Sweet Focaccia with Raspberry Jam

This Sweet Focaccia recipe combines a light, airy dough with swirls of rich raspberry jam, creating a perfect balance of sweetness and texture. Topped with a powdered sugar glaze similar to a jelly donut, it’s a delightful treat for breakfast or dessert.

Jelly Donut Focaccia

Do you ever make something and think: this was meant to be?! How is something often savory so fabulous covered in a sweet sugar glaze? Okay maybe that isn’t as surprising as I’m making it out to seem, HA! 

But this fluffy, chewy, delicious sweet focaccia bread is lathered in tart raspberry jelly and smothered in a powdered sugar icing – and I am obsessed. I’m typically not a big jelly filled donut girl (I KNOW I’m sorry). It’s just like a lot all at once, but this recipe is the opposite. Tastefully getting chewy bread with a thin layer of jelly and icing, the end result is perfectly balanced. 

Homemade bread can be intimidating, but I promise you it’s not difficult! The hardest part is patience, waiting for the yeast to activate and the dough can rise. This sweet version of easy focaccia bread is a lovely treat with tea or coffee, or served at your Sunday brunch. 

Recipe Inspiration

I have this phenomenal pesto focaccia bread and this Honey Jalapeño Focaccia that this bread can be considered the sweet bread cousin of. While everyone seems to be on their sourdough journeys, I might have just embarked on my focaccia bread journey. 

Sweet Focaccia Ingredients

• Sugar – This is used to “activate” the yeast by providing a readily available food source, which helps the yeast begin fermenting faster and produce a quicker rise in your dough.
• Active Dry Yeast – It is VERY important it is not expired.
• Flour – We’ll use both all purpose flour and bread flour, which has a higher protein content contributing to a chewier bread.
• Olive Oil – To coat the outside of the focaccia. Be generous with it!
• Jam – I love Bonne Maman.
• Powdered Sugar – The base to our glaze.

See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Substitutions and Variations

• Any jelly flavor would work for your dessert focaccia – strawberry, orange, mixed berry, etc! 
• Add a bit of citrus zest on top or to the glaze. Blood orange, regular orange or lemon zest would be tasty with the jam!
• You could also do a cinnamon roll focaccia version (similar to this Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake). Instead of adding jam to the dough, spoon on a mixture of equal parts butter, cinnamon and brown sugar. For the glaze add a teaspoon of cinnamon, too!

How to Make This Recipe

1. In a stand mixer, combine warm water (105-115°F) and sugar. Quickly whisk by hand until all sugar is dissolved. Add the instant yeast and again whisk until combined. Allow the yeast to sit for 5 minutes. If the yeast doesn’t bubble at all, scrap the recipe and start fresh (make sure yeast is fresh (not expired), this is the most important thing for a successful focaccia).

2. Place a dough hook on your stand mixer. Add the bread flour, all purpose flour, and salt to the mixer bowl. Mix until a sticky dough forms.

3. In a large mixing bowl, spread 2 tablespoons of olive oil around the sides of the bowl. Place the dough into the large bowl and use your hands to spread more oil on it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it near a window in the sun or another warm place for an hour (the direct warmth will help it rise).

4. The dough should have doubled in size. Use a silicone brush to spread 2 tablespoons of olive oil around 9×13 metal pan. Remove the dough from the bowl and place into the 9×13 pan. Fold it in thirds over itself a few times, flipping to ensure it’s well coated in oil & kneading slightly for better gluten development throughout.

5. Cover again with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in the sun or other warm spot for another hour.

6. When the dough has doubled in size and spread to the edges of the pan, remove the plastic wrap. Preheat the oven to 425°F.  Pour the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil onto the surface of the dough and use your fingers to poke holes throughout the bread, you’ll want to see pockets and bubbles of bread before baking.

7. Use a spoon to spread ¼ raspberry jam onto the unbaked focaccia dough topping, ensuring it gets into the grooves you just created.

8. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the top is lightly golden brown and cooked through. 

9. Using a large straw, poke many holes into the bread (I did about 35 and that was the low end – don’t be shy, this is how the filling gets into the bread).

10. Using a small spoon, scoop the jam into each hole just created. The bread will warm the jam allowing it to drip into each hole. 

11. Once slightly cooled, use an electric hand mixer to make the icing. Mix until icing is thin enough to be smoothed but thick enough to harden (add milk one tablespoon at a time to prevent from runny frosting). If time allows, once the top icing cools, flip the bread over onto a wire rack and frost the bottom (a true glazed donut!!!)

12. Cut into squares and serve! 

PRO TIPS

• Once the icing on the top of the bread dries, flip it over and ice the bottom of it! This gives a glazed donut feel rather than just frosting on top.
• Be generous with the olive oil. You may think you have a very wet dough, but homemade focaccia is a high hydration dough and will likely turn out dry if you try to skimp out on the olive oil at any step (in the dough bowl, in the pan, or brushed on top). 

Recipe FAQs

How do we store it? 

Focaccia is best eaten the day it’s made, but you can store it in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days.
It also freezes well. Slice into pieces and store in a ziplock or air-tight container, then reheat it on a baking sheet at 300°F in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Note: The glaze will melt quite a bit so do this on parchment paper.

How can I tell if my yeast is good?

If the yeast, water, sugar mixture bubbles and gets a yeast-y scent, it is still good. If your yeast mixture does nothing, you should toss it and get fresh yeast. Too hot of water can also damage the yeast. Make sure you use warm water, but not boiling. 

Why do you dimple focaccia?

Dimpling the focaccia does two important things: 1. It keeps it from rising into an enormous bread bubble when it bakes. Focaccia is a flatter bread, after all. And 2. It gives a space for the olive oil to drip into (as well as the jam in the case of this Sweet Focaccia recipe). Think of the dimples as flavor wells.

Serving suggestions

By the square with a glass of milk. I often take down a quarter of the bread at a time. It’s so good.

It is also a good choice paired with morning tea or coffee. Serve with a brunch spread alongside this Spinach and Feta Quiche and some Crispy Breakfast Potatoes for a full spread!