This Focaccia Recipe Is a Beginner Baker’s Best Friend

If you’re interested in bread-baking but don’t own a dutch oven, consider focaccia. The classic Italian bread bakes on a sheet pan in less than half an hour. The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) demonstrates how easy the process is with the recipe below. 

Focaccia starts with a classic foundation of yeast, water, and flour. Pressing into the dough with your fingertips gives the bread its signature dimples, and a generous helping of olive oil makes it crisp, shiny, and decadent.

The recipe does includes proofing, which may sound scary to anyone new to baking. But this step requires no hands-on work from bakers: All you have to do is wait while the yeast converts the starch and sugars in the dough into gas, which is what makes the bread rise. Leif Evans, chef-instructor of culinary arts at ICE’s New York City campus, offers a few tips on the process. “The trick is to pay attention to it,” he tells Mental Floss. “If it’s a little warm in your house or apartment, it’s probably going to proof faster. If it’s cool in your house, it’s going to proof slower. It’s just a matter of watching it.”

Begin making the focaccia by thoroughly combining the flour and water in a stand mixer. Next, pour the salt and yeast into the bowl and let the mixture sit for 15 minutes. Once the time is up, mix it for about 10 minutes, or until you can stretch the dough thin enough for light to shine through without tearing it.

Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while the mixer is on the slowest speed. It’s normal for the dough to look like it’s separating at this point—it will come together again once all the oil is in. After adding the oil, continue mixing until the dough is fully combined. Coat a baking pan with olive oil and transfer the dough onto it. Cover the dough with greased plastic wrap and let it rise for three hours.

Preheat the oven to 450℉ when the three hours are almost up. For the next step, oil up your hands and stretch the dough to the edges of the pan. Cover it with the plastic wrap and let it sit for another 30 minutes. Oil your hands again and dimple the dough by pressing your fingertips across the top. Finally, sprinkle dried oregano and sea salt over the dough and drizzle it with olive oil. Bake it for 20 to 25 minutes and let it cool before serving.  

If you’d like hands-on experience in the culinary arts, the Institute of Culinary Education may be up your alley. The school offers a variety classes in the culinary arts as well as hospitality and hotel management. Visit ICE’s website to learn more about what its New York and Los Angeles campuses offer.

Focaccia

Makes one 9-inch-by-13-inch focaccia 

Ingredients
5 and 1/3 cups (663 grams) all-purpose flour
1 and 3/4 cups (431 grams) water
2 and 1/2 tsp (14 grams) salt
1 tsp (4 grams) instant yeast
1/3 cup (86 grams) olive oil
Dry oregano and coarse sea salt for topping

1. Combine the flour and water in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment and mix the ingredients until fully combined. 
2. Pour the salt and yeast on top and let sit for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the mixer back on and continue mixing until you can pull a window in the dough and it holds without tearing (about 10 minutes). 
3. Turn the mixer on the lowest speed and slowly add the olive oil. The dough will start to look like it is separating; that’s OK. Once all of the oil is incorporated, it will come back together. Mix until the oil is incorporated and the dough has become homogeneous. 
4. Place the dough on a generously olive-oiled 9-inch-by-13-inch baking pan and cover with plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick spray. Proof the dough on a tray for three hours. 
5. Preheat oven to 450℉.
6. After proofing, rub olive oil on your hands and stretch the dough to the edges and corners of the tray. Re-cover it with the plastic wrap. Let it rest for 30 minutes. 
7. Remove the plastic wrap, coat your hands with olive oil again, and dimple the top of the dough. 
8. Sprinkle dry oregano and coarse sea salt over the top of the dough. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Once done, place the focaccia on a cooling rack and let it cool before serving.

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