Sourdough focaccia, now in the Times

Earlier this week, a recipe of mine went up on NYT Cooking.

It’s a sourdough focaccia, the first of several I’ll be writing for them as a contributor over the coming months. I’ve been reading the Times food section for longer than I’ve been baking bread, so seeing my name above a recipe there was a strange and quiet kind of good.

It was enlightening working with the (excellent) team at the Times on this recipe. And of course, most of the back and forth was about water.

My focaccia at home runs mid-to-high 80s hydration, a dough I handle often but one that would send a lot of Times readers back to the bread aisle.

These are people who cook everything, sourdough on Saturday and a braise on Sunday, and I wanted the recipe to meet them there. We brought the water down just a bit, and I made my peace with it, since the crumb stays open and the dough no longer sticks to everything it touches.

Hydration was, as you might guess, the main sticking point (😉). The other recurring question was the pan, and it’s the same answer I always give: a LloydPans 9x13" rectangular pan, which releases cleanly and browns the bottom the way I want.

It's really delicious focaccia; if you haven't tried it yet, click the link below!

In this week's newsletter:

• Recipes: A simple sourdough focaccia
• Baking Tip: Can I add whole grains to my focaccia?
• Links: Bread obsession in the Danish capital.

🍞 A Simple Sourdough Focaccia

The NYT Cooking simple sourdough focaccia: dimpled, oil-slicked, and baked in a rectangular pan until the bottom crackles.

The recipe is similar to the one in my cookbook and at The Perfect Loaf, with a few small modifications to make it more streamlined and the dough easier to handle (as I mentioned at the start).

The recipe is free, below!

GET FOCACCIA RECIPE GIFT LINK →

🍞 Cardamom Rolls

​If you're like me, you're probably craving something sweet for this weekend. These soft, pillowy cardamom rolls have you. If you don't like cardamom (I get it!), you can also fill them with a sugar-cinnamon mixture and have the softest cinnamon rolls.

GET ROLL RECIPE →

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💬 Member Discussion of the Week

Right instinct on the swap, wrong direction on the proof. Whole grain flour ferments faster, not slower. The bran and germ provide more nutrients for the yeast and bacteria to work with, so a 15% whole-wheat dough will be ready sooner than the all-white version. Watch the dough rather than the clock: when it’s bubbly, risen, and jiggly in the pan, bake it.

I think focaccia is really forgiving, and even if you push it a little past the ideal point, it will still turn out well. You may also need a splash more water, since whole grain absorbs more, but at 15% the difference is small.

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🛟 2 Ways I Can Help You Today

• Putting your starter in the fridge? See how to keep your starter stored safely until your return.
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• Want to bake only on the weekends? Here's how.

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📙 What I'm Reading and Watching

• ​It’s Sliced Cheese on Bread. And It’s Rocking Copenhagen’s World (NYT Times gift link). I've been working on a Danish-style seeded bun like this for these simple cheese sandwiches. Getting close!

Happy baking!

P.S. Here's my video of me making the NYT focaccia from start to finish!