Italian
Focaccia
A wet olive-oil dough rises, gets dimpled, and bakes into a golden flatbread with rosemary and salt. The center should be set and airy, not wet dough.
- Prep
- 1 hr 30 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 1 hr 55 min
- Servings
- 8
- Difficulty
- Medium
Why you’ll love it
- Olive oil in the pan is what fries the bottom crisp.
- Dimples hold more oil and salt instead of letting them run off.
- Rosemary and flaky salt are enough. It does not need cheese.
- It tears and serves a crowd as a side.
Ingredients
Ingredient amounts scale. Oven temperature and cook time do not. Salt, spices, and leaveners are a starting point after you scale. Taste and adjust.
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Instructions
- 1
Stir the flour, yeast, and kosher salt. Add the warm water and 2 tbsp of the olive oil. Mix until a sticky dough forms. It will be wetter than sandwich bread dough. Cover and let rise 1 hour, until puffy and about doubled.
- 2
Pour 2 tbsp olive oil into a 9-by-13-inch pan and spread it. Scrape the dough into the pan. Oil your fingers and gently press the dough toward the corners. If it springs back, rest 10 minutes and press again.
- 3
Cover and let the dough rise 20 minutes more while the oven heats to 425°F. This second rest is short on purpose.
- 4
Oil your fingers again and press deep dimples all over the dough. Drizzle the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil into the dimples. Scatter the rosemary and flaky salt on top.
- 5
Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is deep golden and the center is set. The underside should be crisp and browned, and a poke in the center should not reveal wet, raw dough.
- 6
Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then lift it out and cool a little more before cutting into squares.
Pro tips
- Sticky dough makes an open crumb. Do not add a heap of extra flour to make it feel like pasta dough.
- Dimple firmly. Shy dimples disappear as the bread rises in the oven.
- If the top is dark but the center seems doughy, tent it with foil and bake a few minutes more.
Easy substitutions
- Rosemary
- 1 tsp dried rosemary, or a sprinkle of everything seasoning.
- Flaky salt
- A light extra pinch of kosher salt.
- All-purpose flour
- Bread flour for a slightly chewier crumb.
Storage and reheating
Storage
Keep wrapped at room temperature for up to 2 days. The crust softens as it sits.
Reheating
Warm squares in a 375°F oven for 6 to 8 minutes to crisp the bottom again.
Nutrition
Estimates per serving, using standard ingredient averages and rounded to the nearest gram. This is not a lab analysis, and it shifts if you change brands or add sides.
- Calories
- 248
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
Budget friendly · Oven
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