Chocolate Chip Focaccia Bread
Chocolate chip cookie dough smashed into focaccia bread. Get your milk ready for this one!
I know you hear chocolate chip focaccia bread and you may not think this is a working combination. Hear me out, it’s pretty shockingly delicious. I saw this recipe go viral on TikTok and it immediately intrigued me. I followed one of my favorite focaccia bread recipes and substituted all the olive oil for melted butter, the result, being a rich buttery brioche dough. Slap on pieces of store-bought or homemade for subtly sweet focaccia oozing with chewy gooey chocolate cookie dough. The final result has crispy pockets of chocolatey goodness with an extra fluffy crumb. All you need to make this is time and a cold glass of milk.
Start the recipe by making your focaccia bread recipe. The secret to making a good bread dough is letting knead for at least 7 minutes. Use a stand mixer to first combine the yeast, flour, and salt. If you’ve made bread dough before, I’m sure you’ve heard to separate the salt and yeast because the salt kills the yeast. This is only true when it comes to leaving yeast to bloom overnight. Mixing the dough with all the ingredients right away helps distribute the salt throughout the dough thus letting the yeast thrive. Once your dough stops sticking to the bottom of the mixing bowl, you’re dough is ready.
Once you layer the proofed focaccia dough in the 9×13 pan, now you start to layer with your cookie dough pieces and any optional mix-ins, like chocolate chips or baby marshmallows. Cover your dough and let this dough proof until doubled in size. The yeast will create pockets of air that you will poke to help the toppings penetrate the dough. When your dough is doubled, drizzle with a little extra butter and poke your toppings in. Bake until the center of the bread dough registers at 190 F on a thermometer. Check-in on your dough halfway through baking to make sure the top isn’t browning too fast. Cover with a piece of aluminum foil to prevent further browning.
Remove your chocolate chip focaccia from the 9×13 pan so it properly cools. Dig in after 15 minutes and it’s like a forever warm chocolate chip cookie. These cookies just never get hard or dry out. Warm your bread in the toaster oven when having it the next day. This is a recipe to keep sharing and experimenting with.
Chocolate Chip Focaccia Bread
Allergens: Gluten
For assembly:
- 1 lb store-bought cookie dough, softened
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 batch focaccia bread
For focaccia:
- 1 1/3 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter plus 1/2 cup for drizzling
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Preparation
- Preheat a 375° F and prepare a 9x13 pan.
- Make the focaccia bread recipe in a stand mixer using the dough hook on med-high for 6 - 7 minutes.
- Remove to a buttered bowl in a mixing bowl and add dough and let rest for 30 minutes covered until doubled.
- Add focaccia dough to the 9x13 to pan and stretch to the size. Place cookie dough pieces on top of the dough and let proof covered in plastic for 30 minutes.
- Push fingers into focaccia dough and brush with more melted butter.
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes on the lower rack of your oven. You may need to cover the top with aluminum foil if the cookie gets too browned. Use a toothpick inserted in the center to test for doneness.
Recipe adapted from https://alexandracooks.com/2018/03/02/overnight-refrigerator-focaccia-best-focaccia/