Sourdough Focaccia

Sourdough Focaccia

I found this recipe on Reddit and am putting it here because I want to keep it. This focaccia is chewy, fluffy, and absolutely delicious. If you're a baker of sourdough, you really must try this one. It does not disappoint.

Sourdough Focaccia

Ingredients: 

• 50-100 grams ripe sourdough starter
• 10 grams salt
• 430 grams water
• 515 grams bread flour
• olive oil
• flaky or coarse salt
• 2 large garlic cloves

Instructions:

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sourdough starter and water. 
• Add the flour and salt and mix to completely combine the ingredients. 
• Cover the bowl and allow to sit for 30-40 minutes. 
• When the dough is done sitting, wet your hands and pull the dough up over on itself around the edges and then perform 8-10 folds. (See video clip below.) End your folding with the smooth side of the dough on top. Drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil and rub the oil over the entire surface. Cover and allow dough to rise for 4-5 hours at room temperature, or until almost doubled.
• When dough has risen, pour 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of a 9x13-inch pan and coat the sides and bottom using your fingers or a pastry brush. 
• With oiled hands, lift the dough from the bowl. Do a little lifting and folding to form the dough into a rectangle and fit it into the pan as much as possible. 
• At this point you can allow the dough to rise another 4-6 hours at room temperature, or you can cover and place in the fridge overnight. If you choose the fridge option, remove the pan from the fridge about 2 to 2 1/2 hours before you want to bake it. 
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 
• When dough is puffy, bubbly, and doubled in size, drizzle with a couple more tablespoons of oil and then dimple the dough deeply with oiled fingers. 
• Slice the garlic cloves into 1/8-inch slices and push slices into the dimples in the dough. Then sprinkle dough with the flaky/coarse salt.
• Bake the focaccia on a middle rack for 20 minutes. Then move the pan to the lower rack for the last 5-10 minutes of baking. (My focaccia didn't get very dark on top, but it was completely baked through and still tasted great.)
• Allow focaccia to cool in the pan for about 5-10 minutes. Then use a metal spatula to release the bread from the pan. Move focaccia to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting and enjoying.

Makes one 9x13-inch focaccia