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Aug 23, 2010

EASY BASIC FOCACCIA


I've always liked bread. All kinds of bread. Loaves, flatbread, buns, crusty, soft, doughy, chewy... you name it. And I like the variations too... sweet, savoury, and the toppings... olives, herbs... you get the idea.
This is a very simple, foolproof focaccia recipe with a light crust and soft texture. You can use a mixer with the dough hook attachment , by hand (this recipe is small enough to be kneaded by hand easily) or like me, I make full use of my trusty bread machine using the "dough" / "manual" cycle of a 1 - 1 1/2 lb loaf capacity tin. And I've tweaked it a little by adding in about 1 tbs of fresh thyme leaves just before the end of the kneading cycle. And also a sprinkling of another tbs on the top before baking.
The variations you can do with this ..... mmmm!







INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup water
2 tbs grape seed oil
2 cups high protein flour / bread flour
1 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp quick active dry yeast
1/2 tsp bread improver (optional)

grape seed oil for drizzling
coarse sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

METHOD

Carefully measure out all the ingredients (except the oil for drizzling and the salt for sprinkling) in the bread machine pan.
Use the "Dough"/"Manual" cycle.
Meanwhile, oil the base and sides of a 9" X 9" deep non-stick pan, or if it's not non-stick, you can line the bottom of the oiled pan with parchment paper and remember to oil that too.
At the end of the cycle, remove dough from the pan with oiled hands (the dough tends to get a little sticky).
Press dough into the prepared pan and push it well into the corners and sides.
Leave covered with a plastic sheet to rise until doubled in size. About 30 mins.
Heat oven to 200˚C.
Make indentations in dough at 1" intervals with oiled thumb or fingers (I have a very small thumb).
Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt.
Bake 18 - 20 mins or until golden brown. Serve warm or toasted.




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