Cheesy Sourdough Focaccia Muffins
It doesn’t get much better than cheesy, bubbly, sourdough focaccia - except for maybe when they are cute personal muffin sized! Perfect for sharing at potlucks and holiday parties. For this recipe, I partnered with Cabot Creamery. The cheddar cheese gets mixed into the dough, as well as lined in the muffin cups. For the dough, you’ll want to feed your sourdough starter so that you have at least 100g ready to use. What I usually do is take out ~50g of starter from my master jar and feed it in a clean container with 50g flour & 50g water. In the winter, this might be a longer process! You can feed your starter at night before bed, and it will usually still be good to go right away in the morning.
Dough Ingredients:
450g flour (AP or bread)
50g spelt (optional, just add 50g more regular flour if not using spelt)
450g water
100g ripe starter
12g salt
Filling + Topping:
8oz shredded sharp Cabot cheddar
Olive oil for greasing the tin and dough
Instructions
Mix the bread flour and spelt flour (if using). Add the starter into the water and combine thoroughly with a whisk.
Pour the water/starter mixture into the flour bowl and mix to combine (either with your hand or with a wooden spatula). Mix until you see no dry bits of flour. Cover and let rest for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, sprinkle the salt on top and pinch it into the dough with lightly wet hands. Pull the dough around to create a smooth ball. Let rest for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes, sprinkle 4oz of the cheddar onto the dough and perform pull/folds all around the dough by stretching the dough up on one side and folding it back over into the center. This should help incorporate the cheddar. Again, it helps to do this with wet hands. Cover and let rest for another 45 minutes.
Continue with this resting and stretching/folding several more times. Then, let the dough sit undisturbed until it is puffy and roughly grown by 1/3 in size, usually 3-4 more hours (from step 1 through step 5, this whole process takes 6-8 hours).
Instructions continue below.
Above, photos of dough in the mixing process.
6. Once you’ve completed the bulk fermentation, put the covered bowl into the fridge and let it rest overnight.
7. In the morning, line a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick parchment paper muffin tin liners or thoroughly grease the empty tin with butter and some olive oil. Sprinkle a bit of the remaining cheddar into the bottom of each muffin tin cup, reserving some for the top of each mini focaccia (see photo above).
8. Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it roughly into 12 pieces. Shape each into a loose ball. Coat each ball with olive oil, and place each one into the prepared muffin tin (see photo above). Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough proof at room temperature one more time (this should take 2 more hours or so).
9. When the mini focaccias look a bit bubbly and have filled the whole of each muffin tin cup, you’re ready to bake! Pre-heat the oven to 425F. Sprinkle the last of the cheese onto each mini focaccia, and gently dimple the dough (careful not to push all the air out; see photo above).
10. Important — place the muffin tin on top of a large baking sheet before putting it into the oven. Alternatively, you can place the muffin tin on a large sheet of aluminum foil. This is because sometimes the mini focaccias grow a LOT in the oven, and the cheese can drip off and create quite a smoky situation if it lands on the bottom of the oven.
11. Bake the mini focaccias for about 30 minutes. If you want, you can test to see if they are done by taking the internal temperature of the dough - if it reaches 205-210F, they are ready to come out. Let them cool completely in the muffin tin before diving in - they may need to fully finish cooking while they cool. Enjoy!
The mini focaccias will keep at room temperature in a sealed container for about a day. After that, move them into the fridge and toast one when you’re hungry. Thank you to Cabot Creamery for sponsoring this post.
I’d love to see your creations! Tag @nokneadtoworry on Instagram.
Read next
My Sourdough Method
Winter Focaccia