Kittencal's Parmesan Focaccia

Submitted by Kittencalrecipezazz

"This recipe will make the softest and most delicious foccacia, feel free to add on any other topping, like roasted red peppers or roasted garlic, or caramelized onions, see my recipe#120711 and recipe#89007 you can even sprinkle with dried thyme also. This recipe makes two 13 x 9-inch foccacia so you might want to freeze one to use later, foccacia will freeze well for up to 3 weeks, but these are just so good you will most likely end up finishing both of them before even making it to the freezer lol!"

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 25mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Yields: 2 (13x9-inch) focaccia

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons sugar, divided
• 1 cup warm water
• 3⁄4 cup warm water
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 5 cups flour (more as needed)
• 1⁄3 cup oil (use half olive and half vegetable or Canola oil)
• 4 tablespoons cornmeal
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese (or to taste)
• kosher salt, to taste for sprinkling
• black pepper

directions

1. In a small bowl combine 3/4 cup warm water with 1 teaspoon sugar, and dry yeast, mix to slightly combine; cover with a tea towel and let stand for 8-10 minutes or until foamy.
2. Fit a heavy-duty stand mixer with kneader hook.
3. In the stainless steel mixer bowl add in 4-1/2 cups flour, 3 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/3 cup oil.
4. After the yeast is proofed add it into the bowl with the remaining 1 cup warm water and start kneading (you might want to use the paddle attachment for this and then switch over to the kneader blade for kneading).
5. Knead for about 8 minutes adding in more flour as needed to create a soft semi-sticky dough.
6. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, cover with a clean tea towel and let rest for 8-10 minutes.
7. Gather up dough and knead lightly for about 15 seconds so dough will come together nicely.
8. Place the dough into a well-oiled bowl (turning to coat in oil).
9. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and let rise for about 50 minutes to 1 hour (depending on how warm your kitchen is, I rise my dough in a pre-warmed oven).
10. Punch down and divide evenly in half.
11. At this point you can place each piece of dough in an oiled bowl, cover and refrigerate to make later, or freeze, placing the dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, or more will make it easier to shape into the pan.
12. Very lightly spray two 13x9-inch baking pans and sprinkle each with about 2 tablespoons cornmeal or more, or line bottoms with parchment paper.
13. Place a piece of dough in the pan, then with fingers, press out and the up sides slightly by about 1/2-inch (if the dough will not shape good, just let dough rest covered for about 5 minutes, the continue shaping) don't worry if the dough is uneven or tears a bit.
14. Cover each pan with a towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for about 20-30 minutes, or until about doubled.
15. Set oven to 400°F.
16. Lightly brush each top of dough with oil (can use olive or regular oil), then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, black pepper and Kosher salt or coarse salt.
17. With lightly-oiled fingers make indentations (about 1/2-inch deep) and 1-inch apart all over the dough.
18. Bake for about 20-22 minutes or until golden.
19. Delicious!

Reviews

[Beverlee H.]

I was looking for a focaccia bread recipe when I saw this one posted by Kitten. As usual her recipe turned out fantastic. Made as directed, do not change a thing.

 

[Amythyst]

FANTASTIC! This is really an excellent, versatile foccacia recipe - I made one pan, and it literally VANISHED in no time flat! The dough is heavenly to work with, too! With very minor alterations, this made INCREDIBLE, stay-soft-forever cinnamon buns -completely yummy! I've made this my default dough; Thanks, Kitten, so much for another winner!

 

[YungB]

Excellent Foccacia and very easy to do. I followed the recipe exactly except I added 3 Tabspoons of dried onion directly into the dough. Great bread. Thanks again.

 

[patti k.]

So, I figured I'd have some of this to freeze - then I ate about one third of one of the loaves myself and used most of the rest for another recipe. This was easy and just so delicious - wonderfully soft and cheesy. Thanks, Kit!

 

[Leslie]

Loving this Foccacia Carol!! We used fresh Rosemary from our garden..it is terrific!!