Description
I don’t use the word best lightly, so I truly mean it when I say that this is the BEST no-knead focaccia recipe out there!! It has an airy crumb, crisp crust, and so much flavor!
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 1/2 cups (400 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp (7 g) kosher salt
- 1 1/4 tsp (4 g) instant yeast
- 1 1/2 cups (320 g) lukewarm water, around 80*F
- 2 tbsp (16 g) extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp softened butter or vegan butter, for greasing the sheet pan
Instructions
- Read through the directions carefully before you start baking.
- Form the dough. Add the flour, salt, and instant yeast into a large ceramic bowl and whisk well. Then, pour in the water and olive oil. Mix the dough with a spatula or wooden spoon until a sticky homogenous mass forms. It’ll look a bit shaggy; that’s totally normal. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, a towel, or an airtight reusable lid and let rest for 20 minutes.
- Stretch and fold. After 20 minutes, oil your hands with olive oil and perform a set of stretches and folds. For each stretch and fold, take one side of the dough and stretch it up and over the dough ball, turn the bowl a quarter, and repeat this movement. You’ll do a total of 6 stretch and folds each round. Then lift the dough with both hands and flip it upside down so the bottom is now on the top. Cover again and let the dough rest another 20 minutes and repeat this process an additional two times, letting the dough rest 20 minutes between each round of stretch and folds. After the third round of stretch and folds, drizzle the dough with olive oil and gently rub the dough to coat. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
- The overnight rise. Once the dough has rested, place it in the fridge and let rise overnight for 12-24 hours. Think of the overnight rise as a time for the bread to ferment and build flavor! The dough should double in size overnight. I typically let my dough rise for 16 hours*, but it’ll keep well in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
- Transfer the dough to your pan and let rise a final time. About 1 1/2 hours before you bake the focaccia, butter a quarter sheet pan (4 1/2″ x 9 1/2″ x 1″ high) with about 2 tbsp of softened butter – a half sheet pan (17 1/4″ x 12 1/4″ x 1″ high) will also work but your focaccia will be a tad thinner. Remove the dough from the fridge, punch it down, and transfer it to your buttered sheet pan. Stretch the dough to more or less the size of the pan, and cover with plastic wrap or a towel to rise for 1-1 1/2 hours. The dough should rise about 150%. Mine never rose too much during this time, so don’t worry if your dough doesn’t look too puffy. Preheat your oven to 450°F during this time.
- Dimple the dough and bake the focaccia. Once the focaccia has risen, drizzle over a generous amount of good-quality olive oil and sprinkle over fresh rosemary sprigs. Then, use your fingers to dimple the dough – be careful not to pop any air bubbles. Bake the focaccia in the preheated oven until golden brown, 25 minutes exactly. I like my focaccia crisp on the outside and fluffy and soft in the center, however, if you prefer a softer crust, you can bake it for 20 minutes.
- Garnish and slice the focaccia. As soon as the focaccia is done, let it cool for 5 minutes in the pan, before removing and cutting into slices. Garnish with flaky salt, and enjoy!
Notes
*I like making the focaccia dough in the late afternoon or evening. That way it has at least 16 hours to ferment and rise in the fridge before I bake it off around lunch or dinner.