Focaccia

A wet, bubbly dough in an oiled pan, and the friendliest way to get used to sticky dough. King Arthur Baking's Big and Bubbly Focaccia, its 2025 Recipe of the Year, builds strength with four bowl folds 15 minutes apart instead of kneading. Those folds are the same stretch-and-fold sets sourdough recipes lean on, and doing them here, where a slack dough is forgiving, takes the fear out of them later. Pressing your fingertips right down to the bottom of the pan to dimple it also teaches you to read a proofed dough, which should look jiggly and full of air. Thick and pan-baked, it earns its place despite belonging to the flatbread family.