Rosemary Focaccia Bread is Kneadlessly Simple

Bread; it’s what brings our family together when the fresh baked smells are filling the air on a Sunday afternoon. It’s what completes our meal.

Bread baking can be quite the task, but it doesn’t have to be and that’s where Kneadlessly Simple comes in.  It’s a tasty cookbook of no-knead bread recipes; recipes that are broken down play by play for you with tons of helpful tips to insure that your bread comes out perfectly.  I love this book.   I love all the helpful hints, flour & bowl tips, how to store bread, explanation of ingredients—basically all the details.  Details, that will make all the difference on whether or not your bread will win the blue ribbon in competition or your family’s tastebuds.

I wanted to pick a bread recipe from the cookbook to share with you and boy was it hard to choose. There were so many delicious looking breads but ultimately, I decided on Rosemary Focaccia with Coarse Salt.  It was simple indeed but packed with flavor!   I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

For more kneadless bread recipes, ACH Foods and Fleischmann’s have created an eight-recipe book, The Bread Breakthrough. This compact cookbook introduces you to the simplicity of baking delicious no-knead yeast breads – on your schedule. You can purchase it for only $1 buck, check it out at breadbreakthrough.com.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 3/4 cups (13.75 ounces) unbleached all-purpose white flour, plus more as needed
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary needles (remove the stems), chopped fairly fine
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon instant, fast-rising, or bread machine yeast
• 1 1/3 cups plus 1/2 teaspoon ice water, plus more as needed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more as needed
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt or other coarse crystal salt

DIRECTIONS

FIRST RISE: In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, rosemary, table salt, and yeast. Vigorously stir in the water, scraping down the bowl and mixing until the dough is thoroughly blended. Vigorously stir in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. If the mixture is too dry to blend together, stir in just enough more ice water to facilitate mixing, but don’t over-moisten, as the dough should be slightly stiff. If too wet, stir in enough more flour to firm it slightly. Evenly brush the top lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise at cool room temperature for 12 to 18 hours.

SECOND RISE: Brush a 15 × 10 × 1-inch (or similar) baking pan with olive oil, then line the pan with baking parchment. Brush the parchment with olive oil. Using a well-oiled rubber spatula, turn the dough out onto the pan; try not to deflate it any more than necessary. Drizzle the dough with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. With well-oiled hands, lightly pat and press out the dough until it is evenly thick and extends to within 1 inch of the edges all around. Tent the pan with nonstick spray–coated plastic wrap.

LET RISE USING EITHER OF THESE METHODS: For a 2 H- to 3H-hour regular rise, let stand at warm room temperature; or for an extended rise, refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours, then set out at room temperature. Continue the rise until the dough has almost doubled from the deflated size. (If the pan has a 1-inch rim, the dough should be G inch below it.) Just before baking, with oiled fingertips, make deep indentations, or dimples, all over the dough. Sprinkle evenly with coarse salt.

BAKING PRELIMINARIES: 20 minutes before baking time, place a rack in lowest position in the oven; preheat to 500ºF. Place the broiler pan on the oven floor.

BAKING: Reduce the temperature to 475ºF. Add a cup of ice water to the broiler pan, being careful of splattering and steam. Bake on the lowest rack for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown, turning the pan from front to back for even browning about halfway through. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes more (or until the center registers 209º to 212ºF on an instant-read thermometer) to be sure the center is done. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Cool and cut.

If you would like to win a copy of the Kneadlessly Simple Cookbook, leave a comment here on this post telling me your favorite kind of bread and/or share a bread recipe!  You may enter once a day per person.

Giveaway ends on Nov. 22^nd.

Disclosure: Post is sponsored by ACH Foods, however, my opinion of the product remains authentic as always.