MAISON DE KENNEDY

Same-Day Parmesan Focaccia Rolls

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ (5/5) Tested by Cass — ~8 hrs · Makes 12 rolls

For when you want focaccia tonight but didn't mix the dough last night. Same focaccia, no overnight cold ferment — you trade a little flavour depth for speed by bumping the yeast and giving the dough a warm bulk rise on the counter. Twelve individually shaped rolls baked in a 9×13 so they tear apart cleanly. Soft pillowy interior, light golden top, crispy parmesan lace in the gaps. Made for dunking in the sundried tomato cream sauce.

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 g Bread Flour
• 400 g Warm Water — ~35°C / 95°F
• 10 g Fine Sea Salt
• 7 g Instant Active Dry Yeast
• 30 g Olive Oil — in the dough
• 100 g Parmesan — finely grated, in the dough

Pan & Topping

• 30 g Olive Oil — for the pan
• 80 g Parmesan — grated medium-coarse, for the tops
• Flaky Sea Salt — Maldon, be generous
• Fresh Rosemary — picked into short sprigs
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil — for drizzling

Method

1. Wet mix: Whisk the yeast into the warm water until dissolved, then stir in the 30 g olive oil. The water should feel like a warm bath on your wrist — not hot.
2. Combine: Flour, salt and the 100 g parmesan in a large bowl. Pour in the wet and mix with a wooden spoon or wet hand until no dry flour remains. It'll look shaggy and very wet. Do not knead.
3. Cover and leave on the counter somewhere warmish. If the kitchen is cool, set it on top of the fridge or near the oven.
4. Stretch & fold #1 after 30 minutes — wet hand, reach under the dough, pull up and over itself. Rotate the bowl 90° and repeat, 4 folds total. Re-cover.
5. Stretch & fold #2 30 minutes later. The dough will feel stronger and smoother.
6. Stretch & fold #3 30 minutes after that. Last one — then leave it alone.
7. Bulk ferment a further 2.5–3 hours until roughly doubled, jiggly and airy on top. Total bulk from mixing: about 3.5–4 hours.
8. Oil the pan: Generously, bottom and sides, with the 30 g olive oil. A 9×13.
9. Divide: Oil your hands and the bench. Tip the dough out — it'll be airy and very soft, so handle gently. Dust the top with a little flour, pat into a rough rectangle, and divide into 12 roughly equal pieces with a bench scraper, 3 across by 4 down.
10. Round and arrange: Cup each piece in oiled hands and gently round into a loose ball — don't overwork, you want the bubbles to survive. Into the pan in a 3×4 grid, just touching but not crammed. Cover loosely.
11. Second rise 60–75 minutes until pillowy and almost filling the pan. Slightly longer than the overnight version because the dough is fresher and less relaxed. They'll merge a little at the edges — perfect for tearing.
12. Preheat to 220°C / 425°F while they finish rising.
13. Dimple: Oiled fingertips, once or twice in the centre of each roll. Gentle, not all the way through — each roll should keep its dome.
14. Oil and cheese: Drizzle 2 tbsp olive oil over the tops, letting it pool in the dimples. Scatter the 80 g parmesan evenly — heavy on top and into the gaps between rolls. Those gaps become crispy parmesan edges, which are the best part.
15. Season: Flaky salt, generously, plus rosemary sprigs.
16. Bake 18–22 minutes until the tops are light golden brown — not deep brown — and the parmesan in the gaps is crisp and lacy. Start checking at 18.
17. Rest 5 minutes in the pan, then lift onto a rack so the bottoms don't go soggy. Best warm.

Notes

• How this differs from the overnight version: yeast goes from 4 g to 7 g, water from lukewarm to warm (~95°F), bulk ferment from 18–24 hours in the fridge to 3.5–4 hours on the counter with stretch-and-folds, and a touch more rosemary and flaky salt to compensate for the shallower flavour. Everything else — hydration, parmesan, bake temp, bake time — is identical.
• Why it still works. 80% hydration keeps the crumb soft and open. The three stretch-and-folds in the first 90 minutes do the structural work kneading would. Heavy parmesan both in and on the dough means the flavour comes mostly from the cheese rather than the ferment — which is exactly why the same-day version holds up next to a loud sauce.
• Rising fast? A warm kitchen (over 75°F) can finish the bulk closer to 3 hours. Trust the dough, not the clock — when it's doubled and jiggly, shape it even if it's early, then let the shaped rolls take a slightly longer second rise to land on the same dinner time.
• Rising slow? Park the bowl on top of a warm (switched off) oven, or inside with just the light on. Aim for around 80°F. Don't go hotter — you want a leisurely rise, not a hot sprint.

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