Spicy Italian Focaccia
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I lost my baking mojo. I’d been on a roll baking and posting, then the holidays hit. And with the holidays came vacation for our oldest. I didn’t bake anything new for the entire week and a half she was off from school. All this week I’d been kicking myself trying to get back in the swing of things. Wednesday I forced myself to sit down and focus. I scoured through some of my favorite recipe binders and cookbooks hoping for inspiration.
This particular focaccia is airy with a slightly crunchy and zesty exterior. The heat level could easily be adjusted to your liking but I think the red pepper flakes give this a nice kick. It’s relatively quick with only 5-10 minutes of active prep time (45 min inactive) and 30 to bake. A big bonus for how easy this is to whip up. It’s absolutely my new obsession. I may or may not have eaten 3/4 of the batch I made. Thankfully I only made half a batch.
I looked for the recipe online with no luck to the original source, but it does specifically mention King Arthur Flour and Fleischmann’s Yeast.
Spicy Italian Focaccia
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 C all purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp rapid rise yeast
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 3-4 Tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 2/3 C warm water
- 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2-3/4 tsp dried onion
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- In a large bowl add flour, sugar, salt and yeast. While mixing, slowly pour in 2 tbsp olive oil and warm water. Mix until ingredients are well combined. Transfer dough to a greased 13x9 inch baking pan. Spread out the dough using a rubber spatula. Cover and let rise in a warm location for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine cheese and spices. Set aside.
- After the first rise time is up, poke holes throughout your dough using a greased utensil such a wooden spoon, a knife or even your finger. Drizzle with remaining 1-2 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle with cheese and spice mixture.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Let dough rise for an additional 15 minutes.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly golden. Immediately remove bread to a cooling rack or cutting board. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing into. Or if you're impatient like me, just carefully slice with a sharp knife while remembering to not compress the bread.
Notes
This looks delicious! Homemade breads are always the best :) this would be great homemade panini bread too. Focaccia is one of my favs to use. I like that you gave it a spicy kick!
I need to make this soon. I’m an avid newbie bread baker and love making my own. This looks so tasty – I can see what 3/4 would suddenly disappear ;)
I hear you on being out of it with the blog. I kind of cheated and posted photos and recipe of cookies my mom made ^_~
haha you’re such a cheat Chris but I might have done the same given the opportunity!
The holidays kind of got me to, but I think I’m back at it now. This sounds fantastic, I love the spices!
You are making me hungry for carbs! Your foccacia looks tasty!
I love foccaccia but have never made homemade, I bet this tastes amazing!
Focaccia is my favorite bread ever! This looks amazing!
oh my – I love focaccia bread espcially with the italian herbs. This one looks great!
Hey Rachel, your Spicy Italian Focaccia is a Recipe Guessing Game on Knapkins. Think your friends can win? http://www.knapkins.com/guess_games/1114?source=blog
Your foccacia looks wonderful. I love the spicy touch.
That is some damn tasty looking crumb….and crust…and topping. Don’t blame you for eating so much of it!
It looks as though your baking mojo is back in full force. The texture of this focaccia looks absolutely perfect.
The spice adds a fun twist to this focaccia!
I’ve been having the same problem – my kitchen mojo went south for the winter I think :) Your focaccia looks awesome! It’s one of my faves, but I think I’ve only made it once before so I definitely want to try again.
Oooo this looks delicious! I tried to make foccacia one time but it was just thick, doughy and dry.. not how foccacia should be. This looks so perfect. And, I love the big air pockets. Must try!
Aslo, I know what you mean about the blog. It’s been 3 or 4 weeks since I made something to blog. I feel so out of it. Gotta get my butt in gear. :)
I also made Focaccia, isn’t it wonderful? I love it
Just delicious! I want a bite just now!
I feel you, I’ve totally lost my mojo too. Looks like it’s coming back tho…I could live on foccacia and foccacia alone
I’ve made this twice in one week and I can’t begin to tell you how much we LOVED this bread! I’ve added more cheese,changed up the spices and next time Im going to pile the top with roasted peppers and mushrooms.
This is the BEST focaccia ever! thank you so much for a wonderful recipe that will be made over and over again :)
Isn’t it addictive?! So glad you have enjoyed it. :)
This is incredibly delicious!! I like to add some spices into the dough as well, and love adding fresh rosemary or thyme on top. Paired with a throw together garlic/parmesan/herb/olive oil dip…heaven! Thanks for a fabulous recipe!