Focaccia (pronounced foh-KAH-chyuh) is a flat, leavened, oven-baked Italian bread. Focaccia is easily recognizable by its golden, dimpled surface and will likely be topped with herbs, vegetables, cheese, or a combination of all three.
What makes Focaccia the perfect bread for your next cheeseburger is that it is light, airy, and has a wonderful crispy crust. It is not too firm and not too soft. It can certainly hold up to your favorite cheeseburger recipe. The toppings you choose for your Focaccia can add another layer of flavor to your creative endeavors.
Focaccia is also one of the easier breads to make. Other than a sheet pan, no special tools or techniques are needed - it can be made entirely by hand. However, a nice stand mixer certainly makes quick work of mixing and kneading the dough.
Probably the most difficult part of making Focaccia is deciding on the toppings. This delicious homemade bread is an open palette. It can certainly be made plain. But, as mentioned before, Focaccia can be topped with a variety of interesting items; herbs, vegetables, and cheeses. You can also try topping it with nuts, seeds, and cured meats. You are the baker when making this Italian favorite, you can be as creative as you want to be with the toppings - don’t be afraid to experiment.
Recommended Tools
- Stand Mixer, 7 Quart Bowl-Lift, KitchenAid – https://amzn.to/4hG4hEH
- Kitchen and food scale – https://amzn.to/3YQUiDY
- Instant Read Thermometer – https://amzn.to/4eoziu0
- Cutting Board (Maple) – https://amzn.to/3ASqNtt
- Henckels kitchen cutlery set – https://amzn.to/3YFTGAY
- Baking Pan with Wire Rack, Quarter-sheet – https://amzn.to/47jJ1S3
Ingredients for Focaccia
- 9 g yeast
- 475 g Bread Flour
- 335 g Water (100 - 110 F)
- 9 g Salt
- 9 g Olive Oil
- 20 g Olive Oil (for baking)
Topping Ideas
- Sliced olives
- Fresh or dried herbs
- Coarse kosher salt
- Sliced garlic
- Finely-sliced onions
- Everything but the Bagel topping
Directions for making Focaccia
Dough
Mix water, yeast, and one spoonful of the flower in a container. Allow the mixture to stand for 5-10 minutes until a light foam begins to appear on the surface and bubbles can be seen rising to the surface.
Combine flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add yeast mixture. Using a dough hook, mix on medium-low for 5 minutes. If mixing by hand, mix ingredients until no dry flour remains.
Add oil to the mixture and continue mixing for 3-5 minutes or until oil is incorporated into the dough.
Occasionally, stop mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing.
Remove bowl from mixer and remove dough hook. Cover and allow to rest for 20 minutes in warm, draft-free location.
The King Arthur website great place for information about bulk fermentation.
Once the dough has rested, perform a stretch and fold of the dough by grabbing the edge of the dough in the bowl, lifting the dough straight up as high as it can go without tearing and pulling the dough across the top to the opposite side of the bowl. Rotate the bowl one quarter turn and repeat the stretch/fold for a total of four (4)times.
Cover and let rest for 20 minutes in a warm draft-free location. Repeat the stretch and fold process three more times allowing the dough to rest 20 minutes each time.
Generously oil the bottom and sides of a 9x13in baking pan. Turn the focaccia dough out into the pan.
Gently stretch the dough into the edges and the corners. The dough will have a tendency to spring back. If this occurs, allow the dough to rest for 3-5 minutes and continue the process of stretching the dough to the corners of the pan.
If you plan on adding sliced olives, now would be the time to add them and gently press them into the dough.
Cover with lightly-oiled plastic wrap and allow to proof for 30-45 minutes in a warm draft-free location.
Dough should rise significantly and appear puffy and bubbly.
Baking
Preheat oven to 450 F.
Remove the plastic wrap.
Pour olive oil over the surface of the dough. Using your hands, gently spread the olive oil across the top of the focaccia. Using your fingertips, make indentations in the surface of the dough to create places for the olive oil to pool and to give your focaccia that distinctive look. The dimples help in distributing the olive oil across the surface of the dough. Be sure not to press all the way through the dough when making the dimples.
Add your desired toppings.
Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden on top.
Remove the focaccia from the oven and allow it to rest on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
Remove focaccia from the pan and place back on the wire rack to cool for an additional ten (10) minutes.
Place the focaccia on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife, pizza cutter, or pizza knife to cut into desired portions.
Enjoy as is or slice in half for sandwiches.
