I made this yesterday evening so we could have it for breakfast. It's tricky to find a bread that doesn't require ANY milk, but this focaccia was so easy and diary-free that it was awesome. I've modified it a bit to make it whole wheat too.
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1. In a large bowl, dissolve honey and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Add 1 cup flour, salt, and 3 tablespoons olive oil to the yeast mixture. Stir until combined and then work in the last cup of flour. It is recommended to knead the dough for 7 minutes until smooth and elastic, but I was in a hurry and basically just mixed it with my fork until it was combined, and it still worked. Add only enough flour to keep the dough from being sticky.
3. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
4. Punch the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Flatten the dough into a rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick. Place in greased 9x13 inch pan or baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
5. Poke dimples in the bread and put your topping on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
5. Poke dimples in the bread and put your topping on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
Usually with focaccia you would drizzle olive oil on top, mix some herbs like oregano and basil, add sun-dried tomatoes and other toppings. For breakfast I put some little lumps of margarine on top and sprinkled brown sugar all over it. That all melted together during baking - yum!
Coming Next Year!
This is so weird to me. I've never put milk in bread. ????
lol really? It seems like every recipe I have for bread you take some milk and scald it, and then when it cools to a good temperature, you add the yeast. I'm not sure what the benefit is - it does seem like my whole wheat loaves are not as heavy or dry or something.
I need to get some more cookbooks probably. The internet isn't super reliable.