Focaccia Bread Art for #BreadBakers

Welcome to #BreadBakers! We are a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

This month Karen invited us to bake an Italian bread - sweet or savory!

I have had the "art bread" focaccia on my "to make" list for a long time and finally got the chance to make some! It was wonderfully pillowy and absolutely delicious - and such a pretty project!! I made sure everyone got a chance to see the finished version before we cut it into wedges and served with our Easter dinner. But apparently I was too distracted that morning and never took a picture of the finished project. Which sounds about right.

There are so many possible ingredients you could use to decorate your bread - I stuck with grape tomatoes, baby bell peppers, and chives. The ingredients don't really change the flavor much so go as heavy as you want with them! 

See all of our Italian breads! 

• Chutney Spiced Focaccia from Cook with Renu
• Cornetti Dolci (Italian Croissants) from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Focaccia Bread Art from Making Miracles
• Overnight Ciabatta from A Messy Kitchen
• No Knead Potato Focaccia from Sneha's Recipe
• Sfincione Siciliano from Food Lust People Love
• Sourdough Cherry Tomato Focaccia from Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Homemade Ciabatta Bread

Ingredients

16 ounces warm water (110ºF) divided into two bowls 2 cups

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

2 ounces olive oil ¼ cup

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon flakey salt

24 ounces bread flour or all-purpose flour (5 cups spooned and leveled)

4 ounces olive oil for the pan and for drizzling on top of the focaccia after rising (½ cup)

2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary chopped

Vegetables, herbs and meats for topping

Directions

1. Combine your first cup of warm water with your yeast and sugar and mix to combine. Set it aside for about 5 minutes or until it looks foamy
2. Place the water/yeast mixture in the bowl of your stand mixer with the bread hook attached. 
3. Add in about 1 cup of flour and mix on low until combined
4. Add in the rest of your water, the olive oil and the salt and half of your remaining flour. Mix on low until combined
5. Continue adding in your flour while mixing on low until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If it's still too sticky, add in a couple more Tablespoons of flour until it comes together. The dough will be very soft though
6. Keep mixing on low until your dough develops enough gluten that when you touch it, it bounces back. I took my dough out of the bowl and finished kneading it on the countertop for about 2 minutes until the dough bounced back.
7. Place your dough into a bowl with about a Tablespoon of olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until it has doubled in size. If you're using active dry yeast, it will take longer to proof to double. Keep an eye on it.
8. Pour enough olive oil into a 12"x17" sheet pan (or any pan of similar size) so there is a thin layer of oil covering the entire bottom of the pan
9. Put some olive oil on your hands to prevent sticking and then pull the focaccia dough out of the bowl. It will be very loose. Divide into two if you deisre. Lay it in the pan and begin stretching it. If it shrinks back, walk away for about 15 minutes to let the gluten relax before you stretch again. Don't worry about getting it to the edges if you divided it in half.
10. Once you're done stretching, cover it with plastic wrap and place it into the fridge overnight to develop flavor.
11. When you're ready to bake your bread, take it out of the fridge and let it warm up for about 30 minutes. Dimple the surface with your oiled fingers to create some areas where the olive oil can collect.
12. Drizzle a good amount olive oil onto the top of the bread until all the dimples have a little oil in them. Sprinkle flakey salt on top (optional).
13. After your focaccia has risen for 30 minutes, decorate the top any way you like with veggies, herbs and meats as desired! 
14. Brush all your veggies and herbs with more olive oil to prevent burning (I sprayed with some nonstick cooking spray).
15. Bake in the oven at 450ºF for 20-25 minutes or until the focaccia bread is nice and golden.

NOTE: Because of the toppings, this bread is best enjoyed the day of. Refrigerate leftovers. Re-heating the bread in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 350ºF will bring back that chewy texture.

Recipe adapted from Sugar Geek Show