Don’t we all associate making breads with arm workouts and tedious kneading processes? Not anymore!!! My bread baking has been a journey in itself and this 100% whole wheat foccacia has been a lot of hits and misses before I could perfect it. It is ready in 3 hours (including proofing time) and can be done in many Herb and Pepper variations.
Pro tip – Serve it with a soup and your guests will be left asking for more. Ready? Lets Dive into making this Italian bread
You’ll need:
For the dough
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
½ tsp salt
½ cup warm water to proof the yeast
½ tsp sugar
¼ cup water to combine the dough (this may vary so pls add little at a time)
For the herb oil infusion
4 tbsp olive oil
7-8 chopped basil leaves or you may use a herb of your choice
5-7 Garlic cloves pressed and sliced
Salt
Instructions:
Let’s start by proofing the yeast, in a bowl or a cup, add ½ cup warm water and add the active dry yeast and sugar. Mix well until combined and cover with a lid or a cloth, leave in a warm place for 15 mins
In a big glass bowl/ non stick kadhai, which has sufficient room, add the whole wheat flour, salt, olive oil and proofed yeast water (this should be bubbly on top which confirms the yeast has proofed)
With the help of a silicon spatula, scraper or oiled hands start combining everything together. Add additional water little by little at a time to bring it all together to a sticky dough. Now take some olive oil in your hands and cover the whole dough in it. Cover with a cloth and let sit for 2 hours in a warm place
For herb oil, warm your olive oil, add chopped herbs, garlic, salt and let infuse for 2 hours
After two hours, this is how the dough should look, almost double in size. Ahhh, looks fun right?
Again with the help of a spatula lightly fold the dough inwards a couple of times, lightly coz we don’t want to release all the air. If you’re using your hands, make sure to oil them so the dough is easy to handle
Now in a baking tray, place a parchment paper and transfer the dough. Again, with light oiled hands spread the dough working from the center to the ends on the tray till the bread has reached about 1.5 inch thickness
With the help of your finger tips, make indentations on the dough and top the entire thing with herb infused olive oil and let sit for 30 mins. This is how it should look
Preheat your oven too 400F and bake the Foccacia for 30 mins. Remove on a cooling rack or let sit out for atleast 30 mins before cutting in and serving
Bread baking is so rewarding that it has now been 8 weeks that I haven’t bought a loaf from the store. Hope you enjoy your bread baking process as much as I did!
