No Knead Focaccia Bread

Focaccia is an Italian bread that is soft and spongy. This recipe of no knead Focaccia bread takes less than 10 mins to prepare.

Long long ago when I was so into baking, I tried my hands at bread baking too amidst many cakes and cookies. Baking in itself is science and there is a reason why we add or don’t add certain ingredients. While mastering cakes or cookies is not so tough but can’t say the same about bread making. I have had some success but not every attempt was successful initially.

These days my heart is set on making fresh bread at home. One weekend all I wanted to do was make a simple wheat bread at home. I looked through a 100 recipes, making mental notes on tips and tricks – all set to venture in. And then, the inevitable happened. There was a day long power outage. Why does this happen to me, especially when I have my mind set on baking? I think someone doesn’t like me making tasty stuff at home 😀

Last Friday I didn’t have enough time to dream of making bread from scratch but all I wanted to do was make fresh bread. Suddenly I remembered Focaccia, the kind of leavened bread that requires minimal to zero effort. Having not tried it before, I was all jazzed up. I checked a few recipes and each recipe called for different proportions of flour, water and yeast. Sigh. I just couldn’t pick one and ended up making my own. Even at the cost of blowing my own horn, I must say that this Focaccia bread turned out simply out of the world.

It took me all of 10 mins to prepare the dough and then I let the yeast do its work. Popped the dough into the oven, out came a very beautiful spongy soft bread. I didn’t have a large flat pan to bake my bread (now I have got one!) but that’s least of my worries as the bread was brilliant – rustic and all that. I used red onions and tomatoes to top off my focaccia but I can see that literally anything works. The husband couldn’t get enough of the bread and said that it could give any store bought bread a run for its money. We loved it so much that we made it again on Sunday, in a fancy pan and stuff (sorry no pictures of that!)

How to make No Knead Focaccia Bread

📖 Recipe

No Knead Focaccia Bread

Ramya

This no knead Focaccia Bread yields the softest spongy bread with zero effort!

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Course Antipasti, Main Dish, Snack, Appetizer

Cuisine Italian

Servings 1 loaf

MEASUREMENT

1 cup = 250ml, 1 tablespoon = 15ml, 1 teaspoon = 5ml

Ingredients

  

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For the Dough: ( 1 cup = 250ml)

• ▢ 2 cups All Purpose Flour + 2 tbsp
• ▢ ¾ cup Very Warm Water 100° -110°C
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Sugar
• ▢ 1.5 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
• ▢ 3 tablespoon Olive Oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Dried Italian Herbs
• ▢ Salt as needed

For Toppings:

• ▢ 1 Tomato
• ▢ 1 Onion

COOK MODEPrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

 

• In a bowl add ½ cup of warm water along with sugar. Add 1.5 teaspoon of Active Dry Yeast and mix it well.
• Let it sit for 3-5 mins until it becomes quite frothy.
• Meanwhile, in a bowl add 2 cups of all purpose flour, salt as needed and 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Roughly mix it well until the flour looks crumbly.
• Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the yeast mixture.
• Using a spoon, roughly mix the mixture.
• Add ¼ cup of warm water and quickly mix it through.
• The dough should look sticky.
• Add another 2 tablespoon of all purpose flour to the dough.
• Using your hands, slightly knead the dough. Apply few drops of oil or flour if the dough is sticky.
• Spread ½ tbsp. of olive oil in a larger bowl and transfer the prepared dough to it.
• Cover it with cling film and set it for proofing in a warm place until the dough has doubled up.
• Slightly punch down the dough.
• Line a baking tray with aluminum foil and grease it with ½ tbsp. of olive oil. Preheat the oven at 170°C for 10 mins.
• Carefully transfer the dough onto the baking tray and flatten it out to the thickness of 1 cm.
• Make many indentations on the dough using your fingers and fill each dent with few drops of olive oil. This helps the dough to remain spongy and keeps it from drying while baking.
• Sprinkle some salt on top along with dried Italian herbs.
• Place roundels of tomato and onion over the top.
• Cover the bread with aluminum foil.
• Bake it at 170°C with top covered for 15 mins.
• Remove the aluminum foil and apply ½ tbsp. of olive oil as needed on top and bake again at 170°C for 20 mins or until the top is crusty and golden.
• Remove from oven and let it rest for 5 mins.
• Serve hot as it is or with grated cheese on top or as a side with a hearty vegetable soup.

Note –

• I used ¾ cup of water but you might need little less or more depending on the dough and the climatic conditions. While adding warm water second time, be cautious and add in little amounts.
• If you want to leave the dough to ferment for a long time, reduce the quantity of yeast. (Use ½ teaspoon yeast if you can leave out the dough for 12-15 hrs)
• The dough will be sticky and it should be so, for the soft spongy texture.
• Don’t let the dough sit for any longer as soon as it doubles up. Any more time could cause the yeast to die out and the dough just falls down.
• I used 3 tablespoon of olive oil including the greasing and everything. Add a little more for a much softer version.
• I didn’t have a Focaccia pan or flat baking tray when I made this bread the first time. I just shaped it using my hands and the edges were little thin. Use a flat pan for even sized bread.
• While making dents on the bread dough, dip your finger in some oil for easy poking.
• Toppings on Focaccia can be anything from olives, garlic, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, onions, grapes or even plain herbs like rosemary or parsley. I used dried Italian herbs along with onions and tomatoes (deseeded)

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No Knead Tomato Onion Focaccia Bread Recipe with Step by Step Pictures

1. In a bowl add ½ cup of warm water along with sugar. Add 1.5 teaspoon of Active Dry Yeast and mix it well.

2. Let it sit for 3-5 mins until it becomes quite frothy.

3. Meanwhile, in a bowl add 2 cups of all purpose flour, salt as needed and 1 tablespoon olive oil.

4. Roughly mix it well until the flour looks crumbly.

5. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the yeast mixture.

6. Using a spoon, roughly mix the mixture.

7. Add ¼ cup of warm water and quickly mix it through.

8. The dough should look sticky.

9. Add another 2 tablespoon of all purpose flour to the dough.

10. Using your hands, slightly knead the dough. Apply few drops of oil or flour if the dough is sticky.  Spread ½ tbsp. of olive oil in a larger bowl and transfer the prepared dough to it.

11. Cover it with cling film and set it for proofing in a warm place until the dough has doubled up.

12. Slightly punch down the dough.

13. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil and grease it with ½ tbsp. of olive oil. Preheat the oven at 170°C for 10 mins.

14. Carefully transfer the dough onto the baking tray and flatten it out to the thickness of 1 cm.

15. Make many indentations on the dough using your fingers and fill each dent with few drops of olive oil. This helps the dough to remain spongy and keeps it from drying while baking.

16. Sprinkle some salt on top along with dried Italian herbs.

17. Place roundels of tomato and onion over the top.

18. Cover the bread dough with aluminum foil.

19. Bake it at 170°C with top covered for 15 mins. Remove the aluminum foil and apply ½ tbsp. of olive oil as needed on top and bake again at 170°C for 20 mins or until the top is crusty and golden.

20. Remove from oven and let it rest for 5 mins. Serve hot as it is or with grated cheese on top or as a side with a hearty vegetable soup.

Recipe Notes

• I used ¾ cup of water but you might need little less or more depending on the dough and the climatic conditions. While adding warm water second time, be cautious and add in little amounts.
• If you want to leave the dough to ferment for a long time, reduce the quantity of yeast. (Use ½ teaspoon yeast if you can leave out the dough for 12-15 hrs)
• The dough will be sticky and it should be so, for the soft spongy texture.
• Don’t let the dough sit for any longer as soon as it doubles up. Any more time could cause the yeast to die out and the dough just falls down.
• I used 3 tablespoon of olive oil including the greasing and everything. Add a little more for a much softer version.
• I didn’t have a Focaccia pan or flat baking tray when I made this bread the first time. I just shaped it using my hands and the edges were little thin. Use a flat pan for even sized bread.
• While making dents on the bread dough, dip your finger in some oil for easy poking.
• Toppings on Focaccia can be anything from olives, garlic, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, onions, grapes or even plain herbs like rosemary or parsley. I used dried Italian herbs along with onions and tomatoes (deseeded)

I would be delighted to know if you have tried this recipe, don’t forget to share your feedback and comments below. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me! I am also available on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter 🙂