Herb & Cheese Focaccia Bread (she: Katie)

 Hi, my name is Katie. I am a stay at home mom to two sweet little girls. Ellie is 4 and Emma is 3. Everyone asks me if they are twins and my answer is always  “no but it is just like having twins”. I have a passion and great love for cooking. I look forward to getting in the kitchen each day and cooking or baking something for my family. I am a huge fan of reading cooking blogs. At the beginning of the year I decided to start my own and named it  Won in the Oven. I figured it was a great way to record my favorite recipes finds and creations. Baking bread is probably one of my favorite things to do. It used to scare me to death but I’ve experimented so much lately that I feel pretty confident in my bread making abilites. This focaccia recipe is most definitely my favorite bread to make. It is unique yet simple and oh, so good! It won’t disappoint, especially when it comes to leftover’s for a sandwich.

I am a huge fan of focaccia bread. We were at Disneyland a couple years ago and I ordered a turkey sandwich on rosemary focaccia bread. I though that sounded gourmetishly (is that a word?) good. It was is HEAVENLY. Ever since I’ve been a huge fan of this form of bread and Disneyland Cuisine for that matter. They have so many great food choices for the vegetarian or health conscious eater. I’m very proud of them. Anyways, I saw this recipe for focaccia bread in my trusty old Taste of Home magazine. I used the basic recipe and tweaked it to make it my own. I am superbly happy with the results and will make this a regular in our dinner rotations. I have big plans to make a turkey sandwich with the leftover’s. They are just calling out for it!

Herb & Cheese Focaccia Bread
Adapted from Taste of Home

After yeast is dissolved, add the olive oil, spice mixture, and 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).

Knead with dough hook for about 6-8 minutes OR alternatively turn onto floured surface and knead by hand until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Shape into a 13×9 inch rectangle. Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 F
With fingertips, make several dimples over top of dough.