Focaccia for every occasion! Recipe for my easy, very impressive, very yummy bread. Only a few ingredients needed, and you can decide you want to eat it in the morning and be taking it out of the oven for lunch. So much to love!
Focaccia
Ingredients
- 400g all-purpose flour
- 200g high protein bread flour (Baker’s Flour)
- 12g salt
- 7g active dry yeast
- 460g lukewarm water
- 12g extra virgin olive oil, plus more to oil the pan and drizzle over the focaccia
- Toppings!
Topping ideas:
- Thinly shaved potato and rosemary
- Thyme and Parmesan
- Sicilian green olive
- Chopped cherry tomatoes and marjoram
- Everything Bagel seasoning
- Focaccia art: sliced colourful capsicums, cherry tomatoes, spring onions or chives, olives, red onion
Method
- Mix flours, salt and yeast together in the bowl of a stand mixer (with dough hook attachment) until combined. If you don’t have a stand mixer, this can also be done in a large bowl, with a whisk, followed by kneading with hand.
- Add water, and mix on low speed for 1-2 minutes, until incorporated.
- Turn up the speed slightly, and mix for 2-5 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.
- Slowly pour in olive oil on low speed, mix until fully absorbed (3-5 minutes).
- Transfer to a large bowl, covered with glad wrap or a damp tea towel. Set a timer for one hour, and another timer for two hours
- When the first timer goes off, with wet hands, do one ‘stretch and fold’ of your dough.
OVERNIGHT OPTION: If you don’t want to bake the focaccia today, at this point you can place it in the fridge, covered with glad wrap, for 12-24 hours. - Repeat when the second timer goes off, then transfer the dough to a well oiled, oven-safe pan, approx 20x30cm (if you want to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom or your pan (especially if not non-stick), you can line the base with a piece of baking paper).
- Place the pan in a warm place, letting it rise until doubled in bulk (if it’s cool in your house, you could put it in the oven with the light on, on top of the fridge, or if your oven is beneath your stove, on top of the stove with the oven on). The rising time will depend on the temperature where the dough is placed, it can take from 30 minutes to 1+ hour. Check on the dough every 30 minutes, and with wet hands, gently stretch the dough towards the edges of the pan to create a rectangle shape.
- Around 30 minutes before the proof time is expected to be complete, preheat your oven to 230°C (no fan).
- When your oven is preheated, you’re ready to bake!
- Drizzle the surface of the dough with a generous amount of olive oil. Dimple the dough with oiled fingers.
- Add toppings, finishing with salt flakes.
- Bake on a rack in the bottom third of the oven until golden brown, approximately 30 minutes.