Appreciating Nature's Gifts, Plus My Thin Focaccia Recipe | Sixty and Me (2024)

FAQs

What is the best flour to use for focaccia? ›

Flour - I used a mixture of bread flour and All-purpose flour (high grade or strong and plain if you're not in the US). Bread flour is slightly higher in protein than All-purpose, so gives the focaccia just a little more chew. I love the mix of both, but just AP flour works just fine too!

Different surfaces affect focaccia texture in different ways. Baking sheets give a thinly crunchy bottom. Cast-iron pans (put in the oven) give more of a nuanced crunch. Our favorite cooking vessel for focaccia is a baking stone lightly sprinkled with semolina flour.

How long can I leave focaccia dough in the fridge? The nice thing about a fridge rise is that it happens so slowly you have a nice long window of time in which it will be ready to bake. The longest I'd say you can leave it in the fridge is about 48 hours.

Focaccia is best when you eat it warm. Although you can eat focaccia bread cold or toasted, you will find it served more often at room temperature. Though the components are similar to those found in pizza, focaccia usually contains more leavening (yeast) than a pizza.

The thickness of a focaccia can vary, too, but an authentic focaccia genovese should be rather thin, even if it needn't be quite as thin as my version presented here. So many non-Italian renditions of “focaccia” are more like bread in their thickness.

Why is my focaccia not fluffy or chewy? It could be the type of flour you used. The best flour to use to make focaccia bread is bread flour which gives you fluffy baked bread. Or, it could also be because you did not knead the dough enough for the gluten to form a structure which can result in flat or dense bread.

Using plain flour, as in Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, or even finer “tipo 00” flour as in The River Cafe Classic Italian Cookbook, will give you a softer, more tender crumb; while Richard Bertinet's mixture of strong bread flour and coarse semolina in his book Dough creates a more robust, ...

This recipe, originally from Alexandra Cooks has been our go-to focaccia recipe. A pyrex glass casserole dish is perfect for a thicker bread that can be sliced for making sandwhiches. If not preparing overnight, let the mixed dough rise at room temperature for about 1.5 to 2 hours until doubled.

It's normal for focaccia dough to be sticky!

Let your dough ferment slowly (24 hours), and you'll have the best tasting focaccia ever (assuming you use only good flour, salt, water, yeast and good quality extra virgin olive oil, nothing else). In order to rise over 24 hours, you either need cold fermentation or very little yeast at the start.

Can you let focaccia dough rise too long? ›

The longer you allow the dough to rise, the more air and spongey the bread will be. Overnight Dough: Proofing the dough for 9-14 hours overnight in the fridge is my preferred method, because of the slower fermentation. This process yields a better focaccia texture and taste.

Can you overproof focaccia dough? You can definitely overproof focaccia, but it is difficult. There is so much oil in the dough, and very little sugar, so the yeast is "sleepy" or slow due to both of those elements and less likely to overproof.

One slice of focaccia bread has 4.5 grams of total fat and 3.32 grams of monounsaturated fatty acids. The majority of the fat found in focaccia bread is coming from monounsaturated fats making focaccia bread a good source of dietary fats.

It was used as a dipping bread, usually torn apart by hand and dipped into salty soups made from water, vinegar, and possibly olive oil (essentially what you get served at most Italian restaurants as you wait for your meal these days, minus the water component of course).

Herb Oil – Made with olive oil, fresh or dry herbs, kosher salt, black pepper, and minced garlic. Bread Flour – Using bread flour gives the focaccia a chewy texture; you can substitute all-purpose flour without ruining the recipe, but your bread will be significantly lighter and missing that characteristic texture.

While bread flour is the best option, it can sometimes be used if you don't have bread flour. “Check the protein content,” advises Chef Jürgen, since it can vary from brand to brand, and an all-purpose flour that contains protein on the higher end of the range, 12 to 13 percent, will produce a better outcome.

A high-hydration dough gives focaccia its signature dimples

The moisture in the dough also contributes to a soft and airy crumb, giving focaccia its characteristic light and chewy texture.

Wheat flours are usually the first choice of most bakers. This is due to the lightness and high rise created by higher levels of gluten content. However, if you're intolerant of wheat or looking for gluten-free bread options, there are a wide range of low gluten and gluten-free flour options available.