Thick Soft yet Crispy Sourdough Focaccia Recipe

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 2 hours 30 minutes
• total time: 6 hours 50 minutes

Ingredients

125 grams mature sourdough starter

375 grams water

10 grams sugar

500 grams bread flour

15 grams olive oil

10 grams salt

1/4 cup olive oil (or as needed (and to drizzle after baked))

1 teaspoon salt (coarse flaky salt is recommended for topping but use what you have on hand. )

rosemary (fresh or dried) (as needed )

Directions

To Mix the Dough

Mix the mature sourdough starter, sugar, water and flour into a shaggy mass of dough and set aside, covered, in a warm spot for 1 hour.

After 1 hour has passed, add the salt and olive oil to the dough.

Mix the dough well after the salt and oil have been incorporated. I like to scrunch/pinch it in, you can use your fingers to press it in and keep folding the dough until incorporated.

First Rise of the Dough

Place dough in a covered container to let rise for a total of about 1.5 hours in a warm spot. Every 30 minutes, stretch and fold the dough. Try to form a square like shape - a square baking dish helps here. You can also coil fold the dough, which is a simple and very effective technique.

Final Rise of the Dough

Place the dough in your baking sheet (which must be well oiled) and allow it to rest at room temperature in a warm location for 3 to 4 hours until it's nice and bubbly. It should spread out naturally on its own but if it needs some help gently stretch it.

If you are using cake pans (10-inch), divide dough in half and gently place into the cake pans. (500 grams or 1 lb of dough in each one).

Alternatively, instead of the 3 to 4 hour warm rise, place in the refrigerator overnight (or up to 2-3 days) and bake the next day. The focaccia can be baked directly from the refrigerated state.

Baking the Focaccia

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and insert a baking stone or baking steel if you have one, in the center of the oven.

Before baking, dimple the top of the focaccia heavily by pressing your fingers in the dough and pushing all the way down to the bottom. Do this repeatedly all over the top of the focaccia.

Top your focaccia with olive oil, salt and rosemary (or whatever topping you'd like) and bake on the baking stone or steel for about 20 minutes until golden and the bottom is crispy.

IMPORTANT: If you don't have a baking stone or steel, ensure you are baking the focaccia in the bottom third of your oven so the bottom gets nice and crispy.

To finish, drizzle the baked focaccia with additional olive oil l

Nutrition

• Calories: 445 kcal
• Total Fat: 13 g
• Saturated Fat: 2 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 11 g
• Sodium: 1039 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 69 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2 g
• Total Sugars: 2 g
• Protein: 11 g