One Small Step Focaccia
black and white image of an astronaut toy standing on a piece of focaccia bread.
This focaccia is simple yet delicious. There are some recipes for focaccia out there that take a day or two to make (don’t get me wrong, there is certainly something to be said for eating something that has had a long time to develop flavors…especially if that something is bread). But sometimes you just wake up in the morning and think, “I’d like to have focaccia with dinner tonight.” That’s where this recipe comes in! It goes from flour to table in just a few hours and has the delightful crunch that anything does once it’s been fried in olive oil, because that’s basically what we’re doing here.
Yield: 6
One Small Step Focaccia
This crunchy yet fluffy bread from Italy is perfect to pair with pasta or salad.
Prep time: 12 MinCook time: 30 MinInactive time: 2 HourTotal time: 2 H & 42 M
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp warm water
- 1 tsp yeast
- 1/2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 Tbsp Kosher salt
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
- coarse sea salt for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl and place in a warm area for 10-15 minutes, until mixture has become aromatic and frothy.
- Place flour, kosher salt and 1/4 cup of olive oil in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook, mix on a low to medium speed for 5-6 minutes. Once mixture has become soft and smooth, remove from bowl and form into a ball.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic, or you can use a plastic container with a lid. Allow to rise until the dough has doubled in size, at least one hour.
- Pour remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil into a quarter sheet jelly roll pan (this is smaller than the more standard half sheet jelly roll pan that is often used as a cookie sheet in the United States). Add the dough to the pan and turn it over to coat all sides of it in oil. Stretch the dough and spread it out in the pan. As you stretch and spread the dough, poke holes all the way through with your fingers. This gives your finished product the craggy holes that are indicative of focaccia. You can also flip the dough over another time or two in the pan to be sure the olive oil is evenly distributed over the top and bottom.
- Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place it in a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size again, approximately one hour. Near the end of this second rise, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Drizzle the top with olive oil (optional) and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the bread is golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before cutting.
- This recipe can easily be doubled.