Skillet Focaccia - one hour

I was in the mood for homemade bread last night to go with my homemade garden fresh tomato sauce.  It was one of those days that I got to be home and in my kitchen...just how I like it!  I had just picked a ton of tomatoes from my garden so I committed myself to making sauce and then thought, well what else could I make?  Bread!!  I had remembered seeing this one hour recipe and using the cast iron skillet made it sound all the more appealing.  I LOVE my cast iron skillet...LOVE IT!  If you don't have one, I suggest getting on Amazon right now, ordering a 10-inch skillet with a lid.  I promise you will fall in love with it too, from baking brownies, to frying up crispy potatoes, or my favorite...bacon!  Anyway, now that I know I can make bread in it, I am a happy baker :)

Honestly, I think this recipe took less than an hour start to finish.  It was so easy I would recommend anyone who is afraid of homemade bread to start with this recipe.  I made a couple slight changes to the recipe, but nothing big.  The recipe came from HERE and she has step-by-step pictures too .

Skillet Focaccia Bread - One Hour

DOUGH INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil or canola oil
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 3/4 tsp. salt

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning, or a little chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4 tsp. coarse salt

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Place water and sugar in bowl of a stand mixer.  Stir until sugar has dissolved. 

2 Add yeast, stir and let sit about 5 minutes or until bubbly.

3. Turn mixer on low and add 1 cup flour and salt.  Mix until combined.

4.  Add olive oil and mix well.

5.  Gradually add as much of the second cup of flour as needed, mixing until dough pulls away from the edges of the bowl.  You most likely will only use about 3/4 cup of the flour.  Save the rest of the flour for rolling.

6.  Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees then turn oven off (leaving door closed).

7. Grease 10-inch cast iron skillet (I used a little softened butter)

8. Place dough on floured surface and using the leftover flour, fold a few times until it becomes soft and not sticky anymore.  Shape into a ball.

9.  Roll dough out to the size of the skillet.

10. Place in skillet and stretch up about 1/2 inch up sides.  Cover with a kitchen towel and place in oven for 20 minutes. 

11.  Take skillet out of oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Make indentations in the dough with your thumb.  

12.  Mix the olive oil, seasoning and salt together in small bowl.  

13.  Brush the dough with half of the oil mixture and place in preheated oven to bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Brush with remaining olive oil and let cool until safe to touch.  Slice and serve warm!