Spider Web Focaccia

Ingredients

Dough

• 500g (4 cups) bread flour 100%
• 375g (1½ cups + 1 tbsp) water, room temperature 75%
• 5g (1½ tsp) instant yeast 1%
• 10g (1¾ tsp) fine sea salt 2%
• 25g (2 tbsp) olive oil (for the dough) 5%
• 7g (1 tsp) honey or sugar 1.4%

Pan and Topping

• 45g (3 tbsp) olive oil (for the pan and drizzle)
• 4g (1 tsp) flaky sea salt
• 3g (1 tbsp) fresh rosemary or thyme leaves

The Web and the Spider

• 90g (about 20 olives) black olives, sliced into thin rings and strips
• 80g (1 whole pepper) roasted red pepper, cut into thin strips
• 10g (2 olives) whole black olive plus 1 sliced olive (the spider)

Total flour: 500g

Hydration: 75%

Pro tip: Slice the olives lengthwise into strips for the web lines and save the neat rings for the spiral. Two cuts, two jobs, one can of olives.

Equipment

• Digital Kitchen Scale
• Dough Whisk (optional)
• 9x13 inch Metal Baking Pan
• Large Mixing Bowl

Method

Mix the Dough (10 minutes, no kneading)

This is a wet, no-knead style dough. A dough whisk and a few folds do all the work a mixer would.

1. Combine Everything. In a large bowl, stir the honey and instant yeast into the water. Add the flour, salt, and olive oil and mix until no dry flour remains. It will be sticky and rough. That's right.
2. Two Sets of Folds. Cover and rest 20 minutes, then do a set of stretch and folds with wet hands. Repeat once more after 20 minutes. The dough transforms from shaggy to smooth without a single minute of kneading.

Bulk Rise (1½ hours, or overnight in the fridge)

Same-day works. Overnight in the fridge works better and puts the shaping on party day, 30 minutes of hands-on time.

1. Choose Your Path. Same-day: cover and rise 1½ hours until doubled and bubbly. Overnight: cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours, then continue straight from the fridge.

Wait: Bulk Rise

Pan, Proof, and Dimple (1 hour mostly hands-off)

Oil is the difference between focaccia and bread baked in a pan. Don't be shy with it.

1. Pan the Dough. Pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into the 9x13 pan and spread it everywhere. Tip the dough in, turn it once to coat, and stretch it gently toward the corners. If it resists, wait 15 minutes and stretch again.
2. Proof in the Pan. Cover and proof 45-60 minutes (75-90 minutes if the dough came from the fridge) until puffy and jiggly.
3. Dimple. Oil your fingertips and press straight down to the pan bottom all over the dough. Confident, deep dimples. Drizzle with the remaining oil.

Wait: Pan Proof

Spin the Web (10 minutes)

The web reads best with high contrast: dark olive lines on pale dough, red pepper accents catching the light.

1. Lay the Spokes. Start at one corner of the pan. Lay olive strips in straight lines fanning out from that corner across the dough, like wheel spokes. Five or six spokes is plenty.
2. Connect the Rings. Lay curved arcs of olive rings and roasted pepper strips connecting spoke to spoke in two or three concentric rows. Press every piece gently but firmly into the dough so the web survives the oven spring.
3. Place the Spider. Set a whole olive near the web's center, tuck eight thin olive slivers around it as legs, and scatter the herbs across the open dough. Finish with flaky salt.

Tip: Press the toppings in like you mean it. Gently laid toppings pop off when the dough springs in the oven.

Bake (25 minutes)

Hot enough to brown the bottom, short enough to keep the web dark against golden dough.

1. Bake. Bake at 220°C (425°F) on a middle-low rack for 22-25 minutes, until the top is golden and the edges are frying gently in the pan oil.
2. Cool in the Pan Briefly. Rest 5 minutes in the pan, then slide onto a rack so the bottom stays crisp. Serve warm in squares.

Design Options

The corner web is the classic. Full-pan web if you're feeling ambitious.

Corner Web with Spider (recommended)

Spokes fan from one corner, arcs connect them, spider sits mid-web. Fast and dramatic.

1. Spokes First. Straight olive lines from the corner outward.
2. Arcs Second. Curved connecting rows, then the spider.

Full-Pan Web

Spokes radiate from the pan's center to all four edges with complete concentric rings. Budget an extra 10 minutes and about 50% more olives.

1. Center Out. Mark the center with the spider's body, then lay 8 spokes to the edges.
2. Ring by Ring. Three concentric rings of olive and pepper arcs.

Proof test: The dough should jiggle like a waterbed when you shake the pan. Firm means wait, jiggly means dimple.

Bake Hot with an Oiled Pan

The oil in the pan shallow-fries the base while the top browns.

Oven: 220°C / 425°F. Internal temperature when done: 96°C / 205°F.

Metal 9x13 Pan (Recommended) (recommended)

Middle-low rack for a crisp, golden bottom.

Equipment: 9x13 metal baking pan

1. Preheat. 220°C (425°F), rack in the lower middle.
2. Bake. 22-25 minutes until golden with frying edges.
3. Release. 5 minutes in the pan, then onto a rack.

Note: If the olives look like they're scorching at 15 minutes, tent loosely with foil for the remainder. Better yet, next time press them deeper.

Storage

• Room temperature: Best the day it's baked. Up to 2 days wrapped, refreshed in a hot oven.
• Refrigerated: Not recommended. The fridge turns the crumb gummy.
• Frozen: Up to 1 month in squares. Refresh at 180°C (350°F) for 8 minutes from frozen.

Day-two spider web focaccia splits into the best Halloween sandwich bread you'll ever serve.

Frequently Asked Questions

My web toppings fell off or sank. What happened?

Two failure modes. Fell off: they weren't pressed in firmly before baking. Sank: the dough was underproofed and swallowed them during oven spring. Proof until jiggly, then press each piece in with real intention.

Can I use my sourdough starter instead of yeast?

Yes. Swap the instant yeast for 100g of active starter, reduce the water to 325g and the flour to 450g, and expect the bulk rise to run 4-6 hours at room temperature. The overnight fridge path works beautifully with sourdough.

What else works for the web besides olives?

Sun-dried tomato strips, thin-sliced red onion arcs, and chive stems all hold their lines. Stay away from wet toppings like fresh tomato, which steam and blur the design.

Can I bake it ahead for a party?

Focaccia is best within 6 hours, but you can bake it in the morning and refresh at 180°C (350°F) for 5-6 minutes before serving. The overnight dough path is the better trick: cold dough in the fridge, fresh focaccia an hour and a half before guests arrive.

Nutrition

Per serving (1 square (95g)): 210 calories, 34g carbohydrates, 6g protein, 6g fat, 2g fiber, 420mg sodium. Makes 12 servings.