Focaccia Bread Recipe

click on photo to make larger

Today I made two rounds of Focaccia Bread.  I was supposed to make them yesterday, but life happens and we don't always get to do what we plan on doing!  Several of you asked for the recipe so I thought I'd post it and a picture of the finished product!  I love to eat this with soup and I also like to make fancy sandwiches on this bread.

I altered this recipe slightly so I'm just posting exactly what I did!

Focaccia Bread

1 1/2 C. Warm water (not HOT)
3 T. olive oil (or vegetable)
1 T. Italian seasoning (I personally think this is too much so I only put 1 1/2 tsp. in)
(on the round that is pictured I added about 1/3 C. of mozzarella cheese at this point too)
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. dry active yeast

mix all the above together (you could do this on the dough cycle of your bread machine if you have one.  I've done this before, but not today.)

Add:

4 1/4 C. All Purpose or Bread Flour

Stir together, until dough form and starts pulling away from your bowl.

Take dough out and knead 5 minutes.

Let rise about 1 hour

Punch down and let rest 10 minutes.

Brush a pizza pan (I like to use my pizza stone) with oil and sprinkle cornmeal on it lightly.

Place dough on pizza pan and spread it out with hands to fit pan.

Brush with oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Let rise in a warm place until about doubled in size (about 40 min.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Uncover and with oiled finger tips or the end of a wooden spoon poke holes in bread at 1 inch intervals.

Sprinkle with garlic salt, Italian seasoning or rosemary and shredded cheddar cheese (really whatever you like at this point...I've even read of some people liking lavender or red onion rings on top.)

Place in preheated oven and bake until golden and puffed with a crispy crust, about 10-15 minutes.

This is what Emalee was doing while I was baking.  She wanted her picture taken too when I got the camera out!