How to Bake the Best Focaccia Bread You've Ever Tasted

How to DIY
Published on Sep 16, 2024
Making focaccia bread at home is magical. The smells, the thrill of waiting for the dough to rise, the gentle dimpling of the dough before sending it to bake, your face stuck to the oven's window and the anticipation. And then, the moment of truth, when you cut a slice and hear the crunch, and see the airy texture and the moist crumb. And finally, the taste, the heavenly taste of fresh bread, olive oil, and history. Trust me, you will fall in love with this focaccia bread.

I will show you how to bake the best focaccia bread you've ever tasted. If you follow my recipe, you will feel like a chef, your focaccia bread will impress anyone, yourself included. This is a NO KNEAD recipe. That's right, perfect result without even the need to... knead. It's also a same day focaccia bread, it will be ready in less than 2 hours, prep and proofing included.

To make this no knead focaccia bread, you will need the following ingredients:

• Bread flour - 4 cups (500 grams)
• Water - 1 ⅔ cup (400 milliliters)
• Brewer's yeast - 4 tsp. (12 grams) or dry yeast - 2 tsp. (6 grams)
• Sugar - 1 tsp.
• Olive oil - 2 tbsp. plus more for greasing and drizzling
• Salt - 2 tsp. plus more for sprinkling

The process is very simple and fun, and you don't need any special equipment or skills. You just need to mix the ingredients, let the dough rest and rise, make a couple of simple stretches (they really take less than a minute), spread it on a baking tray, dimple it with your fingers, sprinkle some water and salt, and bake it in a hot oven. That's it!

For the detailed instructions, please watch the video and follow along. You will see how easy and enjoyable it is to make this focaccia bread.

Here is the full transcript of the video:

Water - 1 ⅔ cup (400 milliliters)
Brewer's yeast - 4 tsp. (12 grams) or dry yeast - 2 tsp. (6 grams)
Crumble into the water
Sugar - 1 tsp.
Mix until the yeast is dissolved
Bread flour - 4 cups (500 grams)
Add the water and yeast mixture
Mix
The dough is soft and easy to mix with a wooden spoon
Olive oil - 2 tbsp.
Focaccia loooooves olive oil
Salt - 2 tsp.
Mix to incorporate the olive oil
That's it! You don't need to... knead
Clean the spoon and the bowl sides
Cover and let rest for 30 minutes
Soak your hand in clean water
Grab the 4 sides of the dough and fold them to the center
Soak your hand before each fold
This stretching will help develop the gluten network
Lift the dough from the center and slap it into the bowl a couple of times
Cover and let rest for 30 minutes
Already full of bubbles!
So wobbly!
Let's do the same process as before one more time
Stretch and fold the 4 sides
Lift and slap a couple of times
It's ready now!
Grease the tray with olive oil
Be generous, focaccia loves olive oil!
Transfer the dough into the tray
More olive oil? Yes, trust me!
A relaxing olive oil massage
The goal now is to spread the dough, don't worry if it doesn't cover the entire tray
Cover with another tray and let rest for 30 minutes
Guess what?
Guess what?
Just a little more olive oil
Dimple the focaccia with your fingers
Dip the fingers until you feel the tray, you don't have to be very gentle
Sprinkle a little water on top
Sprinkle a little coarse salt
Bake at 440°F (230°C) for 20 minutes
Look at it! Wait until you see the bubbles!
Transfer to a wire rack to cool (if you have the patience)
Now let's hear some music
Full of bubbles
Light like a feather
Wait to see the inside!
There's crust underneath too!
Moment of truth
Perfect!
Click the like button if you like focaccia!

I hope you will give this recipe a try and let me know what you think. If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel for more baking and cooking videos. Thank you for watching and happy baking!

#focaccia #italianfood #easy #foodlanguage #italiancooking #asmr