Day 2: No-Fuss Focaccia

This recipe was fun to make!  It really was no-fuss and tasted really good!  My kids are dippers...they've always been dippers since I started giving them food.  When Jaden my oldest, was little, he would hold up whatever food he had in his hand and would say "dip".  It was pretty darn cute!  Maybe we got him used to french-fries and ketchup too soon!  Anyway, all of that to say, they love it when we go to restaurants where they serve olive oil and balsamic vinegar with bread.  So, tonight, along with the warm focaccia, I served little saucers of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a little minced garlic, and salt.  If you had only seen Jaden trying to lick up the last of the sauce on his plate...it somehow doesn't seem so cute anymore!  Now, if you're going to try any of these bread recipes that I'm making this week, you HAVE to try this one.  It's ridiculously good and easy!

NO-FUSS FOCACCIA {adapted from King Arthur Flour}


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil {plus additional for drizzling}
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Tbsp. instant yeast {I used Perfect Rise yeast}

TOPPING:

• 1 Tbsp. fresh oregano, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt

DIRECTIONS:

  1.  Lightly grease a 9"by13" pan, and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom.  

  2.  Combine all of the ingredients, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds.

  3.  Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it becomes puffy.

  4.  While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

  5.  Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger. 

  6.  Drizzle it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with coarse sea salt and chopped herbs. **You can use 

      any fresh or dried italian herbs you'd like.  Just be sure to decrease amount of dried herbs.

  7.  Bake the bread till it's golden brown, 35-40 minutes.  

  8.  Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack.  Move to cutting 

      board and cut into chunks or strips.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  To keep leftovers fresh, wrap in foil and reheat in the foil at 350 for 15 minutes.