Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Focaccia

5 from 4 votes

This Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Focaccia is bright, chewy, and irresistibly easy. Made with lemonade instead of water, it’s packed with citrusy flavor and bursts of fresh blueberries, then finished with a sweet lemon glaze.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Rise Time7

Total Time7 45

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Author: Emily Christensen

Equipment

Ingredients

400 grams lemonade 1 ¾ cups
150 grams active sourdough starter ½ cup + 2 Tablespoons
10 grams salt 1 ½ teaspoon
500 grams bread flour 3 ⅔ cups
zest of 1 lemon
280 grams blueberries scant 2 cups
56 grams butter, divided 4 Tablespoons

Glaze

120 grams powdered sugar 1 cup
30 grams lemonade 2 Tablespoons

Instructions

In a bowl or straight edge container, mix together the lemonade, lemon zest, active starter, and salt until the starter is dissolved with a dough whisk. Add the bread flour and mix until a shaggy dough is formed. Let sit in a warm spot covered for about 30 minutes.
400 grams lemonade, zest of 1 lemon, 150 grams active sourdough starter, 10 grams salt, 500 grams bread flour
Perform 2-3 sets of stretch and folds to develop the gluten in the dough with at least a 30 minute rest in between each set. Add the blueberries during the first set of stretch and folds. 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.
280 grams blueberries
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 5 hours from the time it is mixed.
Add 2 Tablespoons of melted butter in a greased 9×13 pan and add the focaccia dough. Spread out the dough and coat both sides with butter.
Let it rise another hour or two covered in a warm spot until it has risen well and is puffy.
Melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter and add on top of the dough. Dimple the dough with your fingers and bake in the oven at 425°F degrees for 27-30 minutes.
While the focaccia is baking, whisk together powdered sugar and lemonade to make the glaze. If your glaze is too thick, add another Tablespoon of lemonade.
120 grams powdered sugar, 30 grams lemonade
After the focaccia has finished baking, add it to a cooling rack and let it cool. Drizzle the lemon glaze on top of the baked focaccia while it is still warm and serve.

Notes

Make sure to 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. Using warm ingredients in the dough will help with this as well.
Add the dough to a straight edge container so you can easily see when the dough has risen 50%.
To bake the next day, let it finish the first rise and then prepare it in the 9x13 inch pan. Let it sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to begin rising and then place it in the fridge covered. In the morning remove it from the fridge. If it is puffy and well risen, dimple it and bake straight from the fridge. If it has not risen much let it sit out for until it has puffed up and then bake.
If you would like to use frozen blueberries, rinse the blueberries several times with cold water until the water becomes noticeably lighter. Then use a few layers of paper towels to pat them dry before adding to the dough. Since they still will add extra moisture to the dough I recommend reducing the lemonade by 25 grams as well. Also note the rise time may be longer due to the colder blueberries.

Nutrition