Easy Focaccia Bread
For the Focaccia dough, you can use either bread flour or all-purpose flour. Bread flour is higher in gluten therefore your bread is lighter and chewier than bread that’s more dense and crumbly. Good choices for toppings are olives, caramelized onions, tomato slices, roasted peppers, shredded cheese, and all kinds of herbs. Finish it with good quality olive oil. You can also add slices of well seasoned Focaccia bread to your salad.
Store your leftover Focaccia in an airtight container leave it at room temperature. It stays fresh for 2-3 days, reheats in a toaster oven for 2 minutes or until well heated, and serve warm.
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Here’s what you need:
for the dough
- ALL PURPOSE FLOUR OR BREAD FLOUR – the bread flour has more gluten and your dough will have more elasticity and more fluffier.
- INSTANT YEAST – you can just add it to the flour mixture, but you can also add to warm water with sugar and wait for 10 minutes or until it’s foamy.
- WARM WATER
for the toppings
- TOMATO SLICES – are nice for flower design on the bread
- HERBS – fresh parsley, thyme, rosemary, and sage, these fresh herbs are also part of the design on topy
- FOR THE SEASONINGS – salt and red chili pepper flakes
- OLIVE OIL – mor olive to drizzle on top before baking
How to make the dough:
Getting ready to bake the Focaccia Bread:
- I used a stand mixer. In the mixing bowl, add warm water (100ºF), sugar, and yeast, stir to mix, let the mixture sits until frothy, then you’re ready add the flour. Use your the hook attachment, turn the mixer into low speed, gradually add the flour. When the flour starts to come together, add 1/4 cup olive oil, continue mixing until well incorporated. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl. Knead for 10 minutes or until smooth (don’t overwork the dough). Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, let rise for one hour in a warm place.
- Grease a 9×13 pan, dump the dough into the pan, spread, and stretch the dough to fill up the pan. Poke it to make indents (but don’t poke holes), generously season with salt, red chili pepper flakes, dried herbs and drizzle with olive oil. Design the focaccia dough with fresh veggies any way you want. I used tomato slices for my flower design.
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Easy Focaccia Bread
Equipment
- 9×13 baking pan
- Standing mixer with a hook attachment (option)
- Bowls
Ingredients
FOR THE DOUGH
- 4 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour, more for dusting
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 packet (0.25 oz.) dry instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 1/2 cup warm water, 100ºF
FOR THE DRIED HERBS AND TOPPINGS
- 1 tomato, sliced
- 4 stalks flatly parsley,
- 1 sprig rosemary, tear the leaves from the stem
- 3 sprigs thyme, pull leaves from the stems
- 1 teaspoon rosemary flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
Instructions
FOR THE DOUGH
- In the mixing bowl, add warm water, yeast, and sugar. Mix until combined, set aside for 10 minutes, or until it's foamy.
- Use the hook attachment for your mixer, add the flour gradually to the yeast mixture. Mix for 5-8 minutes or until the dough comes together. Add olive oil, mix to combine. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl.
- Lightly flour a surface, knead the dough for 10 minutes or until smooth. Form the dough into a ball. Lightly grease a bowl, place the dough into the bowl, cover with a kitchen towel.
- Place the dough in a warm area of your house, let rise for an hour or until it double the size. Grease a 9×13 baking pan. After proofing the dough, dump into a prepared pan. Spread and stretch the dough to cover the whole pan.
FOR THE SEASONINGS AND TOPPINGS BEFORE BAKING
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Use your fingers to poke the dough to mark indentations, this way the seasonings and oil can soak in the dough.
- Season with salt, red chili pepper flakes, herbs, and brush with oil. Place the tomato slices, parsley stems, leaves, and fresh herbs on top to form a flower design.
- Cover the prepared dough with a kitchen towel. Let rise for 30 minutes before baking. When ready, bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.
Notes
- You can use any veggies to design your focaccia. Caramelized onions and cheese are great options.
- Don’t overwork and overbake the dough, they tend to get tough and not as soft.
- You can also make a sauce to top your focaccia dough, it’s like eating pizza – if that’s what you like.
- Make sure to use a good kind of olive oil.
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Hi there! Nice to meet you. My name is Jen.
I’m a mom of 2 wonderful girls. I love to prepare and cook home-cooked meals. Cooking and planning your meals might sound like another chore added to your already long list of things to do. Believe me, I’ve been there. However, cooking more meals at home is worth all the effort. After years of cooking for my family and teaching culinary classes, I can honestly say that I have more control over the quality of the ingredients I use. That means I’m eating a lot better. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring and you don’t have to eat the same thing repeatedly. There are ways we can do to naturally enhance the flavor of our food and enjoy home-cooked meals.