​I've got a focaccia on this blog for every occasion-when I want it bready, as a side to a meal; when I want it fluffy, to eat on it's own or to make a sandwich out of it; when I want it to be an overnight one, so I can make parts of it in advance; and now this one is my same day one, this is like my pizza night one.

This one is really light and fluffy, you can make it plain, or add toppings to it. I make it on nights when I don't know what to cook, but I have to feed the family and treat it like a pizza, it's a bit of a clean out the fridge kind of thing.

The dough is fabulous, it's everything you want in a focaccia. It's crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, the oil gives it so much flavour, I honestly think it's better than take out pizza, and it's so much cheaper, and you can add on anything you like. I use this same dough to make my focaccia with potatoes and everyone loves that one.

If you are adding pesto or chimichurri add it before dimpling the dough and you don't need to drizzle with extra oil as oil is already in both of these. For all other topping, add them after dimpling.

My family is loving my new passion for bread making, give it a try, you will love it.

​Recipe adapted from Instagram _lacebakes_

Makes 1 focaccia

500g white bread flour
420g warm water
6g instant yeast
5g honey
15g extra virgin olive oil
10g fine sea salt

Essential toppings:
extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Flaky sea salt, to sprinkle

Optional extras:
rosemary
olives
capsicum
onion
cheese
jalapenos
herbs
pesto
cherry tomatoes
chimichurri
​

In a large mixing bowl, add the warm water, yeast, honey and extra virgin olive oil. Mix with a wooden spoon. Add in the flour and salt and mix together until you have no dry patches. Sometimes I find using a damp hand, I give the bread 5-6 kneads, just to incorporate the flour better. The dough does not stick to a wet hand.

Cover the bowl with beeswax wraps or plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Now it's time to stretch and fold the dough. Release the dough from the side of the bowl, using a damp hand. This will deflate it. Perform a set of stretch and folds on the dough. To do this, wet your hand, then take a section of the dough furthest from you and stretch it up and fold it onto itself towards you. Rotate the bowl 90° and repeat the process. You need to do a total of 8 stretch and folds. You will get the dough roughly shaped like a ball. 

Cover the bowl again and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

Repeat the stretch and folds again. After this stretch and fold, using damp hands, gather your dough and place it seam side down into the bowl, so the top is smooth.

​Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 1.5 hours at room temperature.
​
Prepare your 22cm x 33cm baking tray. Put a teaspoon of oil in your tray, spread it around. Scrunch up a piece of baking paper that is cut larger than your tray, unscrunch it and place it in your baking tray, pressing into the corners.

Pour 2-3 tablespoons of oil into the centre of your pan. 

Place dough in your prepared pan. Now, oil your hands and fold one side of dough towards the middle of the dough. Repeat with the other side, like folding paper into thirds. The flip the dough so the seam is at the bottom and spin it so that the long ends are parallel with the long sides of the tray.

Let it sit to proof, at room temperature for about 1.5 hours. During this time the dough will puff up and fill up the tray.

When you have 30 minutes left of proofing time, preheat your oven to 220C/200C fan forced. Place your oven rack in the second from the bottom position in the oven.

If you are adding pesto or chimichurri, add it now, dollop it on, as much as you like really, then dimple the dough, no need to drizzle with oil as oil is an ingredient in both. Then continue as per recipe below.

For all plain or any other toppings, drizzle the dough with a little bit of olive oil and dimple it with oiled fingers. Top with a sprinkling of flaky sea salt. Add olives, rosemary (coat in oil, so it doesn't burn), cherry tomatoes etc, into the dimples.

Place in your oven for about 22 minutes or until your focaccia reaches a deep golden brown colour. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then move to a cooling rack and cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting it.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/easy-same-day-focaccia.html
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060718748410/

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​Recipe adapted from Instagram _lacebakes_

Makes 1 loaf

For the dough:
390g warm water
5g honey
15g extra virgin olive oil
6g instant yeast
500g white bread flour
10g fine sea salt
​

In a large mixing bowl add the water, yeast, honey and extra virgin olive oil. Mix together with a wooden spoon.

Add in the flour and salt and mix together until you have no dry patches. Sometimes I find using a damp hand, I give the bread 5-6 kneads, just to incorporate the flour better. The dough does not stick to a wet hand.

​Cover the bowl with beeswax wraps or plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.

​Now it's time to stretch and fold the dough.

Release the dough from the side of the bowl, using a damp hand. This will deflate it.
Perform a set of stretch and folds on the dough. To do this, wet your hand, then take a section of the dough furthest from you and stretch it up and fold it onto itself towards you. Rotate the bowl 90° and repeat the process. You need to do a total of 8 stretch and folds. You will get the dough roughly shaped like a ball.

​Cover the bowl again and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes repeat the stretch and folds one more time.

​Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 1.5 hours at room temperature.
​
Once the dough has finished proofing, place your Dutch oven (including the lid) in your oven and preheat your oven at 255C/235C fan forced.

​Now it's time to shape your loaf. The dough will be sticky, I like to use damp hands here. Place the bowl in front of you, think of the bowl like a clock, now using both hands lift the dough at the 12 o'clock position and pull it over 2/3 of the way down towards the 6 o'clock position. Now dampen hands with water and lift the dough from the 6 o'clock position and pull it over the dough you just pulled down towards the 12 o'clock position. Now rotate the bowl so that what was the 9 o'clock position becomes the 12 o'clock position. Repeat the pulling and folding (using damp hands) process again. The dough should now have tightened into a more ball like shape.

Now flip the dough gently out of the bowl onto your bench (set the bowl aside, you still need it). If the dough is really sticky, you can add a light dusting of flour on your bench first. The smooth side of the dough should now be on top. Now I use damp hands again, you can use floured hands, cup your hands around the dough and slowly start pulling it around and down to form a circular shape. The dough will tighten up and will look smoother around the edges. Continue until the ball feels slightly taut. This step comes with practice.

Cut out a piece of baking paper, longer than your ball width, by about 12-14cm, you need the extra length to use as handles to pick up the dough when you need to put it in your hot pot.

Gently place the dough ball in the centre of the baking paper.

​Flip your mixing bowl and place it over the top of the dough to cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.

​After 30 minutes remove the mixing bowl, it's time to score the bread. Using a serrated knife, the dough is a wet dough, so it is sticky, with a quick and confident decisive swipe, make a cut in the dough from top to bottom. You can dust a line of flour on the dough where you intend to cut it, to help the knife not stick to the dough.

​Remove the pot from the oven using oven gloves, it will be crazy hot, remove the lid. Carefully lift the dough using the baking paper and lower the bread into the pot. Place the lid back on and return the pot to the oven and bake the bread for 40-45 minutes.

After 40 minutes, lift the lid and check the colour of the bread, it needs to be deep golden brown when it has finished baking and it should sound hollow when you tap the bottom of it. Replace the lid if you think it needs a little more baking.

Remove the bread from the pot and place on a cooling rack.

​You need to wait at least 30 minutes before cutting into your bread.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/focaccia-loaf.html 
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060718627244/

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​I had been thinking about bread making for so long, but I have always put it in the too hard basket. Then one day I tried making a no knead bread, that was easy, then I tried a few more, they were easy, then I also made a few kneaded breads and I realised I was wrong, bread making is not hard at all, it's actually quite easy.

One thing I hate is going to the shops just for bread, and as I have one kid left at school, I had to go every second day at least, just to buy bread. So after trying a few loaves, which I would slice and make sandwiches with, I still wanted to get a few bread rolls happening. Then I came across this recipe.

Firstly, I had to buy the containers I needed. Now luckily my supermarket had a sale on these containers, I got a 3 pack for $8. Bargain. Why you need this size is when the dough proves in the fridge overnight, it expands and nearly fills up this container. The rectangle shape and the size of the container makes it easier to shape once it comes out.

​Once you have mixed your ingredients, you need 2 hours to tend to this bread, now you will only do about 2 minutes of work on the dough in those two hours, but you need to be around. This is when I clean the house. I set my timer for 30 minute intervals, clean the house, stretch and fold the dough, clean the house, stretch the dough. In those two hours, I have decluttered my house. It's brilliant.

These rolls are amazing. The crust is slightly crisp and thin and the inside is light and fluffy. They have a great bread flavour.

​This is great sandwich bread and is great for two days. After the second day I toast it or use it in a sandwich press and it is perfect.

Buy yourself kitchen scales they work best in recipes like these. I can't tell you how many different measures I get for 1 cup flour. Scales make things easier and more accurate.

When I double the recipe, I use two containers.

This is so easy to make, I've made it a few times now, and the results are always amazing. Give this a try, it won't disappoint.

​Recipe adapted from www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBLhiBFvdvw 

​Makes 3 rolls

2g instant dry yeast
6g sugar
4g sea salt
6g olive oil
175g warm water
225g bread flour

you need:
1 rectangle container 22.5cm x 16cm
(if doubling the recipe make it in two containers)
1 x Pastry scraper
​6 ice cubes
​

In your container add the yeast, sugar, salt, olive oil and warm water. Give it a stir with a fork. Add in your flour, stir the flour in until you have no dry flour left.​ It will be wet and sticky and will not look like bread, yet.

Get a kitchen timer, you are about to start the stretch and fold phase, this takes 2 hours. Set your timer to 30 minutes.

Cover your container and leave on your bench. On a piece of paper, note the time, say it's 9am. Start your timer. Go do something else for 30 minutes. I use this time to clean my house. An timer makes sure you don't get distracted.

​After your last stretch and fold, cover your container and place it in the fridge overnight, it needs 12-24 hours.

​The next day, just before you start shaping your dough, preheat your oven to 230C/210C fan forced.

Place one oven rack on your bottom level in your oven. Place a 20cm x 30cm baking pan on this rack, in this pan you will place ice cubes later on to create steam in your oven.

​Using an oven tray that comes with your oven, turn it upside down and place it on the second from the bottom level in you oven, you will bake your bread on this tray, putting it in upside down makes it easier to slide the rolls onto it.
.
Preheat your oven for 40 minutes. This is the time you need to shape and prove your bread once more.
​
Now take the dough out of the fridge, it will be plump, fluffy and full of air pockets.

On a clean bench, dust a rectangle of flour about 4cm wider than your container onto your bench. This dough is sticky, you need flour here now to help you work with it.

Dust the top of the dough in the container with flour also.​

​Turn you container over onto your floured bench, but hold it in the air, a centimetre from your bench, let the dough gently fall out onto the flour. Dust the top of the dough with flour.

Now you need to shape the dough and make it into a rough rectangle, evenly thick. You need to be gentle here as you don't want to lose all of your air bubbles. If the middle is puffy, just flour your hands and place them underneath the dough and stretch it out from underneath. This does not need to be perfect, it gets easier every time you make it.

​Now using your pastry scraper, cut the dough into 3 or 4 pieces. Sprinkle the cut sides with flour, they will be sticky.

Now place a sheet of baking paper on a flat baking tray, one that is large enough to fit the rolls on it, side by side, with gaps in between, if you don't have a flat tray, just turn a baking tray over.

Using your floured scraper, slide the scraper under one roll and flip the roll onto the baking paper, be careful to place it nicely so all the rolls fit on the tray. Repeat with the other 2 rolls. Gently brush off excess flour. You can use your scraper to fix up your shapes, I don't as I like the rustic look.

​Cover with a clean tea towel and rest for 30 minutes.

Now it's time to bake. Place 6 ice cubes in a bowl.

Grab your tray with your rolls and take it to the oven. Pull out the tray that is in your oven slightly and slide the baking paper with your rolls off the cold tray and onto the hot tray, push the tray back in and now quickly put the ice cubes into the baking pan on the shelf below. Close the oven and bake for about 18 minutes, until your rolls have puffed up and have browned to your liking.

Once done, slide the rolls on the baking paper back onto the cold tray, then place on a cooling rack to cool. Leave for 10 minutes, then they are ready to eat.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/ciabatta-rolls.html 
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060718595069/

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella