I like making bread. No, wait, I love making bread! It's so meditative- the mixing, kneading, proofing and baking are just soothing to the soul. And, of course, eating fresh fragrant home baked bread is such a rewarding experience; there's no better bread than fresh from the oven!
I wanted to share my new favorite bread recipe, Big Bubbly Focaccia, from that most fabulous of bread sites, King Arthur Baking. I initially tried making this focacia because 1) we looove focaccia and 2) it was King Arthur's 2025 Recipe of the Year (which is a total thing!). After making it the first time I was flabbergasted by the amazing and easy to achieve results. This focaccia bread is absolutely fabulous- so airy, tall and light with a most tender and flavorful crumb and a wonderfully golden crispy crust.
We are so in love with this Rosemary Focaccia Bread and have been making it over and over ever since!
The focaccia dough is made with all purpose flour rather than bread flour. While using bread flour can help to create the gluten needed for a good rise to the dough, it also makes the bread more chewy. For this focaccia, in order to achieve a tender pillowy texture, all purpose flour is used.
The all purpose flour is mixed with salt, sugar and yeast before warm water and olive oil are added in. The warm water activates the yeast and helps the dough to get a good bubbly rise. The olive oil helps to create a more tender crumb as well as adding an authentic rich umami flavor to the bread.
All of that is mixed into a wet dough that's gonna stick to the sides. Normally a dough this wet is a no go but for this bread it is perfect cuz we're going to, instead of the usual kneading, use a method called "Stretch and Fold" to strengthen the dough. This gentle method is so amazing and so easy to achieve!
With the Stretch and Fold method the dough is allowed periods of rest between folding sessions.
The mixed up dough from the previous step is first allowed to rest. Then, in order to fold the sticky dough the hand is wetted. With a wet hand it's easy to reach down the sides of the bowl and grab the dough (photo above left), pull up, stretching, and then folding over (photo above right).
The bowl is then turned a bit and the folding and stretching action is done again. This is repeated, going all around the dough. The folding and stretching links the gluten strands together, basically ordering and strengthening the dough's structure. After folding all around the dough is allowed to rest again.
This folding session is done four times total with a rest between each session. The more you stretch and fold the more the dough transforms. In the above photos (of last fold session) you can see that the dough has changed quite a bit, it's much tighter and not sticking to the sides anymore.
The finished stretched and folded dough has a taut structured form. The focaccia dough looks completely different from the wet sticky mess what we started with, amirite? I love this folding and stretching method for bread, it's totally magical and so easy on the ol' wrists!
The dough is now covered and left to rise. And boy does this dough rise! After an hour, look at that beautiful rise! It's time to move the dough to the pan for the final rise.
Prepare the baking pan by generously brushing olive oil all over. If you like you can add a strip of baking paper along the bottom, curving up to over lap the sides. The baking paper will help to easily remove the bread from the pan after baking. I've done it with and without and both work. If not using paper strip be sure to oil the bottom of the pan well.
Ever so gently, scooch the dough from the bowl where it has been rising into the baking pan. Use a spatula to slide along the sides of the bowl to get the dough to release in one piece into the pan. It's important to get the dough into the pan in one piece so that it can retain all the lovely gluten strands and air pockets that it has developed during the first rise. Once in the pan olive oil is gently patted/brushed all over the top of the dough.
The dough is then covered and left for the final rise. At the end of the final rise the dough should have expanded by a good bit and look very marshmallowy and bubbly (photo above right).
The final steps! I love using my fingers make the focaccia holes, so elemental, so cool! Use both hands and stab oil coated fingers deep into the dough, all the way to the bottom. If any of the holes don't take the first time, just go ahead and stab it again with a gentle finger.
See the big bubbles that got pushed out while stabbing the holes- so cute, amirite?
Finishing touches for the foccacia before the bake: a good drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and perhaps some crushed herbs (we used my mom's garden grown rosemary).
Omgosh, look at that golden crispy crust! Adding olive oil all over the dough, bottom, side and top before baking, allows the focaccia crust to basically 'fry' in the oven, resulting in that golden crispyness all over the bread. And when this Rosemary Focaccia Bread is cool enough to slice into, my oh my, the tenderest, airiest crumb you've ever seen will greet you with a explosion of lovely rosemary olive scented flavor. Goshdarnit, I love, love, love this focaccia!
And there's more! Besides being easy to make and fabulously yummiliciously, this bread also freezes like a dream! I like to slice the cooled foccacia and then freeze it right away. Then, when we want a slice of lovely foccacia, we just grab it from the freezer and pop into toaster oven to heat up. Top with cheese and a slice of slice of your favorite jamon or just have it by itself and it's yummy in your tummy all the way!
Rosemary Focaccia Bread Recipe
(one 9" focaccia) Prep: 5 mins Rise: 3 hrs Bake: 15 mins
(adapted from recipe here)
Ingredients:
Dough
- 3 cups all purpose flour, 365g
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp instant instant yeast
- 1 1/4 cup warm water, 290g
- 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Dough Topping
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, for pan and dough topping
- 1/4 tsp tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp crushed dried rosemary
- freshly grated black pepper
Directions:
Make the dough: Add flour, salt, sugar and yeast into a large bowl and whisk to mix. Add in warm water and olive oil and stir to mix until there are no more dry spots in the dough. The mixture will be wet and sticky. Cover and let rest for 15 mins.
Stretch and Fold the dough: Wet one hand with water, shaking off excess. Reach in and down along the side of the bowl to grab a handful of the dough. Pull up, stretching the dough as far as it will go without breaking, and then fold over to meet the opposite side. Turn the bowl a bit and repeat. Do this 10 times total. Cover and let rest for 15 mins. Repeat the stretch and fold 3 more times, resting 15 mins between each session. You will notice that the dough will become more and more taut (more structured) and will stop sticking to the sides of the bowl.
First rise: After the fourth stretch and fold cover the dough and let it rest for one hour in a warm area. This is the first rise. The dough should be doubled in size and look quite puffy.
Move dough to baking pan: Add 1/2 tbsp olive oil to the baking pan and brush all over bottom and sides. Add 3 inch baking paper strip in middle, with ends hanging over the pan's side (optional). Use a flexible spatula along the edges of the dough in the bowl to release and gently* scooch the dough from the bowl into the baking pan in one whole piece. Gently* brush 1/2 tbsp olive oil all over the top and sides of the dough. (*Gently is so as to not deflate the dough!)
Second rise: Cover the dough and let rise in a warm area for 1 hour or until the dough has risen enough to almost fill the pan.
Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 475°F (246°C).
Final touches for dough: Coat fingers in oil and use to dimple the dough at around 1 1/2 inch spacings. Press with fingers all the way down. Be gentle so that the dough is not deflated. Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil over the top of the dough. Sprinkle evenly with salt and dried rosemary. Coarsely grate black pepper over the dough.
Bake the focaccia: Bake the focaccia for 15 mins or until golden brown all over. Let cool before slicing. Enjoy the yummiliciousness!
Store the focaccia: Slice the focaccia into preferred slice thickness. Place into ziplock baggie and freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat frozen slice by placing directly in the toaster oven for 3-5 mins.
Bread-liciousness at The Hong Kong Cookery:
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