If I haven’t convinced you yet to try no-knead bread, perhaps this post will. These easy little Focaccia Rolls are so good that I’ve had to stash them in my freezer just so that I won’t eat them all up. Sure, they’re just 30 seconds in the microwave away from being warm and delicious again, but at least the freezer has slowed me down a little ;)
Also check out our classic no knead focaccia bread recipe!
No-Knead Focaccia Rolls
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Trade Effort for Time
These Focaccia Rolls are really easy, but they do need to take their sweet time. You’ll need to start them the day before, so plan ahead. Actual hands-on time is probably less than 30 minutes, most of which is dedicated to shaping the dough into the rolls. All of the “work” is done by the yeast as the dough ferments overnight.
Flavor Your Focaccia Rolls
I brushed each roll with olive oil and then sprinkled Italian seasoning on top. I love the texture that the olive oil gave the rolls, but you could certainly make them without if you want. Also, you could mix dry herbs right into the dough (with the other dry ingredients in the beginning) and have an herb-infused roll. There are so many possibilities. Run with it!
Freeze for Later
As I mentioned above, I love freezing these Focaccia Rolls! Just make sure to cool the rolls completely at room temperature to prevent condensation, then place them in a gallon-sized freezer bag, and pop them in the freezer. Then you can just take a couple out at a time to thaw as needed. They thaw quickly at room temperature, or if you want to rewarm them, just wrap them in foil and pop them in a hot oven for a few minutes. Done!
No-Knead Focaccia Rolls
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour ($0.59)
- 1/2 Tbsp salt ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp instant yeast ($0.02)
- 2 cups water ($0.00)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.24)
- 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning ($0.30)
Instructions
- The day before (about 18 hours ahead of time) combine the flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Stir until well mixed. Add the water, starting with 1.5 cups, and add a little more at a time until the flour forms a cohesive, wet ball. There should not be any dry flour left on the bottom of the bowl. The total amount of water you’ll need will vary, but should be between 1.5 to 2 cups. See the photos below for more info.
- Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for 16-18 hours to ferment.
- After 16-18 hours, the dough will look like a large, bubbly mass. Sprinkle with enough flour to be able to scrape it out of the bowl without it sticking to your hands. Place the dough on a well floured surface. Cut the dough into 12 pieces. Shape each piece into a small ball. The dough will be quite wet, floppy, and sticky, so sprinkle liberally with flour as you work.
- Place the rolls on a baking sheet covered in foil and lightly sprayed with non-stick spray (I used two baking sheets). Brush the top of each lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning over top. Let rise for 30 minutes to one hour or until doubled in size.
- While the rolls are still rising, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Once it is fully preheated, place the rolls in the oven and bake until the surface is a light golden brown (about 25 minutes). Serve warm!
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Nutrition
Video
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Focaccia Rolls – Step By Step Photos
Begin a day ahead of time by stirring together the flour, salt, and yeast.
Starting with 1.5 cups of water, add just enough to form a wet, sticky ball of dough. There should be no dry flour left on the bottom of the bowl or on the surface of the dough. It is better for the dough to be slightly too wet than too dry at this point.
Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for 16-18 hours to ferment. After that time, it will have expanded into this big, frothy mass.
Sprinkle the dough liberally with flour so that you can scrape it out of the bowl without it sticking to your hands. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface. The dough will be very loose, soft, and sticky.
Cut the dough into four equal parts and then cut each quarter into three pieces to yield 12 pieces total.
Shape each piece into a ball, sprinkling with flour as you go (the dough will still be quite sticky). Place the balls on a baking sheet covered with foil and lightly coated with non-stick spray.
Lightly brush each roll with olive oil and then sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Let rise for about one hour or, if your kitchen is warm and you’re impatient like me, let rise for 30 minutes.
Towards the end of the rise time, begin to preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Once it is fully preheated, place the rolls in the oven and bake until they are light golden brown on the surface (about 25 minutes). Serve hot!
I am gluten-free, and I usually just tweek the recipes with my gf all purpose flour, but since it has no gluten, getting to raise is difficult, so I use gf Xanthan Gum to take the place of gluten. I didn’t get the raise that you described and I might get the rolls that this recipes call for, but I tried. Do by any chance have this recipe for people that don’t eat gluten in their flour, I love the taste of focaccia bread.
I wish I knew some tricks, but I don’t! Gluten is definitely vital to making this turn out right. Check out this blog, Gluten Free On A Shoestring, because she does a lot of gluten free breads. You’ll probably find some tricks there and she may even have a foccacia recipe. I hope that helps! :)
I made these and they came out delicious! The only thing I did different was to cut the dough into 8 pieces (instead of 12) and placed each one into a 4 inch spring form pan. They came out perfect size for sandwiches or burgers. Thanks for a great new way to make my favorite kind of bread!
I have seen Heaven, and it is these rolls. I’ve made them in the past, months ago, but this time was different. I really wanted olive bread, but I knew making a big loaf would be very dangerous (as in I’d devour it probably in a single sitting…warm and dipped in olive oil and balsamic, nothing better!). I remembered these rolls, and after a quick Google to ensure that adding olives to a no-knead recipe wouldn’t mess it up, I mixed about a cup of chopped olives and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning into the dry ingredients (using 1 cup whole wheat flour and the rest AP). HALLELUJAH. Perfect crust, so moist and tender on the inside, with the occasional olive to spice things up. Everyone, I urge you to try it. You will NOT regret it.
Dear god. These were AMAZING! So glad that I made them tonight to go with my homemade veggie burgers. The store rolls are full of crap ingredients and are expensive-these were so quick (prep time..not total time) and easy to make!
Hey Beth! I love your recipes. I’m looking for a bun recipe to use (town “bakery” simply heats up frozen dough filled with gross ingredients and it cost’s sooo much!). Do you think I could simply make these larger to accommodate sandwiches? Would I need to adjust my cooking time?
Yes, you definitely can. Just keep an eye on them in the oven and take them out when they’re golden brown. It’s basically the same as this ciabatta recipe, so you can do it in a big, flat loaf and cut it into squares for sandwiches.
Thanks!
I checked my yeast and it is active dry yeast. Then I scrolled down and saw that you said bread machine yeast is instant yeast. I want to try making these today. (I do have bread machine yeast that I haven’t opened yet…not sure why I had bought it, but I’m glad I did)
I don’t see anything written in any of the posts about the temperature of the water. Should it be warm or room temperature? I am sure this makes a difference to this recipe….if you could respond to this post that would be great. I just found your blog and I’m looking forward to trying your recipes!
It can just be plain old room temperature water. :)
I just discovered your site, and am so glad I did. To the people who are having trouble with the bread not rising, could it be your yeast has has reached its expiration date?
My room temperature is 32ยฐC or 90F (I live in the Caribbean). Does that mean I have to reduce the amount of yeast or reduce the 18 hours? Thanks :)
Hmm, yes, maybe reduce it to 12 hours instead. I wouldn’t reduce the amount of yeast, though.
I make these once every couple months. They’re too dangerous to keep in the house for me but they’re great to take for the holidays :)
Sorry for insisting in this, Beth, but I read all the comments for this post and it just made me really want to make those rolls tomorrow morning. However, I just checked and I only have active dry yeast. :(
So let’s say I’m a very stubborn person, which advice would you give me?
Should I follow your steps, but mix the yeast with warm water before and then add them to the mixture? Should I do the proofing with the whole amount of water?
Why didn’t I find you yesterday? Hahaha
I’ll be honest, I haven’t tried it with active dry, so I can’t vouch for it, but I would try mixing it into the water instead of the dry ingredients. I would still let it proof for the whole amount of times since it’s such a small amount of yeast. Let me know if it works out!
I made these for the first time, tonight. They taste wonderful, but they didn’t rise, much; yours look so rounded, like little balls, but mine kind of spread out and looked a little flat and asymmetrical! Did I do something wrong?
You may need just a touch more flour next time.
These have been a staple of mine for a while, but on the most recent batch, I mixed in 1/2 tsp of oregano and 1/2 tsp of basil to the dry ingredients. My god. They are delicious.
I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong here – I’ve made these three times in the past month and each time they were delicious but very flat; they spread while they’re rising on the pan and end up being as big as my hand and too flat to cut in half to make a sandwich. The first time I used as little flour as possible, the second I mixed in enough flour that they were hardly sticky, and the third time I chilled the dough, but they always turn out the same. Is there a secret to the round, fluffy shape that I’m missing?
Hmm, I was going to suggest adding more flour, but you’ve tried that. The only other thing I can think of is to work the dough a bit as you’re shaping them into balls. Don’t roll them in your hands to make them round, but pull the dough over itself and pinch it together on the bottom. Do that a few times over until you have a semi-tight ball. I hope that makes sense!
All entries to this point rave over these rolls and I want to, too! They were delicious! Amazingly simple recipe (as long as I plan ahead) and so much flavor. Thank you! Question: I see that you’ve frozen them after baking and cooling, but I’m wondering if the dough can be frozen, then remove, (thaw?), and bake later?
Hmm, I know you can with regular bread dough, but I haven’t tried it with this slow-rise no-knead dough.
I LOVED these! I made them this morning and I’ve already eaten 3! Will definitely be trying the no knead bread as well.