Focaccia for all my friends!

I just love carbs! I freely admit it. I tried to go paleo once and after about 3 days I was so hungry I was ready to gnaw my arm off!

This focaccia recipe is super easy- no! Don't run away! It is truly simple. Bread is generally a tricky thing to make but this is quick and easy. The only thing you need are a few very basic ingredients - flour, water, salt, sugar, yeast, and olive oil, and some time to let the yeast work its magic! 

Focaccia (adapted from "The Joy of Cooking" by Rombauer, Becker, and Becker, 1997)

Ingredients:

3 1/3 to 3 3/4 c. AP Flour

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1 1/3 c. Warm water 

1 tbsp salt 

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil plus up to 1/4 c extra to top the bread prior to baking

See, I told you. Super simple.

Now, add the yeast and sugar to the warm water and let it sit while you measure the flour and salt. 

A quick word about the flour. I always err on the side of caution with the flour when making bread because after years of baking this bread I find that the amount water that the flour has absorbed during storage varies greatly from location to location and even the time of year.

So I start by adding 3 and 1/3 cups of AP flour to my Kitchen Aid mixer (with the dough hook attachment) along with the tbsp of salt. 

By now, your yeast and water mixture should have started to show some bubbles indicating the yeast are alive and you are good to go! If there are no bubbles your wee yeasties may be dead, in which case you will need to replace your yeast with a fresh batch. 

Once the yeast and water have been added to the mixer add your tbsp of olive oil and begin mixing on the lowest setting until combined. If everything starts to pull together in a nice dough ball, set the timer and continue to kneed the dough for 10 minutes. If your dough looks wet or isn't coming together into a ball, gradually add flour by the tablespoon full until it tightens up and just forms a ball like mass. 

*Caution* GO SLOW HERE! Once you start adding flour you can't take it out. But your patience will be rewarded if you keep an eye on the dough and add extra flour slowly.

Once the dough has been kneeding for 10 minutes turn it out onto a floured board or counter top and kneed by hand a few times into a ball shape. 

Place the focaccia into 2  very well oiled round cake pans (and by that I mean at least 1 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil per pan, cover lightly with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place for about 2 hours. 

After 2 hours, the dough should have about doubled in size. Now, gently make a bunch of finger indentations into the top of the dough (so it looks like it has loads of little dimples all over), top with up to 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil (for authenticity use a heavy hand. It's worth the calories) and sprinkle with salt and bake at 400 F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 

Let cool for a few minutes and serve! 

Bon appetite!

Xx
K
 

Note: This is also my pizza dough recipe