I Tried King Arthur's Rule-Bending Twist on a Classic Bread
I bake a lot of bread in the winter months. I really like homemade bread fresh from the oven, plus it makes my entire kitchen warm and cozy-smelling like an old-timey bakery. Win-win. That said, I have a full-time job that is not baking and a plethora of other things pulling at my time. Baking bread is time-consuming, which is why many people don’t do it. I refuse to give up my handmade hearty loaves, however, and therefore rely on a bit of a cheat code — no-knead bread.
One of the greatest breads to get the no-knead treatment is focaccia. While some recipes call for kneading, it’s pretty easy to find good ones that don’t. But, just like any other no-knead bread, the exchange you make for avoiding the effort of kneading is time. For the gluten in bread dough to form bonds and create structure, you either have to knead it or …wait. Most no-knead focaccia recipes take 18 to 24 hours to complete, because of the long rising times required to avoid kneading. That means that you have to plan in advance if you want to have fresh focaccia with dinner.
This year, King Arthur Bakery has set out to solve this problem with its Recipe of the Year for 2025: Big and Bubbly Focaccia, an almost no-knead bread by Sarah Jampel that is ready in under four hours. I tested it out to see how it stands up to my typical 24-hour breads and was pleasantly surprised by the results.
How to Make Big and Bubbly Focaccia
Make the dough. Whisk together all-purpose flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil and mix together to form a shaggy dough. Cover the dough and set aside for 15 minutes.
Fold the dough. Using wet hands or a bowl scraper, fold the dough in on itself 8 to 12 times, working your way around the bowl. Lastly, flip the whole dough so the smooth part is facing up. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes.
Repeat folding. Repeat the folding and rising process an additional three times. Once the fourth fold is completed, cover the dough and allow it to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Transfer dough to a baking pan. Carefully transfer the dough to a greased baking pan and allow to rise for an additional 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Bake. Bake at 475°F for 15 to 18 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven and turn it off. Release the bread from the baking pan and put it back in the still warm oven for an additional five minutes before removing and allowing to cool completely.
My Honest Review
This was really tasty focaccia. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of flavor the bread had developed despite such a short proofing time. Where it really shines, though, is the texture. The use of the folding technique helps gluten development along without forcing you to knead the dough. It’s also much gentler than kneading, which means you’re not risking knocking air out of the dough — which is what gives the final bread its big pockets and impressive height. My bread baked up to a towering 2 1/4 inches, which gave it a satisfying chew and also makes it great for slicing horizontally for sandwiches.
The clever extra step of removing the bread from the pan and putting it back in the oven for a few minutes gave the bottom and sides of the bread a nice crunchy texture, without getting too dry. The next time you’re in the mood for focaccia but don’t want to commit to a 24-hour project, give this recipe a try.
Tips for Making Big and Bubbly Focaccia
The size of the baking pan really matters. The recipe was developed in a 9×9-inch square baking pan, which I don’t own. Helpfully, the recipe lists alternatives that will work, plus what won’t. I opted to bake the bread in a 9-inch round springform pan, which was the correct surface area and had high enough sides to allow the dough to get to its intended height.
Don’t flip the dough in the pan. There was only one step in the recipe I found tricky. After carefully transferring the dough from the bowl to the prepared baking pan, you have to flip it over, coating both sides in olive oil. This was difficult to do without dragging the strip of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan along, since the dough is very sticky. When making this recipe again, I would just add a bit of extra olive oil to the top and skip attempting to flip.
Add toppings. The next time I make this bread I’m going to try adding some toppings. Those deep dimples are begging for some chopped fresh rosemary, olives, or chopped cherry peppers. Maybe even all three.
Bake it & let us know what you think in the comments!
Further Reading
Why People Are Ditching Their Seltzer After a Disturbing Study
The “Beautiful” $3 Flower Tumblers at Walmart People Are Buying 2 at a Time
Reese’s Just Launched a Limited-Edition Peanut Butter Cup, and It Tastes 4x Better than the Original
