Let’s be honest, bread baking is…intimidating! Is the dough hydrated enough? Did I tear all my gluten strands? What even are baker’s percentages anyway?? If you are ready to try home bread-baking but want to dip your toe into the water before taking the deep dive, this recipe is perfect for you. Adapted from Sarah Jampel’s “Shockingly Easy No-Knead Focaccia” on Bon Appetit, this bread comes together in a few hours and is nearly impossible to mess up. Want to prepare and bake your bread in the same day? You can do that! Want to prep the dough today and bake it tomorrow? You can do that too! This recipe is so flexible and easy, it’s the perfect way to build bread baking confidence.
The original recipe calls for brushing homemade garlic butter on top of the freshly baked bread when it emerges from the oven (very delicious), which you can totally do here. I am lactose intolerant and my insides don’t love a ton of melted butter, so I usually opt for toppings like halved cherry or grape tomatoes; lightly crushed Castelvetrano olives; fresh rosemary… with all of these options, be sure to put press them lightly into the dough along with a light drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of flaky salt before you place it in the oven to bake.
A note about olive oil: use the good stuff here! The oil really acts like a flavoring in this recipe. Using better olive oil will lead to a better tasting focaccia. I don’t make the rules!
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Super Simple Focaccia
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼-oz. envelope active dry yeast (about 2¼ tsp.)
- 2½ cups warm filtered water
- 2 tsp. honey
- 5 cups (625 g) all purpose flour
- 5 tsp. Diamond Crystal kosher salt (1 tbsp. if using Morton kosher salt)
- 6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for hands
- Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)
Directions:
- In a large bowl (be sure to choose one that can fit in your refrigerator if you plan on chilling the dough overnight), whisk one ¼-oz. envelope active dry yeast (about 2¼ tsp.), 2 tsp. honey, and 2½ cups lukewarm water and let sit for 5 minutes (it should foam a bit or at least get creamy; if it doesn’t look like it’s doing anything, your yeast might be dead, and you should start again)
- Add 5 cups (625 g) all-purpose flour and 5 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 Tbsp. Morton kosher salt and mix with a rubber spatula until a shaggy dough forms and there is no dry flour left in the bowl.
- Pour 4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil on top of the dough and turn a few times to coat. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel (no plastic wrap, please!) or silicone lid. For next-day focaccia, place bowl in refrigerator and chill until dough is doubled in size, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. If you’d like to have same-day focaccia, let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 3–4 hours.
- Generously butter a 13×9″ baking pan. The butter may seem unnecessary, but it’ll ensure that your focaccia doesn’t stick. Pour 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil into center of pan. You can also use a 18×13″ rimmed baking sheet for thinner, crispier focaccia!
- Lightly oil your hands. Keeping the dough in the bowl, lightly gather up the edges of the dough farthest from you and lift up and over into the center of the bowl. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the process. Do this 2 more times until the dough is deflated and in a rough ball.
- Transfer dough to the prepared pan. Pour any oil left in bowl over and turn the dough to coat it in oil. At this point I like to give the dough a few light stretches, but only do this if you feel comfortable! To stretch the dough, lift up the edge of the dough farthest from you and pull up very gently, letting the its own weight and gravity lightly stretch the dough. Fold the stretched dough into the center of the pan and give the dough a quarter turn. Repeat 2 or 3 more times. This encourages gluten development and ensures your focaccia will be beautifully risen!
- Let the dough rise, uncovered, in a dry, warm place until doubled in size, at least 1½ hours and up to 4 hours.
- Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 450°. To see if the dough is ready, give it a gentle poke with your finger. If it springs back slowly and leaves a small indentation, it is ready. If it springs back quickly, it isn’t quite ready. If your dough is ready to bake but you aren’t, you can chill it for an hour.
- Lightly oil your hands. If using a rimmed baking sheet, gently stretch out dough to fill (you won’t need to do this if using a baking pan). Dimple focaccia all over with your fingers, creating very deep depressions in the dough (reach your fingers to the bottom of the pan). Drizzle dough with remaining 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt, and any additional toppings you’d like.
- Bake focaccia until puffed and golden brown all over, 20–30 minutes.
Focaccia is best eaten the day it’s made, but it keeps really well in the freezer too! Reheat in a 300° F oven.
Some of my favorite focaccia toppings include:
- Halved cherry or grape tomatoes
- Thinly sliced red onion and fresh rosemary
- Lightly crushed Castelvetrano olives
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Za’atar (a fragrant and delicious spice blend of sesame seeds, salt, sumac, earthy spices like cumin or coriander, and savory spices like thyme or oregano)
- Everything bagel seasoning (spread plain cream cheese on the baked focaccia for focaccia bagel vibes!)
Sophie in the Kitchen 