Sourdough Focaccia

Yield: 1 large loaf

180g starter

310g cool water

1/2 tbsp honey

1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

3 tbsp olive oil, divided

460g all-purpose flour (preferably King Arthur brand)

2 1/2 tbsp butter, melted

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp dried oregano

1. In a large bowl, mix the starter with water, honey, salt, and 1 tablespoon olive oil.

2. Add flour, and incorporate using hands or a spatula. Once you no longer see bits of dry flour, you can either add it to a stand mixer with the dough hook, and mix on low (speed 2) for 8 to 10 minutes, until the dough starts to pull away from the sides and hold itself. Or you can knead by hand for 10 minutes, until you feel the dough tighten and acquire resistance, pulling away from the sides of the bowl as you work with it.

3. Bulk fermentation: cover the bowl with a very damp cloth and set in a place ideally around 75 degrees. Let rise for about 6 hours, until dough doubles in size and is puffy. You should see some small bubbles on the surface.

4. Stretch and fold four “corners” of the dough, basically on top of itself. Cover again and let rest for 2 1/2 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator (up to 12 hours).

5. At this point, brush a 13x8-inch non-stick baking sheet with 1 tablespoon olive oil, distributing all the way to sides of pan.

6. Using lightly oiled hands, gently scrape dough out onto baking sheet. It will look like a big blob. Using your hands, pull the edges out to gently stretch them. Dough should be about 1 to 1 1/2 inches tall. Let rise in a warm spot, covered with another sheet pan that’s upside down (so it has room to rise) for 1-2 hours until it is puffy and bubbly.

7. Preheat oven to 400F. Drizzle remaining tablespoon of olive oil onto the bread, and press your fingertips from your whole hand into the risen dough. Your fingertips should go all the way down through the dough, hitting the pan.

8. Drizzle melted butter over the dough, brushing with a pastry brush, and then sprinkle 2 cloves minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon dried oregano to top of bread.

9. Put pan in oven on middle rack and bake for 10 minutes. Turn oven down to 350F and bake for another 15 minutes, until crust is golden brown and bounces back slightly when you press down on it. Let cool for 15 minutes and eat.

https://heartbeetkitchen.com/2018/recipes/how-to-make-sourdough-focaccia/