Sticky Pecan Sourdough Focaccia
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This Sticky Pecan Sourdough Focaccia is ooey, gooey and insanely delicious. Reminiscent of sticky buns, this easy sourdough focaccia recipe is filled with a buttery, cinnamon sugar swirl and topped with a sticky, caramelized maple pecan mixture.
If you love cinnamon rolls, butter, pecans, and brown sugar this is the sourdough focaccia bread for you. This high-hydration dough doesn’t require a stand mixer, kneading, or shaping like a cinnamon roll, making it super simple and beginner-friendly! Plus, you can make this in just one day. Eat it for a sweet breakfast or as a delicious dessert.
Flavored Sourdough Focaccia
I love sourdough focaccia! It’s so easy to make and has a very forgiving timeline. You can make it sweet or savory or keep it plain with just a drizzle of olive oil. All my focaccia recipes are based off my simple sourdough focaccia recipe made with active sourdough starter. Some of my favorite flavors have been Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Sourdough Focaccia, Cheeseburger Sourdough Focaccia, Caramel Apple Sourdough Focaccia, Hawaiian Roll Sourdough Focaccia and now this Sticky Pecan Sourdough Focaccia!
Tips for making Sticky Pecan Sourdough Focaccia
- Let the dough get puffy and rise fully. Baking it too early will result in a denser focaccia.
- To speed up the process, find a warmer spot for the dough to rise, and be sure to use warm water when mixing the dough.
- If you want to bake the next day, after the first rise place the dough in the fridge. Then, let it come to room temperature in a greased 9×13″ pan and let it get puffy before baking as directed.
Tools for this sourdough focaccia recipe
9×13 pan– I recommend using metal but if you use glass just note that the bake time will be 5-10 minutes longer.
Kitchen Scale –When making sourdough bread, I always recommend weighing your ingredients on a kitchen scale for more accurate measurements.
Cooling Rack – Using a wire rack helps the bread cool quicker by allowing air under the bread.
2 quart proofing container– This is the easiest way to tell when the dough has risen 50% for the first rise.
Ingredients
Sticky Pecan Sourdough Focaccia
- Water- use warm water to help the dough ferment quicker. You want the water to be room temperature or warm, but not hot.
- Sourdough starter – use a starter that is active and bubbly and is at peak. If you don’t have a starter yet check out my post how to make a sourdough starter.
- Salt – any type of salt will work such as sea salt or kosher salt.
- Bread flour – I recommend using bread flour instead of all-purpose flour when baking sourdough bread because it has a higher protein content and absorbs moisture better.
- Brown sugar – you don’t have to include this but it does help give the dough a little extra sweetness. You could use honey or maple syrup instead but it could make the dough stickier.
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- Butter – the melted butter will give the focaccia a buttery flavor and give the bread a golden brown crust.
- Brown sugar – the brown sugar gives a richer flavor in the filling.
- Cinnamon – compliments the flavors so well.
Sticky Maple Pecan Topping
- Butter- this will be mixed with the brown sugar and maple syrup to create a sticky topping.
- Maple Syrup- this contributes to the sticky, caramelized texture we want on top. I recommend using pure maple syrup.
- Brown Sugar- the brown sugar gives a rich flavor and caramelizes the top of the focaccia.
- Pecans– You could use walnuts or a different type of nut if preferred but I love the flavor of pecans. I recommend roughly chopping the pecans.
How to make Sticky Pecan Sourdough Focaccia
Mix all the ingredients for the dough together in a straight edge container until a shaggy dough is formed. Let sit in a warm spot covered for about 30 minutes. I like to cover with a lid or dinner plate instead of a tea towel so that the dough doesn’t dry out.
Perform 2-3 sets of stretch and folds to develop the dough with at least a 30 minute rest in between each set. To stretch and fold the dough, grab one side with a damp hand and gently shimmy the dough up, and then fold it on itself. Repeat this 3 more times rotating the bowl 90 degrees each time.
Continue to let the dough rise for bulk fermentation until it is risen 50% and is jiggly with bubbles forming around the sides of the bowl. With dough in the mid 70’s F, the first rise will take about 4-5 hours total, including the stretch and folds.
Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a 9×13 pan and add dough. Coat both sides with butter. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar mixture on the dough and then fold it into a trifold. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar on top and then fold it in thirds and gently stretch out the dough.
Let it rise another hour or two covered in a warm spot until it has risen well and is puffy.
Make the sticky pecan mixture by beating butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup together until smooth. Mix in chopped pecans. Once the dough is ready, add the mixture in clumps on top of the dough. Dimple the dough with your fingers and bake in the oven at 425F degrees for 25-30 minutes.
After the focaccia has finished baking, add it to a cooling rack and let it cool some before serving.
Sample bakers schedule
This is based on the dough temperature being in the mid 70s. There are many factors that can impact how slowly or quickly dough rises so use this as a guideline but look for the visual cues the dough is ready to move on.
| Step | Time |
| Feed sourdough starter a 1:5:5 ratio (15 grams starter: 70 grams flour: 70 grams water) | 10 pm |
| Mix dough together | 8 am |
| Stretch & Folds | 8:30-9:30 am |
| Add dough to 9×13 pan | 12:30 pm |
| Bake | 2:00 pm |
How to store Sticky Pecan Sourdough Focaccia
Keep the focaccia on the counter for up to 3 days. After that, place the focaccia in the fridge for an extra 2-3 days. To warm up slices of the focaccia place it in the microwave for about 15 seconds until heated through. To heat up the entire focaccia, place it in a warm oven for 10-15 minutes until heated through.
More sourdough focaccia recipes
Sticky Pecan Sourdough Focaccia
Equipment
Ingredients
Sourdough Focaccia
- 400 grams water, warm 1 ⅔ cup
- 150 grams sourdough starter heaping ½ cup
- 10 grams salt 1 ½ teaspoon
- 500 grams bread flour 3 ⅔ cups
- 50 grams brown sugar ¼ cup
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 30 grams butter 2 Tablespoons
- 110 grams brown sugar ½ cup
- 8 grams cinnamon 1 Tablespoon
Sticky Pecan Topping
- 113 grams butter ½ cup
- 30 grams maple syrup 2 Tablespoons
- 220 grams brown sugar ¾ cup
- 110 grams pecans, chopped 1 cup
Instructions
- Mix all the dough ingredients dough together in straight edge container until a shaggy dough is formed. Let sit in a warm spot covered for about 30 minutes. I like to cover with a lid or dinner plate instead of a tea towel so that the dough doesn’t dry out.400 grams water, warm, 150 grams sourdough starter, 10 grams salt, 500 grams bread flour, 50 grams brown sugar
- Perform 2-3 sets of stretch and folds to develop the dough with at least a 30 minute rest in between each set. To stretch and fold the dough, grab one side with a damp hand and gently shimmy the dough up, and then fold it on itself. Repeat this 3 more times rotating the bowl 90 degrees each time.
- Continue to let the dough rise for bulk fermentation untilit is risen 50% and is jiggly with bubbles forming around the sides of the bowl. With dough in the mid 70’s ℉, the first rise will take about 4-5 hours total, including the stretch and folds.
- Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Melt 2 Tablespoons butter in a 9×13 pan and add dough. Coat both sides with butter. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar mixture on the dough and then fold it into a trifold. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar on top and then fold it in thirds the other way and gently stretch out the dough.30 grams butter, 110 grams brown sugar, 8 grams cinnamon
- Let it rise another hour or two covered in a warm spot until it has risen well and is puffy.
- Make the sticky pecan mixture by beating butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup together until smooth. Mix in chopped pecans. Once the dough is ready, add the mixture in clumps on top of the dough. Dimple the dough with your fingers and bake in the oven at 425℉ degrees for 25-30 minutes. 113 grams butter, 30 grams maple syrup, 220 grams brown sugar, 110 grams pecans, chopped
- After the focaccia has finished baking, add it to a cooling rack and let it cool some before serving.
Notes
- Let the dough get puffy and rise fully. Baking it too early will result in a denser focaccia.
- To speed up the process, find a warmer spot for the dough to rise, and be sure to use warm water when mixing the dough.
- If you want to bake the next day, after the first rise place the dough in the fridge. Then, let it come to room temperature in a greased 9×13" pan and let it get puffy before baking as directed.
- Based on the feedback below the topping has been reduced from 3/4 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 cup maple syrup.
A real winner in our home. The not too sweet fluffy goodness with the light crunch… just lovely! I use a Wolf combi steam oven – convection steam- 400 degrees for 20 mins. Perfection. Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe! Your knowledge and skill for sourdough is exceptional!
Where I live it is winter and cold, house at 68degrees so I started later in the afternoon and did my stretch and folds into the evening and then let the bowl sit out on the counter(covered) all night and by morning it had doubled in size and I carried on from there!!
Does it need to be unsalted butter or can i use salted butter ?
salted is fine
I have made this recipe twice as written and both times this has been a crowd favorite. The first time I did not let it rise enough and the bread was dense. The second time I let it rise almost all day but used the aliquot method to make sure I got a complete doubling in size. I actually think this is even better the second day when all of the sticker sugar goodness melts into the dough. I made the dough a day ahead and let it rest after the rise in the fridge overnight. I got it out of the fridge Christmas morning and let it come to room temp while we opened gifts and put it in the oven and baked and it’s a new Christmas tradition for sure!
To make it the next day, which step do you put it in the fridge after? Is it after the first 4-5 hours and mixing in filling, or in place of the first 4-5 hours
I put mine in the fridge after step 4. Baked next day after adding maple topping and letting it get bubbly. Worked well!
Glad that worked out well!
Hi I’m so excited about this recipe! I don’t have sourdough starter. Can I make this recipe non-sourdough?
Yes I would use 5-7 grams of yeast in place of the sourdough starter.
I love this better than any other cinnamon roll or sticky bun recipes and it’s so easy. I’ve made it 3 times in the last two weeks bc it’s such a hit! I’m sure we will have it often during the holidays.
I don’t really grab too many recipes from insta but this one is a keeper! Def easier than making regular sticky buns and you get an extra layer of texture. I’ve made this twice now. I feel like it needs a little extra. Maybe a light glaze for finish. The topping also makes a lot! I only use about 2/3 of it.
I had to drain a quarter cup of melted butter off the top of this thing. Next time, I’ll melt just enough butter to grease the dough and make about half the amount of topping and see if that helps. Otherwise, it’s yummy.
This should have the option of more than 5 stars. It was so good. I didn’t have maple
syrup so I left it out. I used vegan butter. It will be a special occasion favorite staple from now on.
Will be making this many more times! My house smells like a bakery!
I followed this recipe exactly but the amount of butter in the topping is far too much. As the focaccia rose in my oven the butter and sugar combination bubbled up and spilled over into the hot oven and caused my whole house to get smoked out. That being said, the taste of the focaccia is excellent if you can get through all of the smoke to get to it. Be careful with this one!
This was so good! Not too sweet. Was like a cross between a cinnamon roll and pecan pie. I will be making this again.
This turned out amazing!!!