Focaccia

(Optional) Bloom the yeast. Add the yeast to 100 grams or 1⁄2 cup of the water, stir and mix well. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes until bubbly. Note: I typically recommend skipping this step and adding yeast directly to the mixer with the other ingredients. Blooming is done only to ensure the yeast is still active. If the yeast is very old you may want to bloom it, otherwise this step is not necessary. 

Place the stand mixer bowl or mixing bowl on the kitchen scale and zero the scale. Weigh  flour, water, salt and yeast (or bloomed yeast solution) one at a time into the bowl. Note: I recommend weighing ingredients for making bread as it is far more precise than using volumetric (cups) measurements. However, if you don’t have a kitchen scale, it will be fine and you will still end up with nice bread. 

If using a stand mixer: Put the mixing bowl on a stand mixer and mix on low for a couple of minutes until the ingredients are combined. Once combined, increase speed to medium-high to high and mix for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and wrapping around the hook. You may need to stop mixing every once in a while to scrape down the sides. Turn the mixer off, cover the bowl with a damp towel and let the dough rest for 20 min. Turn the mixer back on to medium-high to high and mix for another 10-15 min or until dough is smooth and pulling away from the sides.

If mixing by hand: Add flour, water, yeast and salt to a large mixing bowl. Mix by hand until all the ingredients come together and form a rough dough, about 5–10 minutes. Itwill still be sticky. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let sit for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, scrape dough onto a clean work surface and knead the dough (if you’re a little advanced, use the slap and fold method) until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.

Once dough is completely mixed, add roughly 1⁄4 cup of extra virgin olive oil to a large mixing bowl and whirl around to coat the sides. Place the dough into the mixing bowl and cover with either a damp towel or plastic wrap. Let the dough sit at room temperature for about 1 1⁄2 hours or until doubled in size. Once the dough has proofed, put 1⁄4 of extra virginolive oil into either the half sheet pan or baking pan and use your fingers to rub the oil to coat the entire pan. Scrape the dough from the bowl to the pan and stretch or push the dough, without tearing it, into the corners to cover the pan. You may need to let the dough rest for 15 minutes if it’s bouncing back and continue stretching. Cover the dough in the pan with oiled plastic wrap. 

Next day bake: At this point you can put the dough in the fridge overnight to slowly proof. This will give the dough a more complex flavor. Before baking the next day, take the dough out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature, about 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and arrange the oven racks on the second from lowest and highest positions. Remove the plastic wrap and dimple the dough by using oiled fingers on both hands, gently pressing them into the dough on all parts of the dough. Lightly sprinkle the dough with flaky salt if desired. Put the dough on the lowest rack and bake for 20 minutes, then move the dough to the highest rack and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until desired doneness.

Same day bake: Let the dough sit in the pan covered for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and arrange the oven racks on the second from lowest and highest positions. Remove the plastic wrap and dimple the dough by using oiled fingers on both hands, gently pressing them into the dough on all parts of the dough. Lightly sprinkle the dough with flaky salt if desired. Put the dough on the lowest rack and bake for 20 minutes, then move the dough to the highest rack and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until desired doneness.

Remove from the oven and place the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Then, using a thin spatula, remove the focaccia from the pan and continue to let cool on the rack for at least an hour before cutting.