This easy, no knead focaccia bread is the perfect side dish with dinner. It’s quick to make, and tastes fantastic. Everyone will love it!

Making homemade bread, like this easy focaccia bread, is one of my favourite things. There’s something almost magical about mixing a few ingredients together and ending up with a crusty, golden, flavourful loaf of bread.

Of course, some breads are much quicker and easier than others. This easy focaccia bread definitely falls in that category.

As long as you have a few hours to let the dough rise, it takes virtually no hands on time at all.

This easy focaccia bread is a no knead bread. All you have to do is mix everything together, let it sit for a couple of hours, toss it in a pan, and bake it. There’s maybe 10 minutes of hands on time.

Why do you poke holes in focaccia?

Dimpling the dough, or poking holes in it, is done with focaccia to release gas. When you do this you are deflating the really large air bubbles so that you get a more consistent texture in your focaccia. After dimpling the dough, it’s allowed to rise again so that the focaccia isn’t too flat.

The other reason for dimpling the dough, is to completely coat the dough with olive oil, and allow it to infuse into the dough. This gives the focaccia it’s great flavour, and crisp crust.

How do I know when my focaccia is done?

This focaccia bread should be baked for 25-27 minutes. It’s done baking when it is a golden brown in colour, and the internal temperature of the bread is between 190-210F (88-99C).

If you have an instant read thermometer, checking the temperature of the bread is the best way to know if it’s done baking if you’re unsure.

How to make Easy Focaccia Bread:

You can use either fresh or dried rosemary for this bread. I’ve made it both ways, so use your preference.
Make sure to use all the olive oil. It seems like a lot at first, but the bread will absorb quite a bit of it, and it won’t be a tasty if you use less.
Use your fingers to dimple the dough with the olive oil and salt. Spread the dough out to fill the pan as you do so.
If you have a dough whisk, that is the easiest way to mix this dough. A wooden spoon will also work if you don’t have one. You have to stir the dough for several minutes to get the flour evenly hydrated.

Here are some more great bread recipes for you:

Yield: Serves 16

Easy Focaccia Bread

This easy, no knead focaccia bread is the perfect side dish with dinner. It's quick to make, and tastes fantastic. Everyone will love it!

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus 2-4 tablespoons for dusting
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups very warm water (about 100 degrees F, 38 degrees C)
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon kosher or coarse salt
2 teaspoons dried rosemary (or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary)

Instructions

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, and salt.
Add the water, make sure it’s very warm, but not hot to the touch. (I generally don’t check the temperature, as long as you can stick your finger in comfortably it will be fine, but if you'd prefer to check, it should be around 100F).
Stir everything together with a wooden spoon or a dough whisk until all of the flour is hydrated. There should not be any dry pieces left at all, this will take a couple of minutes of stirring.
Once all the flour is mixed in, you will have a rather shaggy mass of dough in the bowl. Cover this tightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.
Prepare a 9x13 inch pan by brushing one tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom and sides.
In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil with 1 tablespoon of water and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.
Once the dough has doubled, sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough, just so it isn’t as sticky and you can handle it a bit.
Turn it over a couple times in the bowl with floured hands so that you have a lightly floured ball of dough, but without kneading it and removing all the air bubbles. You want to handle this dough gently, just use enough flour so you can move the dough around without having it stuck all over your hands.
Move the dough to the prepared baking pan and press it out with your hands to fill the pan. It may not quite reach the edges everywhere or be a perfect rectangle, that’s okay.
Pour the olive oil and salt mixture over the top of the bread, making sure to use all of it, and use your hands to press the dough out to fill the pan, dimpling the dough all over with your fingers.
Sprinkle the rosemary on top.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a clean towel and let it rise for 45-60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
When the dough has risen, uncover it, place the pan into the hot oven, and bake for 25-27 minutes, or until it is golden brown, and has an internal temperature of 190-210F (88-99C).
Let it cool in the pan for a couple of minutes and then lift it out to cool on a wire rack.
Serve warm with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or just plain if you prefer!

Notes

This recipe can be easily halved to fit in a 9x9 inch pan, or doubled to do two pans of bread. Or, you can double it, use 1/4 to 1/2 of the dough to bake immediately, and store the remainder in the fridge for up to a week. When you’re ready to bake it simply take it out and allow it to come to room temperature (about 2-3 hours) and then continue with the shaping and baking instructions.

I've made this focaccia with 2/3 whole wheat flour with good results.

Source: Adapted from Fast & Easy Artisan Breads.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1 piece
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 112Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 431mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 2gSugar: 0gProtein: 3g

Nutrition Information is estimated based on ingredients used and may not be exact.

Yanic

Wednesday 12th of November 2014

Fantastic!!!!

Thursday 13th of November 2014

And for the record : Even my 16 month old is shoving it in his face right now. We made it "sans" rosemary to be able to have it for breakfast : so a scrape of organic honey and almond butter and I had 2 VERY happy kiddos this morning!