Quick Focaccia Bread

When I was planning out the menu last weekend for when our friends came for dinner I knew I wanted to make a bread to go with the pasta. I debated between a focaccia and ciabatta bread. After looking through numerous recipes I decided on this one because it was fast. I knew with everything else I’d be doing/making over the weekend I didn’t want a very time consuming bread. This was perfect. It was super-easy and really tasty. Plus I could cross focaccia off my 25 in 2009 list!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
various seasonings for the top of the bread (I used a bit of crushed garlic, oregano, rosemary, basil, parsley, thyme, and kosher salt.)

Directions:

Lightly grease a 13×9 pan and drizzle 1-2 T of oil on the bottom.

Combine all of the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix for about 1 minute.

Scoop the batter into the glass pan, cover and let rise for 60 minutes until it is puffy.

While the dough rises, preheat oven to 375°.

Gently poke the dough in a few places with your fingertip. Drizzle lightly with oil and add spices to the top as desired.

Bake until golden brown, about 35-40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes, then turn the bread out onto a rack and serve.

Source: Amber’s Delectable Delights