Blueberry Focaccia with Lemon Sparkle Sugar
Oh, fresh blueberries. What a gift you are. And just imagine, with them: lemony sugar that crunches in your teeth. Melted butter. And chewy focaccia bread. An inspired marriage of tastes and textures that my little sister Mollie came up with, and generously shared with me. And it’s as pretty and as fancy as it is scrumptious.
Take a gander:

Oh yeah. It’s what’s for breakfast. Or lunch. Or a nice afternoon snack.
And guess what? It is so easy to make, especially if you use bucket dough. Here’s the process: Make your bucket dough today (it only takes a couple of minutes) and then pull it out in the morning, and whip this together and bake it while you’re making the rest of your breakfast . . . when it has cooled enough for you not to burn your fingers on it, slice it into wedges and serve it with coffee, or some good scrambled eggs and a bowl of fruit.
Voila. Aren’t you brilliant?
And the best thing is, it took just a few minutes of your time, which–this time of year–is stretched mighty thin, I know!
Here’s the recipe:
- 2 3/4 cups lukewarm water
- 1 Tb granulated yeast
- 1 to 1.5 Tb Kosher salt
- 1 Tb Sugar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 5.5 cups all-purpose flour
- melted butter, unsalted
- lemon sugar: mix 1 Tb lemon zest with 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup blueberries, frozen or fresh
- First, make your bucket dough: mix together the first seven ingredients in a bucket, stir, cover with a lid, and let sit out on the counter until it rises up to the lid, about 1 to 1.5 hours.
- Put dough in refrigerator overnight, or use it immediately (though it is easier to work with after it has chilled.)
- Later: grease a 8″ or 9″ round cake tin. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Pull out one pound of the dough (1/4 of the bucket) and roll out to a circle a little bigger than the pan.
- Spread dough with melted butter, spread berries on top, leaving plenty of dough uncovered (or else it won’t brown nicely).
- Sprinkle with 2 Tb lemon sugar.
- Let rise for 20 minutes.
- Bake in pan, about 25 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
- Pull out of pan and cool on rack, or slice into wedges immediately and share! Yum!
Thank you again to my brilliant sister Mollie, who came up with this recipe!

Uh-huh. Yum.