An Easy Homemade Focaccia Recipe
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I have spent most of my life harboring a healthy amount of distrust for focaccia. It tends to be dry and greasy at the same time, which is both unappetizing and confusing. But then I watched Samin Nosrat make homemade focaccia in a beautiful Italian kitchen and she made it look like this incredible ritual. Obviously I realized that I must be wrong and focaccia is clearly a thing of ethereal beauty.
I then looked at her recipe. Her recipe is brilliant but it requires letting the focaccia dough rise for 12 -14 hours. (And that’s just the first rise). Which lead me to realize that I never wake up early enough to make focaccia in time for dinner.
So really if you wake up early and are feeling committed to the Italian in you, then I suggest you make Samin’s original recipe. But if you’re feeling a little lazy then I encourage you to try my adaptation. My version is an easy no knead homemade focaccia recipe that can easily be made in one day. For this recipe you let the dough rise for a mere 5 hours. This means that you can definitely start in the morning after (a lazy) breakfast and have focaccia ready in time for dinner.
I’ve also scaled down the recipe quite a bit so that it’s perfect for a smaller group. We eat it over the course of two days between two people and it’s the perfect amount. We also eat a lot. So there’s that.
How To Make Easy No Knead Homemade Focaccia (A very un-Italian guide to a very Italian bread)
Bottom row – stretching the dough to fit the pan, letting it rise and then pressing indentations into the dough and dousing it with the brine.
1) Make the dough
This easy homemade focaccia recipe is a no knead recipe. No Knead recipes are brilliant because all you have to do is mix everything together with a spatula and call it a day. Once you’ve combined all the dough ingredients you just cover the dough and let it rise for 4-5 hours
2) Shape the Focaccia
Once the dough has risen and is nice and puffy you’re ready to shape the bread. To do so start by coating the bottom of a baking sheet with oil. Tip the dough into the pan and then stretch it out with your hands until it fills about 3/4 of the pan. You may need to let the dough rest for 10 minutes and then stretch it back out so that it fills the pan again.
Cover the dough with a chopping board or another pan to stop it drying out while it rises and leave it to rise for an hour or so. When the dough is ready it should look light and fluffy and if you press on it lightly with your finger the indentation should stay.
3) Bake the bread
Meanwhile combine the water and salt to make the brine and mix until the salt has dissolved. Once the dough is fully risen press into it with your fingers to create indentations. You want to press all the way down to the bottom of the pan when you do this!
Pour the brine over the dough so that it fills in the holes you just made. Bake your lovely homemade focaccia for until golden brown. Now you want to brush the whole surface of the focaccia with a tablespoon of olive oil and then let it cool on a cooling rack until you’re ready to eat it.
Storage:
This bread is best the day that it’s made but you can also store it in an airtight container and then toast it or warm it in the oven before serving.
Small Batch Focaccia
Ingredients
Dough
- 300 g All purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp yeast
- 1 tsp teaspoon fine sea salt
- 225 g water
- 1 tsp honey
- 18 g oil Plus more for the pan and to finish
Brine
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 30 g warm water
Instructions
- Stir together the flour, yeast and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the water, honey and oil. Stir with a spatula to combine and then cover and let rise somewhere warm for 4 – 5 hours until doubled in size.
- Coat the base of 9 x 13 inch pan with oil. Spread the dough out over the base of the pan so that it fills about 3/4 of the pan. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then stretch it again if it’s shrunk back a bit.
- Cover the pan with a chopping board or a second pan and let it rise for 1 – 1.5 hours.
- When the dough has been rising for 45 minutes preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Combine the brine ingredients and mix until the salt has dissolved.
- When the dough is ready press your fingers into the dough to make indentations all over the surface. Drizzle the brine all over the surface as evenly as possible.
- Bake the focaccia for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and then brush the surface with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Serve warm if possible!