Basic Focaccia Dough Recipes

BASIC FOCACCIA RECIPE (AND EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT FOCACCIA!)

Steps:

• Mix the flour, water and yeast in a roomy bowl and whisk with a wooden spoon to mix well.
• Cover with clingfilm and leave in the kitchen overnight. If you are not starting about 12 hours after mixing the poolish, place the poolish in the fridge until you need it, but no more than 4 hours.
• Dissolve the yeast in the water in your mixing bowl, a wooden spoon is best for this, it'll only take 20 seconds or so.
• Add the poolish, flour, followed by the salt, in that order.
• Using a dough hook, mix the ingredients on low until the flour is no longer "flying". Then increase to high (5 on my Titanium Chef) and mix for 8 minutes, until the dough is beginning to pull away from the sides. That means that it is stretching slightly, all around, while sticking to the sides. Scrape down the sides in the fir couple of minutes, if you have to.
• Lower the speed to low and drizzle in the 4 Tbsp of oil, while the dough hook is still moving.
• Increase the speed back up to high and mix for 3-5 minutes. At around the 3 minute mark, you will hear loud slapping sounds coming from your food mixer. Go take a look. If the dough is moving around in practically a ball shape, it is done. You can proceed with the next step.
• Tip the dough into a large, lightly greased bowl. Use a spatula to help it away from the mixing bowl, it should just come away easily.
• Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rest for 1 hour.
• Line your baking tin with baking paper if it's not non stick. Just in case!
• When the hour is up, tip the wet, risen dough into the middle of the tin. Lightly cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
• At the end of 30 minutes, drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil all over, and push the focaccia dough, starting from the middle, to fit the tin. It should already be almost covering it anyway. Let the dough rest for another 20 minutes. Don't be tempted to pop those bubbles, apart from the ones you naturally touch as you are spreading the dough. We want those bubbles in our bread dough.
• Preheat the oven to 240˚C/475˚F.
• At the end of those 20 minutes, using the tip of your fingers, poke your dough all over to create dimples. Don't worry too much if you don't get pronounced dips.
• Drizzle another 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and scatter the rosemary all over. Finish off with a sprinkle of the salt flakes.
• Bake on the middle shelf for 25-30 minutes, until the top is a beautiful golden brown and crispy.
• Take it out of the oven, leave it to rest for 10 minutes, before cutting into squares. Before cutting, you can drizzle the final 2 tablespoons of oil all over, if you like, which will give a wet feel to some part of the focaccia. I do it, but its a matter of taste.

BASIC FOCACCIA DOUGH

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, beat bread flour, semolina flour, and 2 cups water at low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Sprinkle yeast on top of dough, and let stand for 10 minutes.
• Add salt, and beat at low speed until combined. Increase mixer speed to medium-high, and beat until dough becomes smooth and elastic, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low. With mixer running, add oil in a slow, steady stream. Beat until incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F) until doubled in size, 1½ to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and spray with cooking spray.
• Turn out dough onto prepared pan. Using your fingertips, gently press dough into a 14x12-inch rectangle. Dimple the dough with your fingertips.
• Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Brush with oil.

BASIC FOCACCIA

Steps:

• The day before baking, mix the dough and let it spend the night in the refrigerator. Combine the flour, water, sugar, salt, and yeast in the large bowl of a stand mixer (use the paddle attachment, not the dough hook). Slowly mix until the ingredients form a ball around the paddle, about 30 seconds. Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium low for another 3 minutes. Stop the machine to scrape the dough off the hook; let the dough rest for 5 minutes and then mix on medium low for another 3 minutes, until it's relatively smooth. At this point, the dough will resemble melted mozzarella and be very sticky. If you stretch a small piece, it will barely hold together.
• Coat a bowl large enough to hold the dough when it doubles in size with 1 Tbs. of the olive oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl and rotate the dough to coat it with the oil.
• Hold the bowl steady with one hand. Wet the other hand in water, grasp the dough and stretch it to nearly twice its size.
• Lay the stretched section back over the dough. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat this stretch-and-fold technique. Do this two more times so that you have rotated the bowl a full 360 degrees and stretched and folded the dough four times. Drizzle 1 Tbs. of the olive oil over the dough and flip it over. Wrap the bowl well with plastic and refrigerate it overnight, or for at least 8 to 10 hours.
• Remove the bowl of dough from the refrigerator and start shaping the focaccia 3 hours before you intend to bake it (2 hours on a warm day). The dough will have nearly doubled in size. Cover a 13×18-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat and coat the surface with 2 Tbs. of the olive oil.
• Gently slide a rubber spatula or a dough scraper under the dough and guide it out of the bowl onto the center of the pan. The dough will sink beneath its own weight, expelling some gas but retaining enough to keep an airy gluten network that will grow into nice holes.
• Drizzle 2 Tbs. of the olive oil on top of the dough. (Don't worry if some rolls off onto the pan; it will all be absorbed eventually.)
• Dimple the entire dough surface, working from the center to the edges, pressing your fingertips straight down to create hollows in the dough while gently pushing the dough down and out toward the edges of the pan. At first you might only be able to spread the dough to cover about one-half to three-quarters of the pan. Don't force the dough when it begins to resist you. Set it aside to rest for 20 minutes. The oil will prevent a crust from forming.
• After letting the dough rest, drizzle another 2 Tbs. olive oil over the dough's surface and dimple again. This time, you will be able to push the dough to fill or almost fill the entire pan. It should be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. If it doesn't stay in the corners, don't worry; the dough will fill the corners as it rises.
• Cover the dough loosely with oiled plastic wrap, put the pan on a rack to let air circulate around it, and let the dough rise at room temperature until it's about 1-1/2 times its original size and swells to the rim of the pan. This will take 2 to 3 hours, depending on the temperature of the room. Thirty minutes before baking, heat your oven to 475°F.
• Just before baking, gently remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle a few pinches of sea salt or kosher salt over the dough. Put the pan in the middle of the hot oven and reduce the heat to 450°F. After 15 minutes, rotate the pan to ensure even baking.
• Check the dough after another 7 minutes. If it's done, it will be golden brown on top and, if you lift a corner of the dough, the underside will be golden as well. If not, return the pan to the oven for another 1 to 2 minutes and check again.
• Set a cooling rack over a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment (to catch drippings). Use a metal spatula to release the dough from the sides of the pan. Slide the spatula under one end of the focaccia and jiggle it out of the pan onto the rack. If any oil remains in the pan, pour it evenly over the focaccia's surface. Carefully remove the parchment or silicone liner from beneath the focaccia. Let cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving.

EASIEST FOCACCIA RECIPE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with flour; stir well to combine. Stir in additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all of the flour is absorbed. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly for about 1 minute.
• Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
• Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface; knead briefly. Pat or roll the dough into a sheet and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the dough with oil and sprinkle with salt.
• Bake focaccia in preheated oven for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on desired crispness. If you like it moist and fluffy, then you'll have to wait just about 10 minutes. If you like it crunchier and darker in the outside, you may have to wait 20 minutes.

FOCACCIA BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water.
• When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Combine the warm water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Put the bowl in a warm, not hot or cool, place until the yeast is bubbling and aromatic, at least 15 minutes.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, 1/2 cup olive oil and the yeast mixture on low speed. Once the dough has come together, continue to knead for 5 to 6 minutes on a medium speed until it becomes smooth and soft. Give it a sprinkle of flour if the dough is really sticky and tacky.
• Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly floured surface, then knead it by hand 1 or 2 times. Again, give it another sprinkle of flour if the dough is really sticky and tacky.
• Coat the inside of the mixer bowl lightly with olive oil and return the dough to the bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, at least 1 hour.
• Coat a jelly roll pan with the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil. (Chef's Note: This may seem excessive, but focaccia is an oily crusted bread. This is why it is soooooooooo delicious!).
• Put the dough onto the jelly roll pan and begin pressing it out to fit the size of the pan. Turn the dough over to coat the other side with the olive oil. Continue to stretch the dough to fit the pan. As you are doing so, spread your fingers out and make finger holes all the way through the dough. (Chef's Note: Yes, this is strange. But when the dough rises again it will create the characteristic craggy looking focaccia. If you do not make the actual holes in the dough, the finished product will be very smooth.)
• Put the dough in the warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour. While the dough is rising a second time, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Liberally sprinkle the top of the focaccia with some coarse sea salt and lightly drizzle a little oil on top. Bake the dough until the top of the loaf is golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the focaccia from the oven and let it cool before cutting and serving.
• Oh baby!

FOCACCIA

Steps:

• Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl. Mix the yeast into one side of the flour, and the fine salt into the other side. Then mix everything together, this initial seperation prevents the salt from killing the yeast.
• Make a well in the middle of the flour and add 2 tbsp oil and 350-400ml lukewarm water, adding it gradually until you have a slightly sticky dough (you may not need all the water). Sprinkle the work surface with flour and tip the dough onto it, scraping around the sides of the bowl. Knead for 5-10 mins until your dough is soft and less sticky. Put the dough into a clean bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 1 hr until doubled in size.
• Oil a rectangle, shallow tin (25 x 35cm). Tip the dough onto the work surface, then stretch it to fill the tin. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for another 35-45 mins.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Press your fingers into the dough to make dimples. Mix together 1½ tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp water and the flaky salt and drizzle over the bread. Push sprigs of rosemary into the dimples in the dough.
• Bake for 20 mins until golden. Whilst the bread is still hot, drizzle over 1-2 tbsp olive oil. Cut into squares and serve warm or cold with extra olive oil, if you like.