Focaccia

This recipe is adapted from "No Need to Knead," by Suzanne Dunaway. It's a staple at my friend Aundrea's house and has quickly become a staple in mine.

INGREDIENTS: 

2 cups warm water (16 oz at 110 degrees)

1 tablespoon sugar 

2 tsp yeast 

2 tsp salt 

4 cups flour (480 grams)

I highly recommend weighing your flour

Olive oil 

Course kosher salt 

Dried or fresh rosemary

Sometimes I have guests so I make a slightly larger loaf but in the same pan. Here's the measurements If you need a little extra but don't want to make 2 loaves. The instructions are the same, just watch the timing, it may need a few more minutes.

LARGER LOAF MEASUREMENTS

2 1/2 cups warm water (20 oz at 110 degrees)

1 tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon sugar

2 1/2 tsp yeast 

2 1/2 tsp salt 

5 cups flour (600 grams)

I highly recommend weighing your flour

Olive oil 

Course kosher salt 

Dried or fresh rosemary

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place water and sugar in a large bowl. Stir until sugar dissolves. Sprinkle 2 tsp yeast over top.
2. After it becomes foamy (about 5-10 minutes) stir in 2 cups of flour with a wire whisk until smooth. Add 2 teaspoons salt. Mix until combined.
3. Stir in remaining 2 cups of flour with a wooden spoon or dough whisk. Stir for about two minutes or until it makes a loose ball. As you stir, scrape the edges of the bowl so no dry spots remain. The dough will be very sticky and wet.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 50-60 minutes.
5. When the dough has about 15 minutes left to rise, preheat your oven to 500.
6. After the dough is done rising, generously drizzle olive oil over a stoneware baking dish (I use the large stoneware bar pan from Pampered Chef) and brush evenly with a pastry brush to coat.
7. Scrape the dough from the bowl onto the baking dish with a rubber scraper.
8. Generously drizzle olive oil over the dough. Oil your hands, then spread the dough evenly on the dish. Making claws of your hands, tear holes in the dough all over.
9. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon course salt evenly over the dough. Sprinkle dried rosemary over the top of the dough if desired.
10. When ready to bake, adjust the oven temperature to 485 and immediately put the prepared dough in the pan on the center rack for 15 minutes. (You really want the oven to preheat to 500 degrees before lowering it to 485 so the oven doesn't lose too much heat when you put the dough in.)
11. Let the bread sit in the stoneware for 5-10 minutes to cool before removing from the pan. You want the bread to soak up all of the remaining olive oil as it cools. 
12. Remove bread from the pan and place on a cutting board. Slice with an electric knife and serve warm. 
13. The bread will keep in a sealed plastic bag for 1-2 days.