Herbed Focaccia

Yesterday, I made soup for dinner. I also had some leftover dough from Sunday and baked it up into a loaf of bread. There is a teenager who comes over once every couple weeks to watch the kids on Tuesday evenings. She saw it on the counter and the following ensued:

“What is that?”
Me – “It’s homemade bread.”
“You can make bread?”
Me – Well, yeah!
“How do you make bread?” (Like she’d never seen such a thing in her life. I got a kick out of it.)

Back in the fall, when I took the bread class here, one of the breads we learned to make was an herbed focaccia. The best thing about this bread is that it’s totally versatile. It’s not too airy, not too dense. It can be made without the herbs and used as a pizza crust (which I’ve done) or can be made with vegetable oil instead of olive oil and used for cinnamon roll dough (which I’ve also done). But when it’s made this way, it’s totally delicious on its own. Or as rolls for sandwiches (which I’ve done). So you see, you need to try this bread if only to have a few tricks up your sleeve with a truly versatile dough.

Also: I know that traditional focaccia is formed into a disk and often topped with a variety of ingredients (rosemary, onions, cheese) rather than formed into loaves. I’m just called it what the chef that taught our class called it, ok? I think it was named such because it contained olive oil in place of water only or other fats. Who cares. It’s tasty, and super easy.

Herbed Focaccia
(or just plain ole’ Herbed Bread if you want to call it that)

5 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 t. salt
2 T garlic powder
2 T dried thyme
1 T dried basil
2 C. warm water
2 T dry yeast
1/4 C. sugar
1/2 C. olive oil

Combine the flour, salt, garlic, thyme and basil in a mixing bowl. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the water, yeast and sugar. Let rest for 10 minutes. After the yeast mixture has rested (and it should have a creamy/foamy film on top – if not, grab some more yeast and try it all over again). Add the yeast/water mixture into the flour mixture, and add the oil. Knead by hand until a soft dough forms. Transfer to a working surface and knead until the dough is nice and smooth. Or use a dough hook in your stand mixer for the mixing/kneading.

Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rest for 1 hour. Punch down the dough and form into desired shape (rolls, loaves, disks, etc.) Place on an oiled baking pan cover, let rise for 30 minutes. Bake in a 375 degree oven until slightly brown.

Note: This recipe makes a large batch of dough – enough for 5-6 medium loaves. Feel free to half the recipe, or transfer part of the dough to the refrigerator or freezer after the first rising to bake later.