Garlic Butter No-Knead Focaccia
Nov 15, 2023, Updated Jul 10, 2024
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There is nothing ordinary about this garlic butter no-knead focaccia. I have become known for my signature no-knead focaccia, my beloved garlic confit and, of course, my obsession with slathering garlic butter onto anything I can. This recipe brings together all three of my most famous “Daen’s Kitchen” staples into one incredibly fluffy, golden and buttery focaccia that is the ultimate upgrade to classic garlic bread. Best of all, the dough is completely no knead, making this show-stopping bread unbelievably easy to make.
Why you’ll love this garlic butter no-knead focaccia!
You are going to fall head over heels for this focaccia. It has everything I love in one bite! That beautiful mellow flavour from my garlic confit, the richness of homemade garlic butter and the fluffy, olive-oil-kissed focaccia that so many of you now make weekly. I have shared so many focaccia toppings over the years, from juicy tomatoes, salty olives to a sweet cinnamon scroll version, but this one feels extra special because it brings all my signature flavours together
It feels cosy, familiar and a little bit indulgent, like something you’d proudly place in the centre of your Thanksgiving, Christmas or dinner party table and watch disappear in minutes. And let me tell you this, it truly does disappear in minutes! And because the dough is no knead, it’s one of those recipes that anyone can make, whether you’re a seasoned baker or just dipping your toes into bread making.
Ingredients Needs for Garlic Butter No-Knead Focaccia
The ingredients for this garlic butter focaccia are beautifully simple, using a handful of pantry staples and my signature garlic confit to create the most flavour-packed bread. Ingredients for the dough are pictured below.
- Bread flour: I like to use bread flour over all purpose flour as it creates a softer and chewier bread. The brand I like to use is by Lighthouse. If you can’t get your hands on bread flour, all purpose regular flour will work just fine!
- Yeast: I always opt for a dry yeast which is a type of dehydrated yeast used in baking to help dough rise. It’s made up of dormant yeast cells that become active when mixed with warm water. The brand of dry yeast I like to use is by Tandaco as they come in conveniently sized 7g sachets. You could also use instant yeast! Just skip the step of adding the yeast to the water as instant yeast can be added straight to your flour.
- Salt: Fine kosher sea salt is best for when making doughs.
- Olive oil: Olive oil is the most important ingredient when making focaccia! It gives the bread its signature golden crust, rich flavour, and tender, pillowy texture. Always use a high quality extra virgin olive oil when making focaccia!
- Garlic butter: A mix of soft butter, garlic confit cloves and lots of fresh herbs. You could also buy pre-made garlic butter if you are short on time.
How To Make Garlic Butter No-Knead Focaccia
Making this garlic butter focaccia is as easy as mixing the no knead dough, letting it rise and drenching it in homemade garlic butter before baking.
- Step 1: Whisk flour and salt. Then, pour in the yeast mixture
- Step 2: Mix together the dry and wet ingredients with a spoon or your hands. Continue to mix until you form a wet, sticky dough without dry spots. Cover the bowl with plastic or a damp cloth for 10 minutes.
- Step 3: Afterward, with damp hands, stretch a piece of the dough and fold it across itself. Turn the bowl and repeat this action three more times or until a ball begins to form, covering the dough again for another 10 minutes.
- Step 4: Continue this stretching and folding process until the dough shapes into a ball.
- Step 5: Coat a clean bowl with 20g of olive oil.
- Step 6: Place the dough inside the oiled bowl and cover it tightly with plastic. Let it rest in the fridge between 12 to 72 hours; this is the first proof.
- Step 7: Oil a baking tin with another 20g of olive oil and transfer the dough to it.
- Step 8: Gently stretch the dough to a rough rectangle, but not to the tin’s edges—it will spread as it rises. Cover and let the dough rise for 2 hours in a warm spot or until it doubles in size.
- Step 9: While the dough proofs, make your garlic confit.
- Step 10: Combine all ingredients for the garlic butter into a blender and blend until combined.
- Step 11: Dimple the dough with your fingers. It’s best to oil your hands to prevent them from sticking to the dough and drizzle the garlic butter all over.
- Step 12: Bake for 30 minutes at 400°F / 200°C or until golden and crunchy on the outside.
FAQ’s
Yes, you can, but my homemade garlic butter (made with garlic confit and fresh herbs) is much tastier!
Absolutely. The no knead dough can rest overnight in the fridge and will develop even better flavour and texture.
No! This focaccia is completely no knead. A bowl, a spoon, your hands and time are all you need.
Yes, both work well. Just follow the same measurements and skip the step where the yeast needs to be activated in water.
34cm x 23cm x 5cm.
How To Serve
- Serve warm, straight from the oven, when the garlic butter is still melting into all the little focaccia pockets.
- Slice it into thick squares and pair it with rich tomato based pasta, dipped into a creamy soup or a bright green salad.
- Use it as the base for sandwiches! It makes the most incredible focaccia panini.
- Tear it apart and serve as a starter with olives, burrata or a drizzle of extra olive oil.
How To StORE
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. You can also keep in the fridge for up to 6 days.
- Warm slices in the oven or air fryer for a few minutes to bring back that crispy, fluffy texture.
- You can also freeze the focaccia for up to 3 months — just wrap it well and thaw before reheating.
More Garlic Butter Recipes!
If you make this garlic butter no-knead focaccia, please tag me on Instagram, Tik Tok or Pinterest so I can see your wonderful creations! If you have any questions or would like to leave a review, please do so here! I always love answering your food and recipe related questions and hearing your feedback on my recipes.
Garlic Butter No-Knead Focaccia
Ingredients
Garlic Butter
- 2 bulbs garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup chives , finely sliced
- 1/2 cup parmesan, grated
- salt and pepper
Focaccia
- 700 g bread flour
- 680 g lukewarm water, (100 degrees F / 34 degrees C) 95% hydration
- 7 g dry yeast
- 12 g fine sea salt
- 1 tbsp honey, optional
- 60 g extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tbsp garlic butter
Instructions
Garlic Butter
- Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F
- Bake garlic: Using a sharp knife, slice the top off the garlic bulbs, about 2 – 3 cm down from the top to expose the raw cloves. Place the bulbs of garlic into the centre of an oven proof dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 1 hour.
- Remove garlic cloves: Take the dish out of the oven and remove the garlic from the dish and set to the side. Allow to slightly cool until you are able to handle it. Using your fingers, squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skin.
- Blend butter: Place the garlic cloves, butter, chives, parmesan and pinch of salt and pepper into a food processor and blend. Alternatively, everything can be mashed together with a fork in a large bowl.
No-Knead Focaccia
- Activate yeast: In a medium bowl, mix together the lukewarm water, yeast and honey with a whisk and leave to sit for 5 minutes or until the yeast has foamed. This will indicate that your yeast is active.
- Dry ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt and whisk together. Add the yeast water to the bowl with the flour and bring together with a wooden spoon or your hands until the flour and water is combined and there are no dry parts. The dough should be wet and sticky. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and leave to sit for 10 minutes.
- Stretch & fold: Uncover the dough and begin to stretch and fold. To do this, wet your hands, then take a section of the dough and stretch it up and fold it onto itself on the opposite side. Rotate the bowl and repeat this step three more times until you have gone all the way around the bowl. Cover and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Repeat the stretch and fold method until a neat ball has formed.
- 1st proof: In a clean bowl, drizzle 20g of extra virgin olive oil all around the sides and into the bottom. Transfer the dough to the oiled bowl and cover very well with plastic wrap. Leave to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 18 hours and maximum of 72 hours. This is the first proof.
- 2nd proof: Prepare a baking tin (34cm x 23cm x 5cm) by greasing it with 20g of extra virgin olive oil. Transfer the proofed dough to the oiled baking tin. Using your fingers, stretch the dough out slightly into a rough rectangular shape. There is no need to stretch the dough out to the edges of the pan as the dough will rise and spread. Cover the tin with a damp tea towel and leave the dough to rise in a warm area of your house for 2 – 3 hours. If your dough is uncovered there is risk of too much air getting into the dough and creating a dry and crusty layer on top.
- Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F
- Melt butter: Melt 4tbsp of garlic butter in the microwave or on a low heat on the stovetop.
- Dimple & bake: Once the dough has risen, use your fingers to dimple the dough. Drizzle the dough with the garlic butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil. This will help the crust of the dough get golden and crispy when baking. Finish off with a sprinkling of flakey sea salt. Bake for 30 minutes or until the dough has developed a golden crust on top.
- Slice & serve: Let the bread slightly cool before removing it from the baking tray. Place onto a wire rack and leave to rest for 30 minutes before slicing into it.
Notes
- Yeast: I like to use dry yeast that needs to be activated in water however, you can use instant yeast if you prefer. There is no need to activate instant yeast so simply add it to the dry ingredients along with the water and honey.
- Flour: If you don’t have bread flour, all purpose flour will also work.
- Garlic butter: Store any leftover garlic butter in the fridge for up to 7 days!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
I am an absolute novice bread maker and this recipe came out to perfection! We made it on Christmas and have made it 3x since. It will be a staple in our home – thank you!!
Yay! I love to hear that!
This recipe is amazing and has worked so well! If I want to make the focaccia a bit bigger to fit in a bigger tray do you just up the flour ratio and water ratio equally? Example 800grm of bread flour and 780gr of luke warm water and maybe a little more salt?
I am so happy to hear that! The best way to work it out is to follow the bakers percentage. 100% is the flour and you want anywhere from 80 – 100% hydration for the dough so that will be the water. Salt is 2% and yeast is 1%. Google it if you need a little more explanation but I hope that helps!
can this be made with gluten Free flour? If yes, what type of adjustments should be made to the recipe?
I have never made it with GF flour! It might be best to follow a GF focaccia recipe for the best result.
Hi!! What yeast do you typically use? I’m a new baker and I want the greatest chance of success so I’d love to use exactly what you used!
I use a 7g sachet of dry yeast. If you head to my garlic confit focaccia page, I have lots of notes on how to make the focaccia and what brand of ingredients i use.
Oh, My! SO good!! SO GOOD!! I used recipe scaled to six servings and it filled my 9x13ceramic pan. I had some garlic stuffed olives so I thinly sliced those and scattered on top. Light, airy, crispy edges, chewy and flavorful. 👍
What size baking dish?
The baking dish is 34cm x 23cm x 5cm.
The ingredient list calls for 2 bulbs of garlic for the garlic butter, but in the instructions it references a single bulb?
I have updated it to reference 2 garlic bulbs!
I’m not much much of a baker as my heart lies in cooking and I absolutely adore your focaccia recipe. It’s easy and delicious and perfect for non-bakers like myself. I’ve made it many times, to go with soups, to go with charcuterie and cheese boards and to simply enjoy as is, maybe with a little fleur de sel and authentic Italian olive oil. However it was served, it has never failed to make everyone enthusiastic. Thanks!
Do you have to use bread flour or can you use regular flower?
I think bread flour yields a better result but you can absolutely use all purpose if that is all you have!
You’re cooking vessel seem to be glass and covered with crinkled parchment paper is that correct? Because when I’ve made the facacia it stuck crazy to the glass baking sheet
It’s an enamel baking tin. Use baking paper if you are worried it might stick!
Yes, a little bit more info on the pan and pan prep would be appreciated. (Size? Edges or flat? Buttered? etc). My trial batch is proofing overnight, and I am excited for this recipe!
The pan I use is 34cm x 23cm x 5cm.
I have made other foccacia recipes a bunch of times with all purpose flour and they have all failed. The bread turns out very oily inside and out, so chewy and tough that it’s almost hard to chew. Is that because of the all purpose flour? Because I want to make your recipe but I’m so scared it’s gonna be a waste of time and that it’s gonna fail. I don’t know how to get the crispy outside and fluuuuffy inside 🙁 plz help