One of my favorite Italian Breads, Focaccia can be eaten as is, dipped in herbed oil, made into sandwiches and more. This version is made with freshly cracked wheat adding flavor and a subtle texture to this light and soft bread. Don’t have any cracked wheat? No worried, just substitute 45g of bread flour and you’ll still end up with a great Focaccia.
Mixing
This Focaccia is brought together with a stand mixer to easily develop gluten strength. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can still bring this dough together in a large mixing bowl. Just remember to knead the dough for at least twice as long as the stand mixer instructions. I also suggest kneading in the bowl instead of a counter top because this is a very wet dough and it will be hard to work with by hand.
Stretch and Fold
The stretch and fold process helps build gluten strength. See the video below for how to complete a stretch and fold.
Cold Fermenting
Cold fermenting the dough will help do a lot of beneficial things. It will help further develop the gluten network in the dough by slowing down the fermentation speed. It will also help develop flavor in the dough. The dough will also become easier to work with as the cold fermenting process will allow the flour to fully hydrate.
This focaccia recipe calls for a 3-4 day time in the refrigerator to cold ferment. You can do a quick turnaround and only do a 24 hour, but you will likely not end up with the same crumb structure due to the lack of gluten development. Any longer than 4 and you will most likely start to take on a sourdough smell and the dough may become harder to work with as gluten structure starts to break down eventually. It all really depends on the temperature in your fridge and how active the yeast are. I have taken a cold ferment on this dough as long as 8 days without any issue.
Shaping
Shaping this dough really couldn’t be any easier, as the pan does most of the work. Just take your cold fermented dough straight from the fridge and into a greased deep sided 10×14 baking pan . I love to use the Lloyd Pans detroit style pizza pans.
Spread a quick glug of olive oil over the top of the dough and on your finger tips. Gently Press the tips of your fingers into the dough and spread it out. This may not stretch all the way to the edges of the pan the first time. Just cover the dough and give it 10 minutes to relax and try again. Once the dough is spread easily from corner to corner, cover the pan.
Proofing
During the final proof, the dough will become bubbly and airy. Let your coverer pan sit at room temperature for 3-4 hours. An hour before you bake, set a pizza stone or steel in the oven on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 550°f. Preheating the oven for an hour will ensure the oven and the stone stay nice an hot to promote browning and rise in the dough known as “oven spring”.
Right before you are ready to put the dough into the oven. Oil your finger with olive oil one more time. Press your fingers into the dough to place little dimples. You will see beautiful bubbles form in the dough, DON’T POP THEM!
Top your Focaccia liberally with flake salt. You could even add some rosemary sprigs here as well!
Baking
Put the pan onto the preheated stone or steel and bake at 550°f for total of 20 minutes give or take. Make sure to rotate the pan as outlined in the recipe to ensure an even bake.
After the bake, remove the bread form the pan and let cool on a wire rack for at least a hour before digging in. This will help ensure the crumb sets strong.
EQUIPMENT
Here are some of the tools I used in this recipe.
Blue Note Kitchen is supported by its audience, when you purchase through links on our site we may earn an affiliate commission.
Kitchen Scale: GreaterGoods Digital Food Kitchen Scale, Multifunction Scale Measures in Grams and Ounces (Ash Grey)
Kitchen Aid Mixer: KitchenAid KP26M1XIC Professional 600 Stand Mixers, 6 quart, Ice
Lloyd Pans 10X14 Detroit style pizza pan: LloydPans Kitchenware 10 by 14 Inch Detroit Style Pizza Pan USA Made Hard-Anodized
SPECIAL INGREDIENTS
Flake Salt: Maldon Salt, Sea Salt Flakes, 8.5 oz (240 g), Kosher, Natural, Handcrafted, Gourmet, Pyramid Crystals
Checkout my other bread recipes here.
Fresh Cracked Wheat Focaccia
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Large 10 x 14 inch high walled pan. ( I use a Lloyd Pans 10×14 detroit style pizza pan)
Ingredients
- 475 g Bread Flour
- 90 g Fresh Cracked Wheat Substitute 45g bread flour if not using fresh cracked wheat.
- 4 g Active Dry Yeast
- 452 g Water
- 30 g Olive Oil
- 12 g Kosher Salt
- Olive oil for folding dough
- Vegetable Shortening or butter for greasing pan
- Flake Salt for topping dough
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to bowl of a stand mixer.
- Mix with dough hook on low speed for 3 mins.
- Stop Mixer, allow dough to rest in mixing bowl for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes are up, mix on medium speed for 9 minutes.
- Oil a work surface with about a tablespoon of olive oil.
- Perform a stretch and fold.
- Cover Dough and rest for 5 mins.
- Complete one more stretch and fold.
- Transfer the dough to a large airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days to slow ferment the dough.
- After 3-4 days, grease a large 10 x 14 inch deep sided metal pan with either vegetable shortening or softened butter.
- Remove dough from container and lay into the greased pan.
- Lightly oil the top of the dough and your hands with olive oil.
- With your fingers dimple the dough and spread it out evenly in the pan.
- If the dough stretches back from the edge of the pan, cover and let rest for 10 mins and attempt to stretch again. Should take no more than 3 stretches to spread the dough.
- Cover and let proof at room temperature for 3-4 hours.
- An hour before you bake, set a pizza stone or steel in the upper middle rack of your oven and set oven to its highest temperature 500-550°f.
- After the oven and stone/steel have been preheating for an hour, lightly oil your fingers with olive oil and press your fingertips gently into the dough, this will make your dough appear to bubble up more and will help create some larger pockets of air in your dough.
- Sprinkle with flake salt evenly.
- Place pan into preheated oven on top of the stone/steel.
- Bake for 5 minutes.
- Turn pan 180° and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Turn pan 90° and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Turn pan 180° and bake for the final 5 minutes.
- Remove pan from oven and transfer focaccia to a wire rack to cool for at least and hour before digging in.
