Focaccia Bread

For my first real blog post, I think it is fitting that I am posting about my first time making anything with yeast. I found this focaccia recipe over at Amber's Delectable Delights and have been wanting to try it for awhile, but I was afraid of the yeast since I had never used it before. It turned out that I had nothing to be afraid of- the bread was very easy to make and turned out to be delicious!

Blitz Bread: No-Fuss Focaccia
Source: King Arthur Flour via Amber's Delectable Delights

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) warm water
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour I used 2 cups regular bleached all-purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 teaspoons Pizza Dough Flavor, optional
1/4 cup (1 ounce) Vermont cheese powder, optional
Pizza Seasoning, optional
I omitted the above seasonings and used garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and a bit of grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
1) Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom.
2) Combine all of the ingredients, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds.
3) Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it's become puffy.
4) While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.
5) Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger.
6) Drizzle it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with pizza seasoning, and/or the dried herbs of your choice, if desired.
7) Bake the bread till it's golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.
8) Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

(by the way, if anyone knows why this picture rotated itself and how to get it back the right direction, please let me know...)

I cut the bread into 6 pieces, then since it was so thick I cut each piece in half through the middle to make 2 slices. I made paninis with turkey, Swiss cheese, tomatoes, and fresh basil leaves on our little George Foreman grill, which I served with baked sweet potato fries. My bread addict fiance loved the fact that I made homemade bread, even though he thought the fries were not crispy enough. Oh well, I liked them. :)