My Overnight Rosemary-Garlic Focaccia requires no kneading and bakes up soft and fluffy, with a crispy crust and a lovely rosemary and garlic flavor. Easily doubled so you can make enough focaccia for everyone!
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Making bread can seem like a daunting task. I know, I’ve been there. But I’ve been working on this Overnight Focaccia Bread for a looong time and I’ve updated it to made it as easy and foolproof as bread can be.
Focaccia is a really high hydration dough, which means that it is wetter and looser than most bread doughs. That is normal and just what you want! The high ratio of water to flour, along with the fat from olive oil, gives you a lighter, more tender bread. Exactly what you came for!
You just spend a 20 minutes mixing and folding the dough, transfer it to the baking pan, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning you come back and bake. That's it! And if you don't mind a little morning garlic, you can top this focaccia with a vibrant mix of rosemary, garlic, and olive oil, to make sure you come back for another piece... and another, and another...
Folding the dough
Instead of having you knead the dough, I’ve borrowed the folding method from Bon Appetit’s Basically recipe, which is a different technique from the usual “punching down” that you always hear about in bread making.
When folding the dough you are strengthening the dough by realigning the gluten strands, and you’re also creating the air pockets and holes that are traditionally found in the crumb of a focaccia. All this leads to a more tender and airy bread. Yay!
Doubling the recipe
For a focaccia that can feed a crowd, you can double the recipe and bake it in a 13X9 pan or bake it on a half sheet pan if you'd like it a bit thinner. Because sometimes you need more bread. A lot of the time you need more bread 😉
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📖 Recipe
Overnight Rosemary-Garlic Focaccia
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (300 g) warm water (110°-120° is best) 300 g
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar or honey
- 1 ½ teaspoon (6 g) instant yeast or active dry yeast (see instructions below)
- 6 tablespoons olive oil divided (see instructions, below)
- 2 ¾ cups (330 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt divided
Topping (optional)
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary about 1 ½ teaspoon when chopped
- 1 clove garlic grated
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Combine flour, kosher salt, sugar, and yeast and mix well
- Add water to dry ingredients and use a dough whisk or another stiff utensil to mix until a wet loose dough forms and no big flour pockets remain. Cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
- After resting the dough, you will fold it to strengthen the gluten and develop an airy crust.
- Starting at the twelve o’clock 🕛 position, use a slightly wet hand, or a flexible dough scraper, to grab the edge of the dough, pull it toward the center, and over to the other side of the dough.
- Turn the bowl a quarter turn and do it again, and continue until you’ve done four folds, all the way around the dough.
- Cover the dough again and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Repeat the folding technique 2 more times (for a total of three times) 5 minutes apart.
- Overnight proofing: Spray your baking pan with a little bit of nonstick spray and then add 2 tablespoons of oil to the bottom of the pan. Transfer your dough to the pan, cover, and refrigerate at least 8 hours, up to 12 hours.
- In the morning: Remove your baking pan from the refrigerator and allow the dough to come to room temperature while you preheat your oven to 450°F and place the rack in bottom third of the oven.
- To make the (optional) topping: Strip the rosemary from the stems and chop. Using a fine zester, grate the garlic. Add rosemary, grated garlic, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt to 2 tablespoon of olive oil and mix well.
- Spoon the rosemary garlic olive oil all over the surface of the dough and gently spread around. With your fingertips, press deeply into the top of the dough, almost to the bottom, to make the traditional dents found on the surface of focaccia.
- Bake on the bottom rack of your oven for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and brush the top with a little more olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired. Removed from the pan and allowed to cool on a wire rack until ready to eat.
Save This Recipe! 💌
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later, plus you'll get great new recipes from me every week!
Rebecca says
This was delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Cynthia Christensen says
You’re welcome! I’m glad you liked it!