Focaccia

Soft and crispy focaccia. It's the best. Makes one quarter sheet pan.

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

In the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a dough hook, add the yeast and the smaller portion of warm water (you want it to be around 40c). Whisk to dissolve the yeast, and let sit for about 5 minutes. It should swell a little bit.

Step 2

Add larger portion of room temperature water, flour, and salt, and turn the mixer to low for about a minute to incorporate the flour and water.

Step 3

Turn speed to medium-high for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and wrapping around the hook. Cover the dough and rest for 10 minutes.

Step 4

Turn the mixer back on to medium-high for about 10-15 minutes, or until it gets extremely smooth and pulls away from the sides. The dough will be very sticky, but it'll get there eventually. Better to over-mix than under-mix!

Step 5

Add half the olive oil into a large bowl, and swirl to coat the sides. Transfer the dough into the bowl, and dab some oil over the surface of the dough. Cover and let rise until doubled (about 1-2 hours).

Step 6

Add the other half of the olive oil to the quarter sheet pan, and ensure all surfaces are covered. With both hands, reach under the dough from each side, and lift it up in the middle to stretch it (it should be very stretchy). And then put it back down in the bowl. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and perform this stretch a couple more times, then transfer to the sheet pan.

Step 7

Stretch the dough out as much as you can to fill the sheet tray, but it will be quite elastic and difficult. Once you can't easily stretch it anymore, cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes (the gluten will relax and make stretching easier). Once it has relaxed, finish stretching so that it fills the sheet pan.

Step 8

Cover and let rise until flush with the sheet pan (about an hour). Alternatively you can put it in the fridge at this point and do a cold ferment for up to 24 hours.

Step 9

Preheat oven to 230c (standard bake works better than fan bake here). Cover your hands with oil, and shape your hands like a claw to dimple the bread all over using your fingertips, going all the way to the bottom of the pan. If there are any really large bubbles, make sure to pop them. Top the bread with whatever you want (garlic and rosemary is classic), and drizzle with more olive oil, as well as some flaky salt.

Step 10

Start the focaccia on the bottom rack of the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until it starts to pull away on the sides (this ensures the bottom is well cooked). Then move it to the top rack for about 5-10 minutes more, until the top is nicely browned.

Step 11

Let cool for about 10 minutes, then loosen the sides and move to a wire rack to cool further.