Focaccia Bread with Compound Butter
A delicious recipe for homemade focaccia bread served with a sweet and savory compound butter.
Ingredients
- instant dry yeast
- granulated sugar
- warm water
- olive oil
- all-purpose flour
- kosher salt
- unsalted butter
- drizzle honey
- kosher salt
- everything bagel seasoning
- sesame seeds
Method
- 1
In a mixing bowl, add 1 tablespoon of instant dry yeast, 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar (optional), and 2 1/4 cups of warm water (around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but don't worry too much about precision).
- 2
Gently mix the yeast, sugar, and water with a fork.
- 3
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the mixture.
- 4
Set the bowl aside at room temperature (preferably about 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 10 minutes until the yeast foams to the top.
- 5
Add 5 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 mounded tablespoon of kosher salt to the foamed yeast mixture.
- 6
Mix the dough with your bare hands. It will be very sticky at first, but as you incorporate all the flour, it will smooth out. Knead for about a minute or two until the flour is cleaned off the bowl.
- 7
In a separate mixing bowl, make a small pool of olive oil. Coat your fingers in this olive oil.
- 8
Transfer the dough ball into the oiled bowl and work it around so the entire thing gets coated in the olive oil.
- 9
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it somewhere at room temperature for about 45 minutes to an hour for the first rise. The dough ball should double in size.
- 10
Pour a generous amount of olive oil onto a half sheet tray and spread it evenly with your hands.
- 11
Carefully transfer the risen dough ball onto the oiled sheet tray.
- 12
Get both of your hands nice and olive oiled up. Press the dough out into your sheet tray.
- 13
Once the dough is pressed into your tray, take the tips of your fingers and gently punch the dough down, making sure not to go all the way through.
- 14
Liberally season the dough with kosher salt, or use everything bagel seasoning or sesame seeds if preferred.
- 15
Set the tray somewhere at room temperature again for about 45 minutes to an hour for the second rise.
- 16
While the bread dough rises, make the compound butter. Grab a box grater and shred cold unsalted butter into a bowl.
- 17
Add a good drizzle of honey and two pinches of kosher salt to the shredded butter. Mix well.
- 18
Bake the focaccia at 425 degrees Fahrenheit (218°C) for 24 minutes, rotating it about halfway through.
- 19
Once fully baked, let the focaccia hang out on your tray for about 5 minutes.
- 20
Before transferring it out onto a wire rack, use something in your kitchen that will let the bottom of the bread breathe. Serve with the compound butter.
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