I started making these on a whim one night when I needed something to put out before dinner and had pizza dough sitting in the fridge. That was about two years ago and now I make them embarrassingly often. They take maybe 25 minutes start to finish, they look like you actually tried, and the combination of briny olives with jammy sun-dried tomato against that crispy-bottomed dough is just really, really good.
The whole thing works because a good toaster oven runs hot and concentrated, which means you get a proper golden crust on the bottom without drying the whole thing out. A full-size oven can do it too, but honestly the toaster oven is better for a small batch like this — faster preheat, crispier result. If you’re working with a convection setting, use it.
You don’t need fancy dough. Supermarket pizza dough in the refrigerated section works perfectly — Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, whatever your store sells. The key move is getting it to actual room temperature before you start, like a full 30 minutes out on the counter. Cold dough is stiff and won’t puff the way it should. For baking, I use a toaster oven baking sheet with a rim — it holds the olive oil and keeps drips from burning on the heating element.
Flaky sea salt at the end isn’t optional in my opinion. It’s the thing that makes these taste finished instead of just baked. A heavy pinch right when they come out of the oven is the move.
Toaster Oven Crispy Olive and Sun-Dried Tomato Focaccia Bites with Rosemary Salt
Chewy on the inside, golden and crispy on the outside — these focaccia bites come together fast and taste way better than anything from a bag. Olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and a flurry of rosemary salt make them genuinely hard to stop eating.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Preheat your toaster oven to 425°F. If your toaster oven has a convection setting, use it — you'll get better browning on the bottom.
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Lightly oil your toaster oven baking pan or a small rimmed baking sheet with about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Set it aside.
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Oil your hands lightly. Tear or cut the dough into roughly 16 pieces — they don't need to be perfect, rustic is the whole point here.
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Flatten each piece slightly with your fingers into a rough oval, about half an inch thick. Press a few pieces of olive and sun-dried tomato into the top of each one.
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Arrange them on the oiled pan, leaving about an inch between each. They'll puff up a little.
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Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over all the pieces. Sprinkle on the rosemary, garlic powder, black pepper, and Parmesan if you're using it.
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Slide the pan into the toaster oven and bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the tops are golden and the bottoms are properly crispy. Check at the 10-minute mark — toaster ovens run hot and every one is a little different.
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Pull them out and hit them immediately with the flaky salt. Eat warm. They're honestly at their best right off the pan.
Notes
Room temperature dough is non-negotiable — cold dough fights you and won't puff properly. If you only have dried rosemary, crumble it between your fingers first to wake it up a bit. Sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil taste significantly better here than the dry-packed kind. Leftovers reheat well in the toaster oven at 375°F for about 4 minutes — they get crispy again instead of turning sad and chewy like they would in a microwave. You can also do a half-and-half batch, olives on some, just tomato on others, if people have opinions.
Nutrition
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Written by
Emma is a home cook who loves coaxing big flavor out of a toaster oven — from crispy roasted vegetables to easy weeknight dinners and sweet treats. She develops and tests Toastera's recipes for small-appliance kitchens.
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