What will you need?
For the starter also called poolish:
Bread flour: highly recommend this over All Purpose flour because this recipe calls for a high content of water and long resting time. Bread flour contains a higher amount of protein which is necessary for this kind of recipe.
Water: depending on the season the temperature of the water will vary. In winter time we use lukewarm water, during summer the cold one is recommended. This recipe, like many of our focaccia recipes, calls for a high content of water and the term for this is “high hydration” dough. It yields soft and fluffy dough.
Yeast: whether you use “instant yeast” or “active dry yeast” it doesn’t really matter for this purpose. The main difference between the two kinds is that “active dry yeast” needs to be activated in warm water and sugar or honey prior to being used. Whereas “instant yeast” can be used right away.
Honey or sugar: yeast loves sugar, so whether you use active dry yeast or instant yeast, we recommend adding it so it feeds the yeast. To make it easy we simply dissolve the honey or sugar in the water.
Salt: for flavor since this is a savory focaccia.
Extra virgin olive oil: also known as EVOO or EVO oil. We recommend the extra virgin olive oil instead of the simple “olive oil” because it’s much flavorful. Depending on the brand, EVO oil is pure whereas simple olive oil is mixed with other oils.
If you divide the total amount of water by the total amount of flour in this specific recipe, you will find out that the percentage of hydration of this recipe is 80%. Here is where the stretch and folds will be helpful: not only they help with gluten development but they will also make the dough easier to handle. So please do NOT add any more flour, otherwise you will end up with a more dense and drier focaccia bread.
Why do we let it rest for so long?
There are different reasons why we prefer it this way: first, it helps with digestion because we use less yeast and his makes for longer resting hours. Second, the flavor and texture improve much more when letting rest at least 12 hours.
What pan should you use?
Highly recommend a metal pan instead of a glass one, because it holds the heat differently and will yield a very crispy focaccia on the bottom. We used a 9x13inch.
How to store it?
The best way to store focaccia is to let it cool completely, then put in freezer safe ziplock bags. If you leave it on the countertop uncovered, it will dry out and harden.
To reheat the focaccia, you can go two ways. You can microwave on the “defrost” option for a minute or so. Or, alternatively, you can place it in the air fryer for 4 minutes at 360F.
Notes:
-you can top the focaccia however you prefer it.
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 teaspoons bread flour (150gr)
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons water (150gr)
- 1/4 tsp yeast (1.5/2gr)
- 1 tsp honey or sugar
- The day after:
- 1 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp bread flour (200gr)
- 4 oz +1 tbsp 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp ice cold water (130gr)
- 1 heaping teaspoon salt (9gr)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (plus some more for the folds
Instructions
- The day before, make starter simply by mixing bread flour, water, yeast, and honey. Cover and let rest on the countertop for about 5-6 hours.
- After it has tripled in volume and lots of bubbles on top, mix in the rest of the flour and the ice cold water, salt and EVO oil.
- Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Then do 1 round of stretch and folds: grab the dough stretching it out and then fold towards the center (check my highlights "tutorial focaccia" to see how I do it, it's very simply, I promise). Do this until the dough starts to resist and gets tricky to keep doing stretches.
- Flip seam side down and shape into a ball.
- The dough will be very wet and sticky.
- Place in the fridge overnight.
- The day after, take dough out of the fridge and leave in warm spot for about 90 --120 minute Layer pan with parchment paper and drizzle EVO oil abundantly.
- Divide dough equally into 12 pieces.
- Layer pan with parchment paper, place the dough balls in it. Gently grease the top with some extra virgin olive oil (EVO oil) and cover with plastic wrap (greasing the top of the rolls will prevent the plastic wrap from sticking onto it).
- Let rest for an additional 60-90 minutes until they have doubled in size (depending on the temperature in your house).
- Preheat oven at 425°F.
- Grease you fingers and dimple (the famous holes in the Focaccia). Using a brush, spread the butter trying to get it in the dimples and bake for about 8-11 minutes on the bottom rack, then place pan in the middle rack and bake until golden on top, approximately 8-10 minutes, depending on the oven.
- Please CHECK! Every oven is different. When done, move onto a baking rack right away, spread with additional butter if desired (while still hot) and let cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
- Enjoy!