A no knead, overnight herb focaccia bread recipe makes a soft tender Italian loaf full of flavor, with fresh herbs, garlic and cherry tomatoes. This homemade focaccia recipe involves mixing the dough and resting it in the fridge overnight to bake the next day.
This is the most addictive herbed focaccia bread recipe I've ever made. Don't get me wrong, I love all homemade bread, but this minimal effort focaccia is hands down one my favorite breads. Dip in oil, soak up pasta juice, make a sandwich or a pizza. Any way you decide to enjoy it, I know it will be amazingly delicious!!
What is Focaccia Bread?
Italian origin bread recipe that is crisp on the outside with a pillowy soft and chewy texture on the inside. Similar to pizza dough, focaccia is a yeast bread with high hydration that is baked flat and flavored with plenty of olive oil.
Enjoy homemade no knead focaccia bread as side dish dipped in olive oil, or part of a charcuterie side. If you love a good flatbread sandwich, slice it length wise and fill with your fave ingredients.
To make a thinner focaccia sandwich bread, use a 13x18 in rimmed baking sheet and skip the toppings. The best focaccia sandwich I've ever eaten was from All'antico Vinaio in Florence, Italy.
🌿 Ingredients You'll Need
- All Purpose Flour at 11% protein content creates a tender bread crumb.
- Bread Flour at 12% protein is the flour I recommend for extra structure and chewiness.
- Active Dry Yeast or Instant Yeast can be used to create pockets of air in the dough, helping the dough to rise when baked and develop an open crumb structure.
- Honey because yeast loves sugar, so I add a bit of honey to the yeast mixture to help with activation.
- Olive Oil is used to add moisture and flavor when resting the dough, shaping the dough, and as a topping before baking.
- Fresh Garlic is finely minced and added to the herb topping.
- Fresh Herbs like rosemary, oregano, basil, and thyme impart a lovely Italian herbs medley.
- Flaky Sea Salt is a must ingredient to sprinkle on the dough before baking.
- Cherry Tomatoes take this focaccia up a level! Slice them into quarters and press them into the dough before baking. Kalamata olives are also a great topping choice.
Easy Focaccia Recipe Baking Tips
What Baking Ingredients I Use and Why
Weigh Your Ingredients:
The recipe card includes both metric and US conversions, but since I create all my recipes with metric measurements, I can't guarantee the same results if you use a different measuring method. This is the kitchen scale I use everyday.
Warm Water for Active Dry Yeast:
Make sure to use warm water at 110℉ (44℃), nothing hotter or it will kill the yeast. *If you are using a higher protein flour or in a drier climate you may need up to 60 grams (¼ cup) more water added to the flour when mixing.
Instant Yeast:
You can swap the Active Dry Yeast evenly for Instant Yeast. Whisk the instant yeast into the flour mixture. Then, stir the honey with the water before pouring into the flour to make the dough.
Cold and Warm Dough Rest (Proving):
The first long rest is done in the fridge for fermentation, allowing the dough to develop chewiness and flavor. For the second warmer dough rise, set the pan of dough lightly covered with plastic wrap in a warm place, the oven with just the light on works great. Or use the proofing setting on your oven if you have one.
Working With Sticky Dough:
This is a high hydration dough, meaning it will be wet and jiggly. Don't worry, a wet focaccia dough makes a super moist and flavorful focaccia bread. Coat your hands with olive oil when stretching the dough to the pan or adding in dimples. Gently use your fingertips to stretch the dough to fit the pan.
How to Add Toppings and Ingredients to Focaccia Bread Dough
Adding Fresh Herbs to Focaccia Dough
- Add herbs to the entire surface of the dough. Sprinkle chopped herbs onto dimpled dough, then lightly drizzle with a few tablespoons of oil before baking.
- Add herbs directly into the dough mixture. When whisking together the flours and salt, simply add half of the chopped herbs to the flour mixture. Make the dough according to the recipe and use the remaining half of the herbs as a topping before baking.
Adding Tomatoes and Olives to Focaccia Dough
- Slice cherry tomatoes and olives into thirds and place them into the dimples of the wet dough before baking.
What Size Pan To Use for Baking No Knead Focaccia Bread?
Depending on the type of homemade focaccia bread you're craving, I would suggest two different options for a rectangular baking dish.
Focaccia using a 13x9x2-inch Baking Pan
Using a 13x9x2-inch baking pan will result in a thick fluffy and pillowy focaccia bread for dipping, snacking, and making sandwiches. This is my pan of choice when I want to serve focaccia as a snacking bread with cheeses and meats.
Make Focaccia using a 13x18-inch Baking Pan
Baking Focaccia with a 13x18-inch rimmed baking pan creates a thinner focaccia bread that is often seen in Florence, Italy for making slab sandwiches. You may have to stretch the dough a bit more with your fingers tips to cover the pan before adding toppings.
How to Store Focaccia Bread
Fresh homemade focaccia bread is best stored wrapped in aluminum foil or in an air tight container. The baked Focaccia bread will keep fresh for up to one week after baking at room temperature.
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No Knead Herb Focaccia Bread
Ingredients
Method
- In a large mixing bowl hand whisk together yeast, honey, and the 120 grams (½ cup) of the warm water (110℉/ 45℃). Let mixture sit for 10-15 minutes until frothy. *If mixture is not frothy, check for expired yeast date and start again.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the all purpose flour, bread flour, and fine sea salt to evenly distribute.
- Once the yeast mixture is frothy, pour in the remaining water and whisk together. *If you are using a higher protein flour or in a drier climate you may need up to 60 grams (¼ cup) more water.
- Pour ⅓ of the water and yeast mixture into the flour mixture at a time, stirring gently with a silicone spatula to mix the flour into the water. Mixing slowly until all the flour is incorporated.
- The dough will be sticky and wet, but still come together into a jiggly shape. Don't over work your dough.
- Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the top of the dough. Lightly coat your hands in olive oil and gently shape the dough into a ball. This is achieved by taking your hands along the bowl and lifting the sides of the dough upward and then gently folding it back onto itself toward the center. Repeat this two times for a series of 3 stretch and folds of the dough.
- Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil onto and around the dough. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. Allow dough to rest in a cold fridge for at least 8 hrs and up to 20 hrs. I prefer to make my dough the evening or night before I want to bake focaccia.
- When ready to make your focaccia, remove the bowl from the fridge. The dough should have risen and doubled in size.
- Prepare a 9x13-inch (22x33-cm) baking pan with a light coating of cold butter, making sure to rub into the corners.
- Transfer the dough from the bowl into the prepared pan. Loosely cover it with plastic wrap.
- The dough now needs a second "warm" rise at room temperature. Place the dough in a warm spot or in the oven with just the light on. Allow the dough to rest for 1-2 hrs until doubled in size and filling up the pan.
- Preheat Oven to 450℉ / 230℃ / 210℃ Fan (convection).
- Remove plastic wrap from the pan. Lightly coat your hands in olive oil and gently use your finger tips to guide the dough into filling up the pan.
- Then take your fingers and press down into the dough, creating small dimples or wells across the surface. (Be careful not to tear holes in the dough.)
- Softly press your sliced tomatoes and garlic into the dimples you just made. Don't press all the way down. Sprinkle the chopped herbs across the dough. Drizzle the final 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil across the dough. Follow with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt your liking.
- If you jiggle the pan the dough should wobble back and forth.
- Place pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25-28 minutes until the bread is lightly golden on top.
- Remove pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slide a knife around the edges of the bread and lift it from the pan. Place on a cutting board and using a serrated knife cut into slices to serve. Or cut loaf into thirds and then each piece into half for sandwiches.
Video
Notes
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- Make sure to use warm water at 110℉ (44℃), nothing hotter or it will kill the yeast.
-
- Yeast loves sugar, so I add a bit of honey to help with activation.
-
- This is a high hydration dough, meaning it will be wet and jiggly. Don't worry, a wet focaccia dough makes a super moist and flavorful focaccia bread.
-
- For the second dough rise, set the pan of dough lightly covered with plastic wrap in a warm place, the oven with just the light on works great. Or use the proofing setting on your oven if you have one.
-
- Gently use your fingertips to stretch the dough to fit the pan.
-
- Bake your focaccia on the middle rack of the oven for even brownness.
Jan Davis
This bread is amazing!! It is so delicious that I could hardly stop eating it. I know you will love it too!!
Jenn
So glad you enjoyed it!
Dee
This bread looks as soft as a pillow! I bet it is so flavorful with the olive oil and Kalamata, I can't wait to try.
Jenn
It's so so good! I had to give away half to keep from eating it all myself, haha!
Pat
Will try this weekend..I have made it with just flour many times before. With your method if I cannot get bread flour can I just use 3 cups of flour? And will I notice a difference with the bread flour? Sorry to sound dah....but I have never used two kinds of flour.
Thanks,
PAT
Lucy
Pat - I had the same question. I do not have bread flour and wanted to use 3 cups of flour. Did you make it and how did it turn out?
Jenn
Yes, you can use all purpose flour it will just have a slightly different texture.
Madhavi
I love Focaccia and I can’t wait to try this recipe. I have Saf instant yeast, can I just use that instead of the one in recipe? If so is it the same amount mentioned in the recipe? For instant yeast I suppose I can mix it in flour directly right?