Recipe for Focaccia Bread

Looking for a recipe for how to make focaccia so you could impress your friends with homemade focaccia bread, but didn’t know where to start?

There are many different focaccia recipes out there because focaccia is one of the most versatile types of bread.  

You can put nearly any ingredient you want on focaccia, and it will still be delicious. You can even put chocolate in it to make it sweet! 

But to start we will provide you with our own easy focaccia recipe and later you can add any ingredients you want!

For our easy focaccia recipe, we will teach you how to make “Focaccia alla Genovese” which is the most widely known version of focaccia bread.

Ingredients:

• 9 g Fresh baker’s yeast or 3 g dry instant yeast 
• 330 g White wheat flour
• 167 g Water
• 5 g Malt (optional)
• 15 g Italian extra virgin olive oil
• 3 g Salt

For coating the top:

• 5 g Salt
• 100 g Water
• 32 g Italian extra virgin olive oil

Utensils:

• 1 Large mixing bowl
• 1 Linen towel
• 1 Standard 30 x 40 CM baking tray

Instructions:

 

 

1. Place the flour in a bowl 
2. Form a small hole in the middle add 3/4 of the water and mix.
3. Add the malt and salt and the rest of the water and mix.
4. Add the yeast and continue mixing (slowly 10 min). 
5. Transfer the ingredients to a tabletop so that you can continue to knead the dough by hand.
6. Knead the dough until it has become homogenous and elastic in texture.
7. Spread the dough out, add the olive oil, and continue kneading until the dough is smooth.
8. Cover the dough with a linen towel and let it rest for 10 minutes.
9. Form the dough into a ball and make it into a rectangular shape and then fold it in on itself three times. 
10. Lightly dust the dough with “00” flour cover it again and let it rest for 30 minutes.
11. On a floured service gently use your fingers to widen the dough into a rectangular shape. 
12. Roll the dough with a rolling pin but keep the same rectangular shape.
13. Grease your pan with olive oil and put the dough in it.
14. Cover it with a linen towel and let it rest for 35 minutes.
15. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and gently stretch it out by pressing your fingers into it until it reaches the edges of the pan. There should be no gaps between the dough and the pan wall.
16. Cover it again with the towel and let it rest for 40 minutes.
17. Prepare the top coating while the dough is resting by combining salt, water, and olive oil. Make sure the salt dissolves.
18. Uncover the dough and sprinkle it with flour. Gently make “holes” with your fingers all over the dough.  
19. Pour the top coating on and spread it around gently with your hands making sure some gets in each divot and all along the top of the focaccia dough.
20. Let it rest uncovered for 40 minutes.
21. Preheat your oven to 230° C.
22. Sprinkle sea salt on top.
23. Cook the focaccia for 10-15 minutes or until it is golden brown.
24. Take it out and enjoy!!!

Pro Tip: If you want to add other toppings such as rosemary, tomatoes, olive, garlic, etc. You can add them on top right before putting them in the oven.

What is the secret of focaccia?

Yeast! Obviously! Make sure you use the best quality fresh baker’s yeast as it will balance the overall taste profile of the focaccia better. But don’t worry, even with instant dry yeast, you’ll still get a dough with an elastic, chewy texture. The yeast’s fermenting power guarantees a final product that’s crisp on top and soft and airy on

What is the best flour to use for focaccia?

We use a strong, gluten-rich wheat flour, such as the Manitoba flour used in Italy, which helps the dough rise. This flour can be replaced with oatmeal flour or T55 flour. 

 

What makes focaccia bread different?

Focaccia bread is unique compared to other yeast breads in that it requires significantly more leavening time at different steps of the process. It’s also a highly hydrated dough.

What are two tips to making a good focaccia bread?

1. Use fresh baker’s yeast for its taste profile.
2. It is essential to let the focaccia dough leaven at numerous steps in the process to ensure not only the texture but also the traditional flavor!

Now you can make your focaccia bread to share with your family and friends. You can play with different toppings or just eat it as is like in this recipe because it is already incredibly delicious!