The Best No Knead Focaccia (2024)

FAQs

Does focaccia need kneading? ›

Unlike sourdough, which requires that you feed a hungry little starter gremlin every day, focaccia is mostly hands off. It also doesn't require any special equipment besides a digital scale. Made with a high-hydration (80% in this case) dough, it comes together quickly in a bowl and doesn't need to be kneaded.

Not allowing the focaccia to proof long enough in the fridge will prevent enough gluten from being formed. This causes flat and dense focaccia once baked.

The best flour for making focaccia bread is typically a high-protein flour, such as bread flour. Bread flour has a higher protein content (around 12-14%) compared to all-purpose flour, which helps develop the gluten network necessary for the bread's structure and chewy texture.

Trust me. This dough will be very, very wet – almost like cake mix. If you can, wet your hands (to stop them sticking) and fold the dough over a little, just to see what a dough of this wetness (or 'hydration') feels like.

KEEP THE DOUGH HYDRATED:

Focaccia requires a very hydrated dough, which is what gives it a soft texture. So, it's all the more important to ensure that it does not dry out. That's why it's kept in the refrigerator covered with a few drops of oil and rises at room temperature under another veil of oil.

The Windowpane Test – Pull off a golf-ball-sized piece of dough and stretch it into a thin sheet between your fingers (as pictured above). If the gluten is well-developed, the dough will stretch into a paper-thin film without breaking. If quickly breaks…you guessed it, keep kneading.

Traditionally Tuscan focaccia is medium thick and medium soft but crispy on the outside. Salt and rosemary are its usual companions. However, throughout Tuscany you can also find a thin and crispy version as well thick and very soft. Tuscan panini with cheese and cold cuts often use focaccia for a base.

Focaccia should have a certain softness to it, but the thing I encounter most that ruins it is too much oil in the pan combined with wet ingredients, high hydrated doughs and too fast of a cook. It's just too much moisture compounding with too fast of a bake.

Why This Works: Using overproofed dough for Focaccia is advantageous because the bread's flat, open structure is less dependent on the gluten network that typically suffers in overproofed doughs. The high moisture content from added olive oil compensates for the dryness that can occur when the dough over ferments.

Dimple the dough all over with your fingers, sprinkle with flaky sea salt, drizzle on the rest of the olive oil, and sprinkle with the leaves from one of the sprigs of rosemary. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 20–30 minutes, until the top is a lovely golden and the internal temperature is 190-210°F (88–99°C).

How long does focaccia have to rise? ›

Letting the focaccia dough do its first rise in the fridge for 8 to 24 hours (like, while you're working or sleeping) means a slow ferment, giving the dough more time to develop flavor and the air bubbles that give this Italian bread its airy crumb form.

Some of the best recipes in Australia using Caputo Chef Red “00” Pizza Flour include classic pizza dough, focaccia with herbs, and calzone with ricotta and spinach.

Tips for the perfect homemade Focaccia.

Don't over-knead your dough– In the first step, make sure the dough has come together enough that it's sticky but not smooth, this will help to make the much desired air bubbles.

Dimpling (aka poking holes) in focaccia helps to release gas and air, which helps your focaccia to maintain its signature flat look. At the same time, olive oil that's drizzled onto the foccacia is able to infuse into the dough for a truly wonderful flavour!

If you forget to dimple your dough and bake it, the dough will collapse when the bubbles burst, resulting in sad focaccia and a sad baker. To dimple your dough, oil your fingers or the end of a wooden spoon handle and gently poke the dough.

A failure to knead dough (unless you're working with a no-knead recipe) can lead to: Poor gluten development: When you don't knead bread, the gluten won't form properly. This can result in a lack of elasticity and strength, meaning your final product is likely to come out of the oven dense and heavy.

The purpose of kneading any dough is to develop gluten, and incorporate micro bubbles into the mass of the dough which will inflate during proofing and baking. The more a dough is kneaded, the tighter and more regular a baked loaf's crumb will become. Sandwich breads are kneaded more.

This focaccia is at its best when perfectly-proofed. You'll know it's ready through dimpling: when dimpled, the dimples should stay and the dough should be bubbly. If the dimples bounce back too quickly, or you aren't getting good sized bubbles, let the dough proof for longer.