Every spring, when it is time to decide the next Recipe of the yearThe employee-owners at King Arthur prepare for long discussions and fierce-but-friendly debates. We will attach and hope over the virtues of Chocolate chip cookies Against Coffee cakes Against Cinnamon rollsCollect opinions from the entire company about the most valuable baked good.
But this year, the consideration was surprisingly short. We circled around focaccia—early and fervently—because, for so many reasons, it's a no-brainer: it's easy to make, it's even easier to eat, and it's Everywhere. (I recently ate focaccia in four different establishments over the course of 36 hours in New York City.)
Now, we have a lot of existing focaccia recipes, but we wanted one that checked every box: ready in an afternoon; Small enough to eat in one day; ultra flavorful; And nice and thick with a bronze, bubbly exterior. So we took everything we've learned about focaccia over the years and developed our dream version, using Martin Philip's recipe in the Big book of bread As our launching-off point.
We spent months tweaking the salt and oil levels, the type of flour, the size of the pan, the amount of water, the amount of yeast, the oven temperature, the bake time – you name it. Yes, we tested it. In the end, ours Big and bubbly focaccia was born.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
Visually stunning, flavorful yet versatile, and easy enough for anyone to make, this recipe is the one. And how do I know? Because even after baking and tasting dozens and dozens of focaccias during development, I Still Want to get in the kitchen and bake (and eat) this exact iteration. Yes, there are thousands of focaccia recipes out there, and more every day, but I finally feel settled: this is my eternal focaccia, and I hope it can be yours too. Here's what makes the big and bubbly focaccia so special.
1) Wonderfully flavorful without an overnight rise
Many focaccia recipes take at least 24 hours. Fortunately, this is not one of them. This loaf is ready in under four hours, which means you can decide to make it well after lunch and still have it on the table for dinner.
We homed in the exact amount of salt and olive oil to ensure that the bread is super flavorful even without a long fermentation. During our development, the final flavor clincher was the addition of 1 teaspoon of sugar. That tiny bit of sugar does not add sweetness; Instead, it improves And Balances the savory notes for a more well-rounded taste.
2) Folding > Kneading
Because the dough proves relatively quickly, there is not enough time for the gluten to passively develop strength. In other words, this focaccia cannot be fast And Not necessary – some manual agitation is necessary. But instead of kneading, you will perform a series of exercises Bowl folds To help in gluten development during the first part of the rise. This largely hands-off approach is a great way to tackle a wet, sticky dough, even as a beginner. The bowl folds contribute enough structure so that the dough can bubble when dimpled and rise high in the oven, but they are gentle enough that the finished bread is soft and light once baked. Which brings me to my next point…
Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
3) impressively high And Incredibly soft
It can be difficult to nail down a dough that is strong enough to rise high in the oven yet not so strong that the crumb is tough and chewy. But thanks to our Unbleached all-purpose flourContaining 11.7% protein, this focaccia is statuesque (look at that height!) with a light and airy interior (look at that crumb!) that's compressible, rather than chewy and bouncy. When I tested this recipe with other brands of flour (I won't name names), I could tell even during the folding process that the dough was not as extensible. Not surprisingly, the focaccias did not get the same height in the oven: one had almost no chew at all (more cake than bread-like), while the other had a less airy interior.
4) Just the right size
For all the amazing qualities of focaccia, it has one major flaw: it doesn't taste amazing the next day. With the goal of avoiding unwanted leftovers (or publishing a recipe you could just bake for a crowd), we skipped the typical half-sheet pan and chose a 9″ square Instead. The resulting focaccia is small enough that four to six people can easily polish it off on day one. And, at about two inches high, it is perfect for slicing in half for sandwiches yet not so high that you could not tear off pieces and eat them as is, no decoration necessary.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
5) Remarkably crispy
I've spent a lot of time talking about the tender inside, but isn't the so-golden-it's-almost-fried part just as important?
This focaccia has a shatteringly crisp crust (that stays that way!) thanks to a trick we borrowed from crusty breads like Baguettes: Once it is finished baking, it is returned to the turned off oven, where it takes more color and dries out a little. If it sounds tricky to get a puffy loaf out of a hot pan, we've got you covered: the pan is lined with a strip of parchment with overhanging tabs so it's easy to lift the loaf and slide it straight onto the oven rack. The heat from the rack kisses the bottom of the loaf, while the sides get their first direct exposure to hot air.
For the dramatic dramatic exterior, our Fabulous focaccia pan is, as the name suggests, unparalleled; It is made of black anodized aluminum, and the darker pan gives a darker crust. (You can still get crisp results in other metal pans—even disposable aluminum pans from the supermarket. Just please, don't use glass.) The final textural touch is a generous sprinkling of flaky sea salt. Cyprus flake salt Consists of gigantic – like, visible from space – pyramids that make the whole loaf sparkle, which is exactly what it deserves.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
I've baked, tasted and developed a lot of focaccia recipes, and I can confidently say that this is my favorite. But enough about me: it's your turn to find out! Bake our newest recipe of the year, Big and bubbly focaccia. Share it with us on Facebook and Instagram using #RecipeOfTheYear, and please leave a review and let us know what you think.
cover photo by Rick Holbrook; Food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.