This is my baseline recipe for Focaccia bread. I often experiment with different flour mix and topping. One of my favorite variation is to cook this more like a Barbari, i.e., oval shaped and topped with nigella seeds.

Baker’s percentage

Ingredients

This is the Ingredients for dough for two breads. I often store one dough in fridge to bake mid-week.

Instruction

Day before

• Mix lukewarm water, honey, yeast
• Mix flour and salt
• Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients
• Knead by hand for 10-15 mins until smooth dough
• First Rise: to triple size ~3 hours
• Punch down and use letter fold twice (horizontal and vertical)
• Divide in two balls and store in fridge in oiled container.
• Second rise: Extra slow rise happens in the fridge and adds to the flavor.

Baking day

• Take out a dough with smooth side down

• Shape again with two letter folds

• Leave for 1 hour so the dough relaxes and the shape to final shape.

• Third rise: 1.5 hours

• Brush with olive oil

• Add toppings

  1. I love tomatoes and rosemary for a classic Focaccia
  2. Or sprinkle nigella seeds to helps it feel more like a Barbari

• Preheat 450° Fahrenheit and put a small pot of boiling water in the oven too

• Reduce to 425° Fahrenheit and cook for 20 minutes.

Original Source: Helen Rennie’s Focaccia Masterclass on youtube