Focaccine are the perfect aperitivo, snack, or picnic food ever! After so much promise of perfection, you can't help but try them. Especially since they don’t require any rising time – because they rise directly in the oven!
Yogurt and yeast
Of course, you’re probably wondering how these focaccine are as soft as leavened focaccine, even without the leavening. The secret is in the yogurt. Very often, in fact, it is also used in sweet and savory cake recipes to stimulate leavening in combination with baking soda – because the acidic ingredients combined with a leavening agent create a chemical reaction that allows any dough to rise while baking. Baking soda and lemon juice or baking soda and vinegar also work very well.
It tastes just like classic focaccia – plus, you can’t even taste the yogurt.
They can be more or less soft, depending on how you work the dough and bake it: For crunchy focaccine, spread the dough thinner. For thicker, fluffier focaccine, leave the dough sections thicker.
Which yogurt is best?
We recommend plain Greek yogurt – it’s tastier, creamier, and creates a texture and taste that’s more pleasing to the palate. But you can also opt for low-fat yogurt.
If you don't like yogurt, replace it with a spreadable cheese like cream cheese – it’s just as acidic, but a little less on the creamy side.
The recipe for focaccine with yogurt
Ingredients:
1 ½ cup | 500 g plain Greek yogurt
4 3/4 cups | 600 g flour 0 or 00 + 2 sachet of instant baking powder (16 g)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt
Method:
To make yogurt focaccine, you just need to work the self-leavening flour and yogurt.
Our advice is to add the flour to the yogurt little by little until you reach the perfect consistency of slightly moist pizza dough.
Depending on the type of yogurt and flour you use, the measurements may vary slightly, so you may need more flour. If you use yeast separately, sift it and add it to the rest of the ingredients. Be careful not to choose powdered brewer’s yeast because it won't work the same way. Once the dough is ready, just knead it to make focaccine (since the dough doesn’t need to rise).
Brush the focaccine with a little oil and season with coarse salt.
Bake at 395°F (200°C) in a static oven for 15 minutes on a baking sheet covered with lightly oiled baking parchment.
Variants on the recipe
You can fill the focaccine by cutting them in half or add grilled or sautéed vegetables to the surface before baking.
You can also decorate the focaccine with cherry tomatoes or sundried tomatoes. And if you use a greek fruit yogurt, you can turn them into a sweet snack.
These focaccine are great for sandwiches if you leave them round and fluffy.
Browse our photo tutorial for more tips on making these quick and easy focaccine with yogurt!