4-Hour No Knead Focaccia Bread

This focaccia recipe has two key features.

First of all, it uses a lot of liquid in the dough. This makes the crust super crispy when baked, but this dough is hard to work with by hand – it’s very sticky to everything it touches, not like a pan pita recipe. And it’s a good thing we have a second one.

Secondly, we will not knead the dough by hand, but we will entrust this function to yeast (is yeast gluten free read here) and flour. The fact is that there are enzymes in the flour that can break down proteins into smaller proteins. Something similar is done by yeast, which, by releasing carbon dioxide, stretches the dough, aligns the protein bonds (of proteins already broken down by enzymes) and forms gluten. The problem is that they do all this for quite a long time. It is desirable to allow these processes to occur within 8-12 hours.

In this recipe, I found probably the minimum time limit at which to get focaccia without kneading. In 4 hours we get a dough that could have been better by giving it 4-6 more hours. But this “better” is very relative, as each additional hour is less and less effective.

Anyway, my point is this. If you have time, mix the ingredients and let the dough stand for 8-10 hours. If you don’t have that kind of time, and you want it faster, make it like I did in 4 hours. You can do both, compare and write your impressions in the comments, is it worth the wait in your opinion?

Ingredients

• 250 (8,8 oz) grams of wheat flour
• 7 g (0,25 oz) salt (1 tsp.)
• 4 g (0,1 oz) dry instant yeast (1 tsp., I use Saf Instant)
• 200 ml (0,9 cups) of warm water (about 36-40 °C: not hot, not cold)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 10 ml (2 tsp.) extra virgin olive oil
• 30 ml (2 tbsp.) vegetable oil (olive, sunflower or as you wish)

Step by step Directions

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add 7 g (0,25 oz) of salt and 4 g (0,1 oz) of instant yeast. Stir with a whisk for 20-30 seconds.

Pour in 200 ml (0,9 cups) of warm water and 10 ml (2 tsp.) of extra-virgin olive oil. Stir with a spatula or spoon. Cover the bowl with a towel or cling film and leave for 2 hours.

As you know yeast likes heat, so I do the following. I preheat the oven to the minimum of 50 degrees, immediately turn off the heat and put the bowl of dough in it.

After 2 hours, the dough should increase in volume by at least 2 times. If less, the yeast is bad, old, spoiled or of poor quality.

It is at this stage that the process of “maturing” of the dough can be extended up to 48 hours. Leave the dough at room temperature for 8-10 hours, if longer – put it in the fridge.

For convenience, compare before and after:

Take a baking dish. It can be rectangular, square or round. The main thing is not to be too big. I used a ceramic tart mold from Ikea, 26 cm in diameter. You don’t need to take more, but smaller ones, up to 20 cm in diameter, are allowed.

As for rectangular or square shapes: multiply the width by the length, if it is within 320-550 cm – the form is fine.

Grease the mold with butter, pour a small amount of vegetable oil and smear it on top.

Grease your hands with butter and transfer the dough to the mold. Pour a little more oil on top of the dough (don’t pour it all out, use as needed), coat the dough with oil on all sides with your hands and distribute the dough evenly over the mold.

Wrap the edges of the dough inside (4 to 5 sides) and flip the dough over. Cover with a towel or clingfilm and leave to rest for another 2 hours before baking.

About 30-40 minutes before the two hours are up, preheat the oven to 230-240 ° C / 450-465 °F, on the top-bottom mode.

Drizzle the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with 1 tsp oregano. Bake for 25-30 minutes on the lower level of the oven. (I put the mold directly on the bottom of the oven, but here do your own: in a thin metal mold, for example, it may burn)

When the focaccia is ready, take it out of the oven and let it cool for 5-10 minutes. Then take the focaccia out of the mold and cool on a rack for about 10 minutes more.

Serve warm. It is desirable to eat it fresh. But if you haven’t had time, wrap it in clingfilm and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat it before serving. Or don’t reheat 🙂

No Knead Focaccia

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This focaccia recipe has two key features. 

First, it uses a lot of liquid in the dough. This makes the crust super crispy when baked, but it's hard to work with this dough with your hands – it's very sticky to everything it touches, not like a pan pita recipe. It's a good thing we have a second one. 

Second, we won't knead the dough with our hands, but we'll leave this function to the yeast and flour. The fact is that there are enzymes in the flour that can break down proteins into smaller proteins. Something similar is done by yeast, which, by releasing carbon dioxide, stretches the dough, aligns the protein bonds (of proteins already broken down by enzymes) and forms gluten. The problem is that they do all this for quite a long time. It is desirable to allow these processes to occur within 8-12 hours. 

But as I have found out by experience, in principle, 4 hours is enough for the dough to succeed in focaccia. The loss in flavor and texture, compared to a longer maturation of the dough, is almost imperceptible.

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Cook Time15 minutes minutes

Dough maturation + baking4 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time4 hours hours 45 minutes minutes

Servings4 people

Calories251kcal

Ingredients 

Metric – US Customary

• 250 g all purpose wheat flour
• 7 g salt (1 tsp.)
• 4 g dry instant yeast (1 tsp., I use Saf Instant)
• 200 ml warm water (about 36-40 °C degrees: not hot, not cold)
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 10 ml olive oil extra virgin
• 30 ml vegetable oil (olive oil, sunflower oil, or as you prefer) 

Instructions

• Sift the flour and mix with the salt and yeast. Mix with a whisk
• Pour in 200 ml of warm water and 10 ml of extra-virgin olive oil. Mix the dough until homogeneous. Cover with a towel or cling film and leave for 2 hours in a warm place.

  // Or leave to rise at room temperature for 8-12 hours.
• Grease the baking dish with butter. Pour a little vegetable oil on top and grease as well.
• Grease your hands with butter and transfer the dough to the mold. Pour a little more oil on top of the dough (don't pour it all out, use as needed), coat the dough with oil on all sides with your hands and distribute the dough evenly over the mold.
• Wrap the edges of the dough inside (4 to 5 sides) and flip the dough over. Cover with a towel or clingfilm and leave to rest for another 2 hours before baking.
• Preheat the oven to 230-240°C / 450-465°F, on the top-bottom mode. 

  Drizzle the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with 1 tsp oregano. Bake for 25-30 minutes on the lower level of the oven.
• Take the mold out of the oven and cool for 5-10 minutes. Then take the focaccia out of the mold and cool on a rack for another 10 minutes. 

  Serve warm.

Nutrition

Calories: 251 kcal | Carbohydrates: 49 g | Protein: 7 g | Fat: 3 g | Saturated Fat: 1 g | Sodium: 680 mg | Potassium: 83 mg | Fiber: 2 g | Sugar: 1 g | Vitamin A: 21 IU | Vitamin C: 1 mg | Calcium: 29 mg | Iron: 3 mg

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