoon to mix as vigorously as you can for a minute or so. The dough will be quite sticky.
- Add a teaspoon of olive oil to 9 muffin cups.
- Right before adding the dough, use a pastry brush to spread the olive oil up the sides a bit.
- Divide the dough between the 9 muffin cups. Leave to rise uncovered until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- Mix together the topping and warm slightly in the microwave or a small saucepan.
- When risen, the focaccia muffins should fill the muffin cups well.
- Spoon the herb oil over the top of the muffins before baking.
Recipe tips!
- The sticky dough can be a bit tricky to spoon out into the muffin cups. I have had the best luck by oiling my fingertips and pulling off portions of about 2 Tablespoons of dough for each cup.
- Be sure to remove the muffins from the baking cups as soon as they come out of the oven. This will ensure the focaccia muffins release easily and keep their crispy crust. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely (or at least almost completely :)
Variations
Feeling garlic? Add a bit of garlic powder to your oil/herb mixture. I don’t recommend fresh minced garlic for the topping, as it may burn and introduce a bitter flavour. That said, you could add fresh garlic to the focaccia dough if you like.
Making ahead, storing and freezing
These focaccia muffins are best enjoyed on the day they are baked, but you can bake them ahead and reheat briefly in the microwave or on a baking sheet in a 350F oven for a few minutes.
Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
These focaccia muffins will also freeze well for up to 3 months.
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Get the Recipe: Easy Herb Focaccia Muffins
Ingredients
Rolls:
- 1 1/2 cups (185 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast, *see Note 1 below if using Active Dry yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped or 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped or 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 1/2 teaspoons white granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for topping
- 3/4 cup (170 ml) lukewarm water, about 110°F
- 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
For the pan:
- 3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Topping:
- 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped or 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped or 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- Coarse salt, for sprinkling before baking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (non-convection/not fan-assisted). Set a 12-cup muffin tin on top of a large baking sheet and set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large bowl with a wooden spoon, stir together the flour, yeast, thyme, rosemary, sugar and salt. Add the water and olive oil. Beat 1 minute at medium speed. Scrape down the bowl. The dough will be quite sticky.
- Tip! The sticky dough can be tricky to spoon out. I've had the best luck with generously oiling my fingers and pulling off portions of about 2 Tablespoons for each muffin cup.
- Spoon 1 teaspoon of olive oil into each of 9 muffin cups. Use a brush to spread olive oil around and up the sides of the muffin cups, then divide the dough evenly among the greased muffin cups. Let rise, uncovered, in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes in a 72F kitchen.
- Tip! We don't want to cover the pan while the dough rises, as the dough may stick to any covering and then deflate when removed.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium-low heat or in a glass measuring cup in the microwave, stir together the topping ingredients and warm briefly until fragrant and the oil is hot. Remove from heat and let cool.
- When the focaccia muffins have doubled in size, gently spoon the herb mixture over the top, dividing between the muffins. Sprinkle with some coarse salt. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and immediately remove from the muffin cups to a cooling rack. (A fork is perfect for popping them out of the muffin cups.) Allow to cool completely (or almost completely).
- These focaccia muffins are best enjoyed on the day they are baked. They can be baked earlier in the day and rewarmed to serve. Rewarm in the microwave or on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven for a few minutes. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
More focaccia recipes to love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
This has become a favorite in my family. My son loves them. We’ve always made traditional focaccia but this is quick and tastes amazing. There are never leftovers. I add garlic powder to the oil topping, too.
So pleased you are all enjoying this focaccia Suz. Thanks so much!
Hi
Would this work with a “1 to 1” GF Flour?
Thank you
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, I’m sorry but I haven’t tried these with 1 to 1 GF flour. If you have had success with similar bakes, it should work here as well.
This recipe is so easy….i just added a few more herbs and it turned out great!
Thank you for sharing this recipe…
So pleased you enjoyed it, Donna! Thanks so much :)
Will these hold, or should they be eaten from the oven?
Hi Yvonne, they are maybe best from the oven, but they will hold fairly well. You can rewarm them to serve in the microwave or wrapped in foil in the oven.
Hi! What would the cooking time be if I used the larger muffin style tins? Would it yield just the 6 muffins? Thanks in advance, recipe looks great!
Hi Noreen, if you were to use the jumbo muffins tin yes, it would probably only yield 6 (the regular size muffin tin makes 9).
Thanks for your reply. I made them last night and the recipe is excellent! Will definitely make again.
So glad to hear! Thanks :)
Wow! Super easy and very yummy! Turned out perfectly! Thx!
So pleased to hear, Sue. Thanks!
Very easy and quick and yummy!!! I will definitely make again and again! Thank you!!
So glad you enjoyed them, Cindy :) Thanks so much!
Great recipe! Very easy to make and they taste amazing! I’m definitely doubling the recipe next time since the recipe only yields 9 muffins. They were all eaten up in the blink of an eye! I didn’t have any fresh herbs on hand so I used 1/2 tablespoon of a dried Italian seasoning blend (marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage, savoury, oregano, and basil) in both the rolls and the topping and I added 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder to the topping. Two thumbs way up!
So glad you enjoyed them, KM. Thanks so much!
I made this recipe again yesterday. I doubled it this time and made a standard focaccia instead of rolls. I used a 9.5 x 13.5 pan and my daughter decorated it with cherry tomato “flowers”. I wish I could upload a pic of it because it looked amazing. Not surprisingly it was also eaten up in a flash! So good!
Nice! I’ve never tried this as a standard focaccia. You’ve inspired me to try it :) Thanks!
Haha, I had no choice but to make it the standard way because I didn’t want to have to buy a second muffin tray. One is plenty. I can personally vouch that this recipe is amazing either way. I love that we can have homemade focaccia in one hour as opposed to HOURS like my other recipes. Yay!
These are amazing!! So simple, and a great base for creativity…
Other flours: My last batch was made with Gold Medal Pizza Flour I picked up on sale, and it worked very well. I think the higher gluten is a Good Thing.
Covering during rise: As you said, not necessary, but if your kitchen is a little cool, it helps. But don’t use oiled cling-wrap; if you can, invert a large pan over the muffin tin to keep off the breezes.
So glad you enjoyed them, Dave and great tips! Thanks so much :)