Focaccia

★★★★★

Baked Goods, Breads

Ingredients

2 cups starter

1/2 cup water

1 cup bread flour

1 T. salt

1 tsp. Yeast

1 T. Honey

2 tsp. Dried minced garlic (optional)


2 cups additional bread flour


kitchenaid with dough hook

tea towel


14x9 enameled cast iron pan, 14x14 Sicilian pizza pan, 15x10 Jelly roll pan, 13x9 casserole dish placed on a baking sheet, etc.*


Olive oil

Directions

Mix your starter, water, salt, yeast, honey, and flour until smooth.

Knead in the additional flour a little at a time until incorporated. (If your starter was on the dry side, you may need to add a little water.)

Set your mixer on medium and knead the dough for about 3 minutes, until it forms a cohesive, fairly satiny dough. Turn out onto a very lightly floured board and knead until you have a smooth elastic ball that bounces back easily.

Oil all over the inside of the bowl and return your dough. Do not oil the top of the dough.

Cover with a tea towel and let rise until it is very puffy, anywhere from 2-5 hours. Just use your best judgement.

Spritz with water when it starts to look dry.

While the dough is rising in the bowl, heavily oil your pan. When the dough is risen, transfer it directly to the pan.

Stretch the dough out towards the edges. Turn to make sure both sides are oiled, and let rest 10-15 minutes.

Gently stretch the dough back out to the edges. Rest another 10-15 minutes and repeat if needed, until it is all the way out to the edges.

Use your fingers to put dimples across the dough.

Let rise until it is visibly puffed up again, 45-60 minutes. While it is rising, you will want to add more dimples, but be careful not to smash the dough too much.

Preheat the oven to 400 F (375° convection).

Bake for 20 minutes. Spritz with water and bake another 5-15 minutes.

Carefully move it onto a cutting board to cut into servings right out of the oven. Serve with olive oil for drizzling.

Rewarm leftovers in a low oven. Eat within a day.




Notes

*A smaller pan will give you a thicker, softer focaccia and a bigger pan will give you a thinner, crispier one.