Easy Focaccia Bread

In a large bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, yeast and salt. Add the water (make sure it’s very warm, but not hot to the touch). I generally don’t check the temperature, as long as you can stick your finger in comfortably it will be fine, but you can check the temperature if you’re nervous about killing the yeast!

Stir everything together with a wooden spoon or dough whisk until all of the flour is hydrated. There should not be any dry pieces left at all. This will take a couple of minutes of stirring. Once all the flour is mixed in, you will have a rather shaggy mass of dough in the bowl. Cover this tightly with plastic wrap and let it rise for 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Prepare a 9×13 inch pan by brushing 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom and sides. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the room temp water and kosher salt.

Once the dough has doubled in size, sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough, just so it isn’t as sticky and you can handle it a bit. Turn it over a couple times in the bowl with floured hands so that you have a lightly floured ball of dough, but without kneading it and removing all the air bubbles. You want to handle this dough gently and just use enough flour so you can move the dough around without having it stuck all over your hands.

Move the dough to the prepared baking pan and press it out with your hands to fill the pan. It may not quite reach the edges everywhere or be a perfect rectangle. That’s okay. Brush the olive oil and salt mixture over the top of the bread, making sure to use all of it, and then sprinkle the top with rosemary. Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a clean towel and let it rest for 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 F. When the dough has rested, uncover it, place the pan into the hot oven, and bake for 25-27 minutes until it is golden brown. Remove pan from oven. Let bread cool in the pan for couple of minutes and then lift it out to cool on a wire rack. Serve warm with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or just plain if you prefer!

Note: This bread is great right out of the oven with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or even plain. The salty olive oil brushed crust is delicious without anything else added to it. Leftovers are great for sandwiches or panini’s if you have any left! Also, this recipe can be easily halved to fit in a 9×9 inch pan, or doubled to do two pans of bread. Or, you can double it, use 1/4 to 1/2 of the dough to bake immediately, and store the remainder in the fridge for up to a week. When you’re ready to bake it simply take it out and allow it to come to room temperature (about 2-3 hours) and then continue with the shaping and baking instructions.

Adapted from Fast and Easy Artisan Breads.