Pumpkin Focaccia (vegan)
You only need a few ingredients to make this incredible, soft, chewy, bubbly, herby pumpkin focaccia bread! It is made using the stretch and fold method so there is no kneading and very little hands-on time required!
Servings 1 loaf
Ingredients
Dough:
- 240 g (1 cup) tinned pumpkin puree
- 285 g (1 cup + 3 Tablespoons) lukewarm water
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 8 g (2 ½ teaspoons) fast action/instant yeast
- 10 g (1 ½ teaspoons) fine table salt
- 500 g (4 ¼ cups) white bread flour
Topping:
- extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
- 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
- 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Mix together the pumpkin puree, water and olive oil in a large bowl then stir in the yeast, salt and bread flour to make a well combined, sticky dough. Cover the bowl and leave to rest for 15 minutes.240 g (1 cup) tinned pumpkin puree, 285 g (1 cup + 3 Tablespoons) lukewarm water, 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 8 g (2 ½ teaspoons) fast action/instant yeast, 10 g (1 ½ teaspoons) fine table salt, 500 g (4 ¼ cups) white bread flour
- Perform the first set of stretch and folds - wet your hands and scoop up a side of the dough, lift it up to stretch it, fold it over the top and press it into the dough on the opposite side of the bowl. Repeat this, turning the bowl as you go, until you have performed about 8-12 stretch and folds. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Repeat the stretching and folding process 4 more times, covering the bowl and letting the dough rest for 15 minutes in between each.
- Once you have completed a total of 5 rounds of stretch and folds, cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise until doubled in size and very puffy. This should take around 1 hour at warm room temperature but could take about 1 ½ hours if it is cold out.
- Line a 23 x 33 cm/9 x 13 in baking pan with baking parchment and drizzle the base with about 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil (you can skip the parchment if you have a very good non-stick pan).
- Gently scrape the risen dough into the pan. Oil your hands and gently stretch the dough out to almost fill the tray, it is ok if it doesn't quite reach the corners.
- Cover and leave to rise until the dough has spread, is really bubbly and jiggles if you shake the pan. This should take around 1 hour at warm room temperature.
- While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 230℃/210℃ fan/450℉/gas mark 8.
- Once the dough is risen, scatter over the chopped sage and rosemary. Oil your hands really well and starting at a short edge of the pan, press your fingertips into the dough until they reach the bottom of the pan, creating dimples. Repeat this process, working your way from one end to the other, spacing the dimples about 3-4 cm apart. You want to thoroughly dimple the dough without deflating it so be gentle yet decisive. If there are any large un-dimpled areas of the dough, add additional ones using one finger.1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage, 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- Drizzle the dough with 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil, leting it pool in the dimples, then sprinkle over some flaky sea salt.extra virgin olive oil for drizzling, flaky sea salt
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until nicely browned and crisp.
- Remove the focaccia from the oven, let it cool for a couple of minutes then carefully transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely; do not leave it to cool in the pan otherwise the bottom will become soggy.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
- Always wet your hand before performing the stretch and folds to help prevent the dough from sticking to you.