Recipe: No-Knead Skillet Focaccia (2024)

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Sheela Prakash

Sheela PrakashSenior Contributing Food Editor

Sheela is the Senior Contributing Food Editor at Kitchn and the author of Mediterranean Every Day: Simple, Inspired Recipes for Feel-Good Food. She received her master's degree from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy and is also a Registered Dietitian.

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updated May 1, 2019

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Recipe: No-Knead Skillet Focaccia (1)

A simple no-knead rosemary focaccia recipe that's a perfect bread to serve at the dinner table.

Serves8 to 10Prep3 hours to 4 hoursCook20 minutes to 25 minutes

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Recipe: No-Knead Skillet Focaccia (2)

There’s something extra special about bringing warm, homemade bread to the table — perhaps it’s because it’s such an infrequent occurrence. If you’d like to start doing it more often, I suggest you start with this focaccia. It’s rich with olive oil (which keeps it extra moist), topped with fragrant rosemary, and baked in a skillet to give it a perfectly golden, crispy crust. Oh, and it comes together even easier than you could imagine.

A Fuss-Free Skillet Focaccia That’s Endlessly Adaptable

This focaccia recipe is as fuss-free as bread recipes go. The dough comes together quickly in the food processor, then is left to rise for a couple of hours while you prep the rest of dinner (or relax and sip a glass of wine). Return to it when it’s doubled in size, then stretch it out in an oven-safe skillet. Cast iron is best for achieving a super-crispy crust, but any oven-proof skillet will work. Drizzle it with extra-virgin olive oil and top with fresh rosemary and flaky salt, then bake until puffed and golden.

This recipe leaves so much room for experimentation, too. I’ve been making so much focaccia at home recently that I’ve quickly found out the sky’s the limit. I like playing around with different herbs from my garden, or sprinkling the top with sesame seeds. Chopped sun-dried tomatoes and thinly sliced lemon are also delicious, as is my current favorite: everything bagel seasoning.

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No-Knead Skillet Focaccia Recipe

A simple no-knead rosemary focaccia recipe that's a perfect bread to serve at the dinner table.

Prep time 3 hours to 4 hours

Cook time 20 minutes to 25 minutes

Serves 8 to 10

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

  • 2 cups

    all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon

    salt

  • 1 teaspoon

    dry instant yeast

  • 3/4 cup

    lukewarm water

  • 3 tablespoons

    plus 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

  • 2 teaspoons

    coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves

  • 1/4 teaspoon

    flaky sea salt

Instructions

  1. Place the flour, salt, and yeast in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse to combine. Add the water and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Pulse until a rough ball of dough forms, about 15 (2-second) pulses.

  2. Drizzle 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a large bowl. Flour your hands, scoop the dough out of the food processor, and form into a smooth ball. Place the ball of dough in the oiled bowl and turn it so it's coated on all sides. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let it sit at warm room temperature until doubled in size, 2 to 3 hours.

  3. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in a 10-inch cast iron or other ovenproof skillet and rub it over the bottom and sides. Punch down the dough and place the dough in the skillet. Using your fingertips, coax and stretch the dough to cover the bottom of the skillet and reach all the way to the edges. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rest at warm room temperature until puffed and slightly risen, 30 to 40 minutes. Meanwhile, arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 450°F.

  4. Use you fingertips to gently dimple the surface of the dough. Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the dough so that it pools in some of the indentations. Sprinkle with the rosemary and flaky salt.

  5. Place in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 400°F. Bake until lightly golden-brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

  6. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Focaccia is best eaten when warm, but is also good at room temperature. If the crust gets too soft, reheat in a 350°F oven to crisp it up.

Recipe Notes

Make ahead: The dough can also be left in the covered bowl to rise overnight in the refrigerator — the slower rise actually provides extra flavor. In the morning, transfer the cold dough to the skillet and allow it to warm up a little, about 20 minutes, before stretching it and proceeding with the recipe.

Storage: The focaccia is best the day it is made but can be stored, well-wrapped, at room temperature for up to 1 day. The crust will soften, but it can be warmed and crisped in a 350°F oven for a few minutes. Leftover focaccia also freezes exceptionally well. Let it defrost at room temperature and then reheat in a 350°F oven for a few minutes.

Topping options: There is tons of experimentation to be had when it comes to focaccia toppings. Aside from rosemary, other herbs like thyme and oregano, thinly sliced lemons, pitted chopped olives, thick slices of fresh garlic or shallots, a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, and even everything bagel seasoning are great topping options.

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Recipe: No-Knead Skillet Focaccia (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to great focaccia? ›

Cold, refrigerated dough is the secret to making delicious focaccia! Allowing the dough to rest 18 to 48 hours in the fridge will yield extra-pillowy and airy focaccia, though if you are pressed for time, you can make this start-to-finish in 3 hours. This 4-ingredient recipe requires only 5 minutes of hands-on time.

What is the best pan to bake focaccia in? ›

Because there is a greater edge-to-middle ratio when you bake focaccia in a loaf pan instead of a sheet pan (not to mention the loaf pan has higher sides), you're ensured a lot of crispy, cheesy bites.

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!

Can you use too much oil in focaccia bread? ›

Focaccia should have a certain softness to it, but the thing I encounter most that ruins it is too much oil in the pan combined with wet ingredients, high hydrated doughs and too fast of a cook. It's just too much moisture compounding with too fast of a bake.

Why is my focaccia not fluffy? ›

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.

Why does focaccia use so much olive oil? ›

Now, focaccia uses plenty of olive oil, not only in the dough, but for kneading, proofing, in the baking pan, and on the bread's surface before baking. All this fat means the texture is light, moist and springy, the crust emerges golden and crisp, plus the center stays soft for days afterwards.

Why is my focaccia so fluffy? ›

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.

Should focaccia dough be very sticky? ›

It's normal for focaccia dough to be sticky!

Is focaccia better with bread flour or all-purpose flour? ›

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.

Why do you poke focaccia dough? ›

A well-proofed dough will have lots of air bubbles and. rises quickly. Massaging adds dimples that keep your. focaccia flat, as it should be.

Should focaccia be thin or thick? ›

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.

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.

Should you stretch and fold focaccia? ›

Note: The stretch and fold method is better suited than kneading for a high-hydration dough such as this because the dough is naturally sticky and this method reduces hand contact. Additionally, the stretch and fold will allow for an open crumb when baked because the air isn't pushed out of the dough.

Why does my focaccia taste like yeast? ›

My bread tastes sour and yeasty

If your bread has a sour, yeasty flavour and smells of alcohol then you have either used too much yeast.or you may have use stale yeast or creamed fresh yeast with sugar.

Should focaccia be overproofed? ›

Even if something is over proofed it is not ruined. An over proofed dough makes good focaccia.

Why isn t my focaccia golden? ›

With any baking, if the inside is done, but there isn't good color, the temperature needs to be higher with a shorter cook time. Similarly, if its got good color, but the inside is raw, you need to cook longer at lower temp.

Does focaccia have to rise twice? ›

Focaccia, just like most breads, needs to rise twice for about 1 hour each time. The second rise will give it a finer texture, more structured shape, and better bread flavor as the gluten continues to develop.

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