IME, first you make the bread, then you add the toppings and broil to get them all melty.

The first pic is lovely but I don’t think realistic for most cooks. I wonder if those air pockets require soudough (not typical for focaccia) and a very hot oven

I have made this recipe for ciabatta rolls that is very similar to the focaccia recipe and it works great. I've even made it in loaf form (pic), so I would not hesitate to try that recipe that starts with the biga! I also have a recipe for french bread baked in a romertopf that starts wtih a biga and it's wonderful. The focaccia recipe should be fab! go for it!

It looks like they broiled it. I don't always trust food photos in online recipes - lots of them use stock or random internet pix.

I make a flatbread every week to use for pizza crusts, and it does develop that same nice holey texture. I use instant yeast, and deliberately underbake it to be rebaked for pizza.

Here's a recipe from the James Beard foundation - I tend to trust that source, but I haven't tried it:

https://www.jamesbeard.org/recipes/focaccia

FWIW, my flatbread recipe is:

No-Knead Flatbread

2 cups unbleached flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp. instant dry yeast

2 generous tsp. sugar

1 cup water

Extra virgin olive oil

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add water and mix very, very well. Let rise 1 1/2 hours, then scrape out onto well oiled parchment lined baking sheet, Dough will be very soft & wet. Pour approx. 1 Tbs more oil on top and spread out, patting and stretching to desired thickness - this can take a bit of patience. Dimple all over with your fingers, cover with plastic wrap and let rise another 1 - 1 1/2 hrs. carefully remove plastic then bake in a 400F oven.

I use the bottom rack and bake for only 9 minutes, because I don't want the top to brown.

https://alexandracooks.com/2018/03/02/overnight-refrigerator-focaccia-best-focaccia/

This recipe is the best, easiest bread, hands down, that I have ever made! i have tried lots, and this one is truly the bomb!

dimpling the dough helps so much. don't be bashful.

I see Lulu's recipe has similar proportions to mine. I use a dough whisk to mix the dough and develop the gluten, and IMO, the sugar makes for better flavor. I based mine on a very simple no-knead bread recipe from Jacques Pepin, which does use a long cold rise in the fridge. I use more yeast, tho.

I used to use Craig Kominiak's recipe, after watching him on Baking With Julia, but I have switched to Brad Leone's recipe from Bon Appetit.

I use the focaccia recipe from Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Bread Every Day often. Essentially a bread book for Dummys. Possibly my favorite baking cookbook for learning some basic baking techniques. The recipe uses minimal yeast, high hydration, folding techniques and a slow rise in the fridge. I have tweaked it for quicker baking which gives the more ‘cakey’ look but still tastes good. The long slow rise, careful handling and a very hot oven seem to be necessary for the bubbly texture.

"https://alexandracooks.com/2018/03/02/overnight-refrigerator-focaccia-best-focaccia/

This recipe is hands down the best, easiest bread, hands down, that I have ever made! i have tried lots, and this one is truly the bomb!"

Agree^^^^

I've been using that recipe since mid 2020.

I start the dough early am, then bake anytime afternoon.

I use the same recipe that Lars does, from Brad Leone and Samin Nosrat- it's the best one I've tried. The brine makes a big difference.

When I looked at the first picture, my first thought was "That's not foccacia, that's Turkish bread."

If you want those big holes, look for a Turkish bread recipe.

Big holes come from super high hydration in any language. How much unmeasured flour you add in shaping/handling makes a huge difference.

I had delicious cured black olive and rosemary foccacia in Italy, delightfully dimpled and topped with olive oil and coarse salt.

As soon as I returned home, I wanted to duplicate it. I found a NYT Magazine recipe and it came out perfectly. That was a real treat. I also incorporated the oil cured black olives and the rosemary,

Maybe I will make some for a get together this weekend.

How far ahead can I make it? (I have a lot to do.)

I don’t know if this link will show the images of the many ”painted” foccacia, but I’ll try.

I am not a member of pinterest, but sometimes go there for ideas.

➡️ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/479633429069211498/

I think it should be more like the second picture! You don't have to grill it. The toppings will cook in the oven. Keep the dough nice and wet, make lots of dimples and slosh plenty of olive oil over the top too.

First off, thanks foe sll the responses and recipes. Somewhere along the line I started to come to the realization that, as @colleenoz suggeste, what I’m looking for is not focaccia. That said, I started a batch of Alexandra’s yesteday which I’m just taking out of the fridge and will spread thin on a sheet pan, and see where that leads me. Stay tuned!

Not too thin! This one looks delicious. https://www.recipetineats.com/focaccia-recipe/

Or try a French version that's thinner and crispier https://www.add1tbsp.com/savory-herb-and-olive-fougasse-bread/

Looks great.

"Not too thin!"...We don't care for the 'thick'. We go thin-ish.

All over Italy, depending on the region, you will find all varieties. In Rome and Naples you will find thin and inch-ish for slicing. Rarely 2-inch thick. Going south in Calabria some make 4-inch and fold tomatoes into the dough. Top with more tomatoes and cheese...

A big umbrella of various focaccia recipes is acceptable. Unlike a Baguette all over France. They will all be similar, some great some good, but always look similar as if a rule exists.

FOAS should appreciate this recipe...

Most important is this line step 4...

Make it the way you like it and what you want to use it for.

Home Chef choice.

I have two French carbon steel sheet pans. 9 1/2inch by 15 inch. I can do one 1/3rd in one pan for thin loaded with olives, cherry tomatoes, etc. and one a bit thicker, NOT bread thick, but good for cutting in half for sandwiches. Paninis.

Experiment with the same dough and make it the way you like it and enjoy it. No rules.

Very thin is crispy flatbread like a cracker. Not what i mean at all.

(same ingredients and great if that is what you want)

Hundreds of recipes very similar.

No recent recipe is at all new.

A brine, from Italians, good bakeries, use a warm water/salt with olive oil and shake., shake, shake. Not what Brad and Samin did...that was a disaster. Can't imagine making a focaccia from that video, lol. (i adore them both but a train-wreck of a video recipe)

The crap stuck. Too much oil and loads of salt. (i don't think she was drunk but maybe medicated?). Kinda freaked me out knowing secondary friends similar 'high strung'.

Her book is for those having just made their first loaf of bread and first homemade dressing...

Focaccia can be loaded or simple garlic, fresh rosemary, ...

FOAS, I'm not trying to pile on (that part just happens), but I was looking up ”Turkish bread” following Colleen's comment, and found this: https://eskapas.com/turkish-bread/

I want to try it all...

The fougasse was ok. I really misjudged timing and got a bit sloppy and also forgot the final rise. I think I’ll take a break from bread today as it’s Friday so pizza night 😝 but I see more have been added to my list which I’ll try when testing resumes. Thanks all!

I just started a batch this morning...4am, up early.

Infusing a couple tBsp of good olive oil with minced garlic and a bit of salt. (Recently came across another brine recipe watching a professional bakery episode.)

They used just about a 1/4 cup warm water with a bit of salt and a couple tBsp of olive oil, lid and shake vigorously. (i'll do half of one with it) The salt disolves in the warm water.

Using this recipe.

Paywall but i had no problem reading through it this morning. (must give a couple freebies)

Play-by-play, 5 hours in...smells amazing. Love the silicone lid toppers.

Best thing i did a couple years ago is placing 5 cups of flour in zip-locks with a yeast packet. A dozen in the freezer. Yeast expired 2017 but still good.

Down to one bag. Just re-stocked flours. Will do the same. We bake bread maybe once a month if that. DH is the bread baker. This is focaccia my baby.

(His boule uses 5 cups flour, so 5 cup freezer packs is handy for his bread as well.)

My baby is bubbly!

I've never made foccacia but am looking for more easy bread recipes, so I tried the Alexandra's recipe posted above. Pretty good. Would have been even better if I would have remembered to add the salt on the top and didn't accidentally turn off the oven part-way through the cooking time -- but at least I noticed before the oven cooled too much, it was still nice and crispy on the bottom, soft in the middle (used a 9 x 13 pyrex). I didn't add the rosemary to the top, I'm not a big rosemary fan. But yea, next time gotta remember to add the salt on top.

So thanks, Lulu, for linking to the recipe!

So y'all liked the Alexandra focaccia so much, I decided to try it. I've made "real" focaccia which wasn't worth the effort when I can buy perfect but I loved the idea of easy. Results first, it's very good tasting. The texture matches the recipe picture but is more sponge crumb bread than the rough, almost stringing crumb I associate with focaccia. I don't care. It's as easy as billed, and worthy of repeating.

Notes: I'm always trying to learn something new when I try a new recipe, so I followed the instructions for using ADY and the yeast died. :( So I got some new yeast from the fridge. It didn't bubble much, and I did it my way, but it looked and smelled like it should be active, and it had worked fine the previous week, and I knew I'd done nothing to kill it, so after a long time trying to coax it, I mixed it in, and put the dough in the fridge as instructed. A few hours later, in the cold and all, the dough had turned into a giant puff ball. No worries. :) I used a combo of unbleached 11% protein and a very tasty, type 00, 14% protein flour, half and half, table salt by weight, ADY as above, spring water, California EVOO, and flor de sal and garden rosemary to finish. After the yeast adventure, all went according to plan. It came out nice and crunchy on the bottom, but the crunch went away sitting on the rack. Great either way.

Thank-you!

As easy as billed, too. The closest it got to taxing was plucking all the rosemary leaves so I wouldn't get the little stems.

Beautiful!

Thanks!

UPDATE: perhaps it needed a little longer in the oven? A day and a half later, kept with a Bee's Wrap (beeswax infused cloth) tucked around it, but the bottom open to the rack, it has dried just a bit and the texture is more like my experience of traditional focaccia. My oven bakes moistly as well. I didn't know until this that the difference was too much moisture!

With the Alexandra's recipe, what size pan should I use to get it thinner? It was quite good but a bit too thick in the 9 x 13 pan, would like to try a thinner version next time.

I used an old aluminum broiler pan because my quarter sheets were too short sided and my 2/3 sheet pan too wide, and there was no way I was putting my best stoneware lasagna pan in a super hot oven. The dough didn't quite fill the pan, and was a bit deeper on one side than the other, but I didn't want to deflate it by fussing with it too much. The pan was maybe an inch bigger both ways than called for.

A half sheet pan is 13" x 18", and super easy to find in any configuration you like. There are also 10"x 14" pans. 11"x14" is less common but exists.

Or you could cut down the recipe. a little.

I tried it again today in a 10 x 15 glass pan, and it's again thick. The dough seemed a bit wet and sticky, sometimes my dough does that even though I follow the same recipes. So maybe it just rose too much. IDK. I did put the salt on this time, and I like it better without the salt, so I'll skip that from now one. It's still tasty, though :o)

ETA: It also didn't brown as much as on the top as all the photos above, I wonder if would be okay to bake it at 450 instead of 425 - ? All my other bread recipes are baked at 450.

I have found that, at least in my oven, glass dishes dont brown as well as stoneware or metallic.

Yes, of course, you can change the temperature! All ovens are different. Even if it's true to the thermometer, the range can vary, the speed of recovery can vary, the heat loss can vary, the retention in the walls can vary, etc., etc., as well as glass being an insulator and thin metal being a conductor (cast iron is a slow conductor). Adjust the temperature to what works for your oven and your pan. Just keep an eye on it the first time or two. And keep in mind you might not get as much bottom crunch with glass. For the top browning, however, that's a big sign that it needed more time in the oven. Perhaps, as Lulu told us, because of the glass, but I think that must be from baking more slowly in insulating glass. Perhaps from the wetness of the dough. Perhaps from whatever made you think it needed to bake hotter if it's something else. But if it happens again, do just let it bake another 5-7 minutes.

My son swears by this recipe. I do not go to that much trouble .

Focaccia Genovese | Authentic Italian Recipe

the Pastagrammer.com

"But if it happens again, do just let it bake another 5-7 minutes."

I baked it 30 minutes this time, and the internal temp was over 200, so I took it out -- it was already overcooked according to temp (195 for bread). I'll try a hotter over next time and see if that resolves it.

I'm not a big fan of temperatures for doneness. There are too many caveats, such as hydration and thickness. For a big, round loaf, reading the temperature might be important to make sure the center is done. Especially if you're baking in a preheated oven. Done is actually a range of which 195 is the usual stated minimum. Unlike meats, the inside doesn't usually get overdone. Overdone on bread in general, is a dry, hard crust, a thicker crust, too much browning, char even. If your bread isn't brown enough, let it bake longer. Just don't walk off! If you think it's actally done inside, remember, you're just toasting the crust. A lot of this is experience. But, again, recipe times and temperatures are guidelines, not absolutes.

Another update: I baked another one this weekend, baked it at 450 this time, and I think it came out better. Crust still wasn't a deep golden brown like the photo, but it was crispier while remaining nicely soft inside. Maybe brushing with a little more olive oil on the top right before baking might help with the browning, I could try that next time. But most importantly the texture is better at 450, so I 'll do that from now on.

DH said it would be good with garlic. Yes, it would, wouldn't it? How do I incorporate garlic into the recipe?

Congratulations!! Garlic in breads can be tricky--or you can just luck into it working your way. While you're perfecting your recipe, the easiest way is mince it and put it on top, with or instead of the rosemary. You can also roast small cloves and just stick them in. You can use raw, but the juice is what can be tricky, and can either do nothing to the dough or screw it all up. You don't have to worry about the garlic not cooking through at that temperature. After you've made a few more successes, if you like, go ahead and try either chopped or slivered raw garlic and see what happens.