A stand mixer is a must-have for any serious baker Here we'll show how to use our Kitchenaid Professional 600 to make an authentic Italian focaccia
For this bread you will need: 16 grams of white or fine cane sugar, 5 grams of instant yeast (such as Red Star Quick Rise found at Whole Foods), 470 grams of all-purpose flour, 230 grams of lukewarm water, a 115 grams of whole milk, 12 grams of fine salt and at least 45 grams of olive oil — extra virgin You'll need plenty of extra olive oil for drizzling and dipping And any fresh or dry herbs you'd like to add like thyme or rosemary To make the dough, start with 16 grams of sugar To the sugar add 5 grams of instant yeast
Give the sugar and yeast a quick mix In the stand mixer bowl add 470 grams of all- purpose flour Add to the flour the yeast and sugar mix Give it a quick stir Bring 230 grams of water to lukewarm temperature
Microwaving the water for about 30 seconds usually does the trick Add 115 grams of whole milk In a pinch you can use 2% milk, but whole milk really does give the focaccia a richer flavor Fit the stand a mixer with a paddle attachment On low speed, slowly drizzle in the milk and water mix
When the milk and water have been added, slowly drizzle in the olive oil If you need to, add a tablespoon of flour at this time to help the paddle attachment better incorporate the olive oil Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook Knead the dough on medium- low speed and add the salt Continue kneading on medium-low speed for 15 minutes
After the 15 minutes you'll have a smooth wet dough Time for the first rise! Oil a large mixing bowl and gently slide the dough into the bowl We want to handle the dough gently to preserve the air in the dough For this next step, keep a bowl of water on hand Wet your hands and with wet hands stretch a corner of the dough till it is about a foot in length and fold it over gently
Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat Remember to wet your hands before each stretch This will help prevent your hands from sticking Stretch the dough again and fold it over Give the bowl another quarter turn and repeat
Another quarter turn and repeat the stretch and fold one last time Turn the dough over fold side down Cover tightly with plastic wrap, set in a warm spot and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size This should take about two hours Here's our dough at the beginning of the rise, after about an hour, after about an hour and a half, and finally the dough is done! Add parchment paper to a jelly roll pan and oil it well
As before, gently slide the dough out and onto the pan Coat your hands with olive oil and gently use your fingertips to stretch the dough out like this Coax the dough gently It's not unreasonable for it to take one-and-a-half to two minutes to reach the edge of the jelly roll pan If you've stretched the dough as far as it can go without tearing, cover the dough and let it rise for five minutes
This should give you the extra dough that you need to spread the dough out all the way Here's our dough again after a 5-minute rise We now have enough dough to stretch the focaccia to the edge of the pan Notice how we stretched by starting in the middle and working our way out when you're finished cover again with plastic wrap and let the dough rise one hour more after the final one hour rise drizzle on a generous amount of extra-virgin olive oil sprinkle on some coarse salt and a few tablespoons of thyme or fresh rosemary bake in a preheated 350 degree fahrenheit oven for 20 to 35 minutes bake until golden brown there's no need to let this bread rest when finished serve with extra-virgin olive oil and enjoy you
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