Homemade garlic and herb flower focaccia. Made with rosemary and thyme infused olive oil, with pools of the same infused olive oil on top of the bread. Baked to golden brown perfection. Oh! And did I mention with edible flowers on top? The zucchini blossoms even have a cube of mozzarella in the center of them for good measure.
I had a lot of fun making this recipe. Besides the proving of the bread it actually is pretty quick to make. I definitely think now that I have made homemade focaccia, there is no turning back. It truly is something wonderful, especially fresh out of the oven with a spread of homemade pesto sauce on top.
If I had to describe this focaccia, I would honestly say it is “melt in your mouth” bread. Which sounds kind of strange since it’s not really how you would want to describe bread. However, that really is an appropriate description of the way this bread tastes when you eat it. Like a buttery, garlicky, golden piece of flaky bread that just melts in your mouth when you taste it.
Not to mention the aroma it brings to your house when making it. Our house smelled like the inside of an italian restaurant and I was not mad about it!
If you look you can see the way the olive oil sprinkled on top of the bread creates these pools of oil. These help bring all of the flavor to the bread as it bakes. Not to mention, they are jam packed with flavors from the herbs that we use to infuse it at the beginning of the recipe.
Focaccia is newly a house favorite as it is such a versatile bread and can be used for soups, sandwiches, salad as croutons, bread pudding, served on the side for dinner or just plain with a little bit of pesto. It also happens to be one of my favorite breads as it is naturally vegan so for all of my dairy free or vegan friends, this recipe is for you. Now I did put a little bit of mozzarella inside the zucchini blossoms, however, you can just make this recipe plain without the edible flowers on top and it will come out perfect!
In order to get those pools of oil, you need to work the dough with oiled fingers and just stamp little holes 3/4 of the way down the dough. This is a tradition when making focaccia as it helps the top to get crispy and brown, light and fluffy on the inside and yet still bake all the way through.
Some of the staples I use to create the focaccia have a really special job in the baking process and I will break them down in case you want to learn more about the ingredients going into your bread:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil or for short-hand EVOO is probably one of the more costly things we purchase to cook with. Not because it is so expensive but we do have to buy it often. I really recommend having two on hand at all times, one cheaper one that can be used to cook with (but still enjoy the flavor) and another good quality EVOO that can be used when you don’t cook it down, such as in salad dressings, or drizzling over the top of foods. I always use Olio Santo as my go to good quality olive oil, because yes, it is Ina Gartens favorite and yes, I did cry from excitement the first time I tasted it…No really, I cried. I only shed one tear and it was because I was finally able to understand what olive oil was really supposed to taste like. And it’s a HUGE difference than the cheap stuff you can get at the market. Just a note! If you have good quality olive oil, don’t be afraid to use it! Olive oil does actually go bad pretty quickly, so storing it away and saving it for a special occasion will not preserve it! ANYWAYS, moving on to its purpose in this bread. I use the olive oil to infuse with the herbs before I make the dough, then use half of the oil to make the dough and the other half to spread on top, and TRUST ME it makes all the difference. Good tasting olive oil is really what makes focaccia taste so good and have such a delicious undeniable texture.
- Fresh Garlic. I only put this here so you don’t use the store bought already chopped and stored in chemicals that are bad for you kind. That stuff has absolutely no flavor or even point for existing. Yes, I feel this strongly about fresh garlic.
- Fresh Herbs are sometimes annoying to buy or even grow in your backyard (take it from someone who gives up and all her plants die anyways) but they really do help this bread become that much better in flavor. I use rosemary and thyme but feel free to use whatever you have on hand. You can have fun with this part and mix and match herbs each time until you find the combo you love! Rosemary is and always has been a favorite of mine. The smell is simply magic.
- Honey used with the yeast and warm water. You can sub sugar if you are vegan and have a no-honey diet. However, honey adds a bit of flavor as well to the bread. I like to cook with local honey and also add it to my coffee because it helps my body adapt to our local pollins and keeps me allergy free. Really though, if you have allergies, try this. A teaspoon a day really helps keep your allergies at bay. So, when you use honey in the bread, you mix it in the beginning with water and yeast and this helps to activate the yeast while also building some structure to the bread. Yeast LOVES sugar and honey (unfortunately) has natural sugar in it.
- All purpose flour. Yes, the queen of saying use bread flour for bread is telling you right now to put the bread flour down! Although I believe firmly in it, this is not the time for bread flour. It adds too much gluten to the recipe and will come out a bit more chewy. I love chewy when it comes to pizza crusts, challah breads, bagels, etc. However, this focaccia has this extra special crumb to it that just soaks up the oils around it when you use all purpose. However, disclaimer, if you only have bread, I will understand if you can’t wait until you get all purpose and use the bread flour.
Garlic and Herb Flower Focaccia
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup EVOO
- 1 tbsp thyme (chopped)
- 1 tbsp rosemary (chopped)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 tsp honey
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- In a medium skillet over low heat, add the olive oil, garlic, thyme, rosemary, black pepper and cook, stirring every once and a while until the herbs become aromatic. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm water, yeast, honey and stir. Let it sit for 5 minutes, until the mixture starts to bubble on top. Then add in 1 cup of flour and a 1/4 cup of the infused olive oil and mix. Once incorporated, add the other 1 1/2 cups of flour and sea salt. Knead with the dough hook for about 1-2 minutes, until smooth.
- Transfer the dough to a well oiled bowl. Toss to coat in the oil and place a damp towel over the top. Then let the dough rise in a warm area for an hour until it has doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Use about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to coat a 9×13 inch baking sheet. I use this one, if you don’t have one, find a casserole dish or anything you have that is close in size.
- Dump the dough into the oiled pan, spread it out with well oiled fingers. Then press into the dough with your fingertips to create the dimples throughout the focaccia dough. Next, pour the remaining olive oil on top of the dough. And while you let the dough rise for another 20 minutes, assemble the flower pattern of your choice on top. If you are adding flowers, sprinkle the tops of them with olive oil before putting the dough in the oven. Otherwise, if you are not using edible flowers, let the dough rest 20 minutes before putting in the oven.
- Bake until golden brown on top and soft on the inside, about 16-20 minutes.
