June 5, 2013

Easy and Fabulous Focaccia Bread

Who knew homemade Focaccia Bread was SO EASY to make?
I mean, REALLY easy to make.

All you do is throw everything in your mixer and mix until combined and knead for five minutes.  Let it sit for 15 minutes, spread out onto a cookie sheet, let set 30 minutes, make indentations using your fingers, brush with olive oil and add some seasonings and bake.  No skills required here.  
The end result is AMAZING.  It tastes incredible plain, it is fabulous dipped in pasta sauce and my house smelled like an Italian Restaurant while it baked.

We even made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with the leftover bread the next day and it still tasted amazing.

I have made this a few times now and we absolutely LOVE it.  It's my new favorite thing to serve with pasta.

Easy & Fabulous Focaccia Bread
1 c. warm water
3 Tbl. softened butter
2 Tbl. dry milk powder
3 Tbl. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 c. bread flour
2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast

Topping:
2 Tbl. olive oil
3 Tbl. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1/2 tsp. garlic salt 

Add the warm water, butter, dry milk powder, sugar, salt, flour and yeast to the bowl of your stand mixer.  Mix until combined and knead for 5 minutes on low using the dough hook.  Add more flour or water, if needed.  Dough should remain in a ball as it kneads and should not stick to the side of the bowl.  After dough is finished kneading, place it on a lightly floured surface and cover with saran wrap.  Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.  After dough has rested, knead by hand for one minute.  

Press dough into a large, greased, jelly-roll pan, until dough is about 1/4''-1/2'' thick.  It will not cover the entire surface of the pan.  Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Using your fingers, press dough in random spots to make indentations about 1-inch apart from each other.  Brush dough with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan, rosemary and garlic salt.  Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Allow to cool slightly, then cut into squares and serve.    

Jenn's Notes: My dough was perfect with the measurements listed.  I did not have to add any extra water or flour.  I let my dough rise for about 50 minutes, because my house was cooler, so it took longer.  I did not have garlic salt, so I used garlic powder and a little salt.  I also added some Italian seasoning.  This bread is fabulous.       


adapted from: Chef-In-Training, who adapted it from Taste of Home

25 comments:

  1. I still have been meaning to try to make some and I have not done it yet. Maybe this summer will be the time!!! I don't have dry milk powder so I might have to look into some alternatives like using milk instead of water so that this doesn't get moved to the back burner again!!!

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    1. You really should try it ASAP. It is fabulous.

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  2. This looks completely AMAZING!! YUMMY! Pinned for future reference! :)

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  3. I am taking a Veggie Lasagna to a gal who just had a baby--this will be the perfect accompaniment. Thanks

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  4. Thank you so much for your blog! you have the best recipes. I had looked forever for the perfect chewy french bread with no luck until you posted yours. I can't wait to try this bread next! Thank you!!!!

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  5. It's strange, here in Italy we usually don't use dry milk powder or butter to make foccaccia! I have to try this!!! thanks for sharing ;)

    P.S: Do you think powdered milk could be replaced by "normal" milk?

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  6. Really? I would LOVE an authentic recipe, if you feel like sharing?

    I haven't tried it myself, but yes you can use regular milk in place of the water and powdered milk.

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    1. of course :) i'm gonna post it in the next days!
      Do you need it in english? (I'm asking because sometimes I use google translate - it's soooooo useless by the way!-) In that case I'll try to translate it but i'm not sure it will be perfect :)
      Sorry if I made some mistakes, I know my english is getting worse and worse every day. ;(

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    2. English would be best, but whatever you can do will work. Thanks so much.

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  7. Wow! I always wanted to make my own bread.Thanks for sharing this.I am grabbing your recipe and will make it asap.Thanks

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    1. Let me know what you think if you end up making it!

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  8. I love focaccia bread too...I just need to make it more often now! Good suggestion to serve it with Italian; it's nice to have a fast homemade bread to be able to serve.

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  9. Beautiful pics. I must try this. We're cohosting Saturday Dishes tomorrow featuring bread. I'd love it if your brought this over.

    Wishes for tasty dishes,
    Linda
    www.tumbleweedcontessa.com

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  10. hi Jenn,
    I have a similar recipe but you knead it by hand so I will have to try your version to make it even easier! Mine calls for honey and a little diced onion that really boosts the flavor! Can't wait to try your recipe with the butter and powdered milk, haven't seen that before, thanks
    Jenna

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  11. Focaccia is one of my absolute favorites, this looks amazing!!!! I've never made it with Parmesan cheese, I'll need to do that next time!

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  12. This bread looks so yummy! I would love it if you would come and link this up at my link party
    Dandelion Wishes Wednesday. I'm also pinning this :)

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  13. I do not own a stand mixer with hooks for kneading. Can this be done by hand?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, of course. It will just take longer. It would probably take kneading 10 minutes by hand.

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  14. Foccacia is my favourite bread! So pleased I found this recipe, thanks!

    Step - http://nourishmeclean.blogspot.com

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