Dawn’s Easy Focaccia Bread

I recently saw a recipe that said to take your favorite bread recipe and mix in "toppings" to create a more nutritious and "portable" snack for your kids on sports days.  Many Focaccia recipes say to start with a pizza dough recipe.  I did a little of both and tried two different versions of Focaccia today, and I'm in love.  It was SO easy, and it tastes amazing.  I'll be trying a cheddar and jalepeno version as soon as these two loaves disappear (which may be tonight at the current rate.)

Dawn’s Easy Focaccia

               

3/4 cup warm water

1 active dry yeast (envelope)

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp sugar       3/4 tsp salt

3 Tbsps olive oil + more for topping

1 t garlic oil

1 T garlic powder

***Sundried tomato & feta  (3 T sundried tomato paste + ½ C crumbled feta)  Kalamata olives would be good with this, too.

***Rosemary & Garlic (2-3 T fresh rosemary + 6-10 roasted garlic cloves)

Directions:

1          Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.

2          Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, garlic powder and salt in processor. Add yeast mixture, oils, and mix ins; process until dough forms a sticky ball.  Add additional flour 1 Tbsp at a time as needed to be able to handle it, but it should still be fairly sticky.

3          Let rise in a well oiled pan for 1 and ½ hours.

4          Preheat oven to 400.

5          Press your finger gently all over the top of the loaf to form divets.  Pour 1/3-1/2 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil over the top.  (Traditional Focaccia has a great deal of oil.) Sprinkle cheese, herbs, or sea salt as desired.

6          Bake for 25 minutes

ENJOY!