Bon Appetit's Shockingly Easy No-Knead Focaccia

Anyone still out there? I've been cooking the whole time, and have made some dishes that have become part of our heavy rotation in the last couple of years, but this blog definitely got pushed to the side. I still reference it a lot to pull up my favorite things to make - so as a personal recipe stash it is really performing its function well!

Now with all the time we have at home in this bizarro world, I've found myself thinking about making things that I would usually skip over, thinking they'd take too much time. Bread is certainly something that falls in this category - our usual homemade bread comes out of our handy little bread machine. But now! While I am still anti-kneading (I never feel like I have the right counter space, equipment, willingness to get super-messy, etc.) I am certainly ok with trying out no-knead recipes. This focaccia met the bill, and my neighbor's rosemary bush resulted in a slight tweak to the recipe since I associate focaccia with rosemary flavors.

Who knows how long we'll be staying at home - I might be able to keep track of time through how many batches of this I make though...

Shockingly Easy No-Knead Focaccia
Adapted from Bon Appetit - the link has awesome step-by-step pics if you're new to baking

Ingredients

• 1 ¼-oz. envelope active dry yeast (about 2¼ tsp.)
• 2 tsp. honey
• 5 cups (625 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for hands
• Enough butter to generously grease the baking pan
• Flaky sea salt
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

Method

1. Whisk one ¼-oz. envelope active dry yeast (about 2¼ tsp.), 2 tsp. honey, and 2½ cups lukewarm water in a medium bowl and let sit 5 minutes (it should foam or at least get creamy; if it doesn’t your yeast is dead and you should start again—check the expiration date!).
2. Add 5 cups (625 g) all-purpose flour and 1 Tbsp. kosher salt and mix until a shaggy dough forms and no dry streaks remain.
3. Pour 4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil into a big bowl that will fit in your refrigerator. This puppy is going to rise! Transfer dough to bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with a silicone lid or plastic wrap and chill until dough is doubled in size (it should look very bubbly and alive), at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. If you're in a rush, you can also let it rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 3–4 hours.
4. Generously butter a 13x9" baking pan, for thicker focaccia that’s perfect for sandwiches, or an 18x13" rimmed baking sheet, for focaccia that's thinner, crispier, and great for snacking (I used the 13x9" baking pan option as I was worried about the dough bubbling over the rimmed baking sheet). The butter may seem superfluous, but it’ll ensure that your focaccia doesn’t stick. Pour 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil into center of pan. Keeping the dough in the bowl and using a fork in each hand, gather up edges of dough farthest from you and lift up and over into center of bowl. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat process. Do this 2 more times; you want to deflate dough while you form it into a rough ball. (We learned this technique from Alexandra Stafford, who uses it to shape her no-knead bread.) Transfer dough to prepared pan. Pour any oil left in bowl over and turn dough to coat it in oil. Let rise, uncovered, in a dry, warm spot (like near a radiator or on top of the fridge or a preheating oven) until doubled in size, at least 1½ hours and up to 4 hours.
5. Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 450°. To see if the dough is ready, poke it with your finger. It should spring back slowly, leaving a small visible indentation. If it springs back quickly, the dough isn’t ready. (If at this point the dough is ready to bake but you aren’t, you can chill it up to 1 hour.) Lightly oil your hands. If using a rimmed baking sheet, gently stretch out dough to fill (you probably won't need to do this if using a baking pan). Dimple focaccia all over with your fingers, like you’re aggressively playing the piano, creating very deep depressions in the dough (reach your fingers all the way to the bottom of the pan). Drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with flaky sea salt and chopped rosemary. Bake focaccia until puffed and golden brown all over, 20–30 minutes.