Blitz Bread: No-Fuss Focaccia

This is a simple focaccia bread recipe from one of my personal favorites, the King Arthur Flour company. The recipe calls for Pizza Seasoning, which to be honest I have never used; instead I just added a mix of basil, rosemary, and a dash of garlic salt. And sadly, when I was making this bread forgot to poke the risen dough with my fingers (giving it the focaccia bread look), which is quite fun I think - pushing your fingers into soft dough and watching it fill back in.

The end result, was a very soft, flavorful bread that worked really well as a side to the Pasta e Fagioli (soup) I made the same night. As a side note, you could really add any combination of herbs and spices to flavor this No-Fuss Focaccia to pair with whatever soup or pasta dish you make.

Blitz Bread: No-Fuss Focaccia
Recipe from kingarthurflour.com
Pictures by Caroline

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 teaspoons Pizza Dough Flavor, optional
1/4 cup Vermont cheese powder, optional
Pizza Seasoning, optional

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.

*As you can see from the pictures, I decided to make my bread in 2-8x8 pans instead of one 9x13. I cooked it for a bit less time, just watching for the golden brown top. It turned out well and provided a loaf for two seperate meals.