Whole Wheat Rosemary Foccacia – The Beginning of Bread Baking!

So, I finally baked bread yesterday. And, no, it was not a failed attempt.

I’ve been craving freshly baked bread ever since The Baker’s Dozen opened up earlier this year. Alas, their only outlet is located very very far away, and my desire to break warm, crusty, artisanal bread has been nothing but a dream. Why didn’t I just bake my own bread, you ask? Well, I am, rather was, quite scared of yeast – scared of going wrong with it (as I had once before). But, like they say, necessity is the mother of invention.

And, yesterday, enough was enough. I’d already collected a few recipes for breads and had come across this Whole-Wheat Rosemary Foccacia one on Archana’s Kitchen. Since the ingredients were all there, I simply had to follow the recipe. Thanks to the incessant, and bordering obsessive, Masterchef Australia viewing, I had got an idea of how to knead bread dough and went about preparing my warm, yeasty bread on a nice rainy evening.

Print Recipe

Whole Wheat Rosemary Foccacia

A simple recipe for healthy whole wheat foccacia...

Course

breads

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings

Ingredients

• 3 cups whole-wheat flour flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/8 cup honey
• 1.25 tbsp active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup chopped rosemary
• 1/8 cup olive oil (plus some for coating)
• 1.5 cups lukewarm water

Course breads Cuisine Italian Prep Time 20 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Servings Ingredients 3 cups whole-wheat flour flour 1 tsp salt 1/8 cup honey 1.25 tbsp active dry yeast 1/4 cup chopped rosemary 1/8 cup olive oil (plus some for coating) 1.5 cups lukewarm water

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, yeast, rosemary and honey.
2. Mix well till integrated. Gradually mix in the oil and the water till the dough comes together in a sticky ball.
3. Now, take the dough out of the bowl and on a large, lightly floured surface, knead it vigorously for at least 10 minutes - placing the heel of palm in the middle, push the dough away from you.
4. Fold it from both sides, turn it by 90 degrees and repeat.
5. Keep doing this till the dough becomes soft and elastic.
6. In a lightly oiled bowl, place the dough and cover with a lose lid.
7. Keep this in a warm place to allow it to proof for atleast 2 hours; the dough should double in size.
8. Preheat the oven to 200 C.
9. Now, when you ready to bake the bread, punch back the dough - it should sink like a deflated balloon u2013 and place it on a bread tin lined with parchment paper that has been lightly floured.
10. Place the dough on top and press with your fingers to fill the space evenly.
11. Then just before popping into the oven, make shallow holes with your finger and lightly brush with oil.
12. At this point, you could add stuff like garlic, onion rings or even sundried tomatoes and olives.
13. Pop into the oven for 20 minutes or till the top is golden brown.
14. Let it cool cut into pieces and serve plain with olive oil or with a dip of your choice.

Share this Recipe