There’s nothing quite like a fresh loaf of homemade bread. The smell, the taste, the texture … it’s truly divine. However, it can be hard to find the time to make bread from scratch. While some yeasted bread recipes can be made more quickly than others, others require more of a time investment. That’s why this shortcut pizza dough focaccia is our new favorite.

This recipe requires no measuring or mixing; simply snag a ball or two of your favorite store-bought pizza dough, let it proof, and then bake it in the oven with plenty of olive oil, herbs and flaky sea salt. The result is a soft, spongy flatbread with an open crumb and irresistibly crisp, chewy exterior that will fool everyone into thinking that it’s a traditional focaccia bread recipe. Add this one to your list of creative ideas for using pizza dough.

Ingredients for Shortcut Pizza Dough Focaccia

• Pizza dough: For this recipe, you’ll need two balls of fresh or frozen pizza dough. Store-bought pizza crusts that have been parbaked will not work for this recipe.
• Olive oil: Focaccia derives much of its flavor from the olive oil in which it’s baked. Therefore, this is a great occasion to splurge on a high-quality olive oil for best results.
• Rosemary: Rosemary is a classic topping for focaccia. It has an intoxicating aroma and a warm, woodsy flavor.
• Flaky sea salt: Flaky sea salt is a must-have for topping focaccia. It doesn’t dissolve as quickly as table salt, so it imparts a great texture and bursts of salty flavor on the top of the bread. If you don’t have flaked salt, you can substitute coarsely ground Kosher salt.

Taste of Home