Rosemary Focaccia Bread
[ This recipe is a shared recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine ]
Servings: 1 loaf (9x13)
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 oz. Packet Active Dry Yeast about 2.25 tsp
- 2 tsp Honey
- 5 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 5 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt or 1 tbsp Morton Kosher Salt
- 6 tbsp Extra Virgin 100% Italian Olive Oil plus more to oil your hands prior to baking
- 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter plus 1-2 tbsp for baking dish
- 5-6 sprigs Fresh Rosemary
- 1 pinch Fleur de Sel or flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Whisk active dry yeast, honey, and 2.5 cups lukewarm water until foamy in a medium bowl. Let sit for five minutes. Note: if your yeast doesn’t foam or get creamy, the yeast is dead and you should start again.
- After leaving yeast mixture to sit for five minutes, add flour and kosher salt and mix with a rubber spatula until a shaggy dough forms and no dry streaks remain.
- Pour 4 tbsp olive oil into a large bowl that will fit in your refrigerator. Transfer dough to bowl and turn with your hands to coat in oil. Cover with a silicone lid or plastic wrap and chill until dough is doubled in size (it should look very bubbly and alive), at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. If you're in a rush, you can also let it rise at room temperature until doubled in size, approximately 3–4 hours.
- Generously butter a 9x13" baking pan (for thicker focaccia that’s perfect for sandwiches) or a 13x18" rimmed baking sheet (for focaccia that's thinner, crispier, and great for snacking). Pour 1 tbsp olive oil into center of pan. Set aside.
- After dough has doubled in size, keep the dough in the bowl and, using a fork in each hand, gather up the edges of dough farthest from you and lift up and over into center of bowl. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the process. Do this 2 more times; you want to deflate dough while you form it into a rough ball.
- Transfer dough to buttered pan. Pour any oil left in bowl over top and turn the dough to coat it in oil. Let rise, uncovered, in a dry, warm spot (like near a radiator, on top of the fridge, or next to a preheating oven) until doubled in size, at least 1.5 hours and up to 4 hours.
- Place a rack in middle of the oven; preheat to 450 degrees. To see if the dough is ready, poke it with your finger. It should spring back slowly, leaving a small visible indentation. If it springs back quickly, the dough isn’t ready. (If at this point the dough is ready to bake but you aren’t, you can chill it up to 1 hour).
- Lightly oil your hands with olive oil. If using a rimmed baking sheet, gently stretch out dough to fill, if needed. Dimple focaccia all over with your fingers, like you’re aggressively playing the piano, creating very deep depressions in the dough (reach your fingers all the way to the bottom of the pan).
- Drizzle with remaining 1 tbsp olive oil over top and sprinkle with fleur de sel. Bake focaccia until puffed and golden brown all over, 20–30 minutes.
Notes
Note: focaccia is best eaten the day it's made, but keeps well in the freezer. Slice it into pieces, store it in a freezer-safe container, then reheat it on a baking sheet in a 300° F oven.
More tips, tricks, and visual how-to's on bonappetit.com.
Bon Appétit!