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I love giving some of my old family recipes a contemporary twist! These individual focaccia cupcakes are a fun take on my Mother’s traditional Barese style Focaccia.
My mother’s focaccia took a long time to prepare and make. The dough was left to rest for many hours and quadruple in size. The tomatoes were drained overnight, so they wouldn’t be too wet. While the dough was rising for the second time, the dry peeled tomatoes were placed on top. Eventually sinking into the dough. After many hours she would simply drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, dried oregano, sea salt and bake. It was simply delicious!
While it was delicious and worth the wait I have three kids (um,I mean 2 kids and a husband) with crazy schedules and as the song goes, “ain’t nobody got time for that”! So here’s how I changed up this very time consuming recipe…
- I make this focaccia with ready to bake pizza dough from the refrigerator section of the supermarket. Trader Joe’s offers a great refrigerated pizza dough. If your local market doesn’t sell this type of pizza dough you can also try to buy pizza dough from your local pizzeria.
PLEASE NOTE: I’ve never made this with a pillsbury type pizza crust, so I don’t know if the outcome would be the same!!
- Let the dough sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes. Then with a pizza cutter evenly divide the dough into 8 squares. By the way, I know the photo below shows 6 but divide dough into 8!
- Grease a muffin/cupcake pan with olive oil spray. You don’t want to work the dough too much so just gently roll each square into a loose ball. The place in a cupcake well. Cover the dough with a cloth and let sit in a warm dry area until it begins to rise. I let too much time pass on this batch and they grew a little more than I would have liked but they still tasted great.
- The key to this focaccia is to keep it dry. I don’t let the tomatoes sit over night but I do make sure that each focaccia cake is not saturated with juice. I also find it easier to dice the tomatoes up. Then in a bowl I mix the tomatoes with a little olive oil and dried oregano (or fresh basil). Place on top of the focaccia cakes for a little while longer. Right before baking I sprinkle with sea salt and a little more oil if needed.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown on the top and bottom.
- My Mother never did this but I like to sprinkle my focaccia with grated parmesan cheese before serving.
These Focaccia cakes don’t last too long in my house…give them a try I am certain you will enjoy!
Focaccia Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 lb of refrigerated pizza dough
- 5 peeled plum tomatoes diced and drained of liquid
- Extra Virgin Olive oil
- Olive Oil Spray
- Sea Salt for sprinkling onto each focaccia cake
- Dried Oregano
- Grated Parmesan Cheese optional
Instructions
- Remove dough from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes
- Using a pizza cutter or knife divide dough into 8 squares. Spray the cupcake pan with olive oil spray. Roll each square into a ball and place into the cupcake pan.
- In a bowl mix the diced tomatoes with a little olive oil and oregano. Put tomatoes onto each focaccia cake without oversaturating. When done allow the dough to set again for at least another 30 minutes (longer if you have the time).
- Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- When ready bake drizzle a little olive oil over each cake and season with a sprinkle of sea salt.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. When done remove from the oven and sprinkle with a little grated parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Notes
*Mini size cupcake pans would also work just adjust the cooking time
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