Focaccia Bread

I am super excited about this recipe. Although bread baking really isn't my thing I have wanted to make Focaccia bread for a while.

I was curious if I could make one as good as some of my local bakeries. And the answer is a roaring YES! This Focaccia exceeded my expectations by a mile. It is so much easier than I thought. I am so happy I went ahead and made this today. Made my day! This would be great with most of the soup recipes posted on my blog (check them out here ), with any pasta meal or even as sandwich bread. I had a few cherry tomatoes from my garden and a small onion I used up for topping. I kept one side plain for my kiddos. You can keep it as simple as that or go crazy with toppings and herbs and an herb infused oil too if you'd like. Now that I am confident it will turn out I will definitely make this on a regular basis and try out different variations. Here is the simple recipe:

Ingredients:

2.5 cups water, warmed to approx 85 degrees F.

1 envelope dry active yeast

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more as needed

1 teaspoon salt

7 1/4 cups (2lbs) all-purpose flour

Maldon salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Put all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed until everything is well blended. Increase speed to medium and mix for a total of 10 minutes. The dough should be shiny and fairly loose. With hands, work dough into a ball (still in bowl). Drizzle with olive oil to cover dough lightly all over. Set aside to rise for approximately 1 hour or until double in size. Cover a jelly roll pan with parchment paper and turn dough into pan. Work the dough with your hands (dip your fingers in oil for ease) to flatten and stretch the dough to fit entire pan. Put aside to rise a second time 40-60 minutes. Dip fingers in oil again and make dimples all over dough all the way trough to the bottom. Top with herbs and/or toppings of your choice, and sprinkle generously with oil, making sure it runs into the wholes too. Sprinkle with Maldon salt, or any other coarse salt you may have. Bake at 425 F for 25-30 minutes until top is golden brown. Cool slightly on rack and enjoy. 

Focaccia is best the same day. If you have some left over freeze it in portion sizes. To reheat, let it thaw completely on counter top and heat in 350 degree oven about 3-5 minutes.