Herbed Tomato Focaccia Bread

I had a request and needed to fulfill the need!

This was a wonderful addition to our Lemon Basil pasta and so so easy! You can, just as yummily, make this on a pizza stone or a cookie sheet. And yes, I did just make up the word yummily! This dough can also morph into a loaf of herbed bread or pizza dough. Get out your muscles and knead some stress away....

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of very warm water

1 TBSP of yeast

1 TBSP of sweetener (I use honey)

1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour (or unbleached white whole wheat)

2  1/2-3 cups of unbleached flour

2 tsp salt

1/4 cup of Olive Oil

1 tsp of dried basil (or fresh if you have it)

1/2 tsp of dried oregano

1/2 tsp of garlic powder
Garlic Salt
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of Mozzerella cheese


In a large (and wide) mixing bowl, pour in the water, yeast, and sweetener and mix until well combined. Add in the unbleached flour, salt, basil oregano and garlic powder. Stir until combined. Begin to sprinkle in bits of the whole wheat flour until the dough begins to come together. Knead the dough right inside the bowl. Sprinkle in more flour as needed until the dough is not sticky any longer. Continue to knead for up to 5 minutes.

Allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Heat oven to 450 degrees

Divide the dough in half. Press one half out into an oiled cast iron skillet or onto a pizza stone. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic salt and partially bake for 10 minutes. Remove it from the oven. Top it with  parmesan cheese, tomatoes then the mozzerella cheese. (Yes, in that order!) Bake again until the crust and cheeses are brown and lovely..... and enjoy!

~This only used half the dough. I allowed the other half to raise for a while, pressed it out onto a pizza stone and partially baked it for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. Allow to cool and wrap in plastic wrap and store in fridge for a quick homemade pizza in the future~

~ You can use 100% whole wheat or 100% unbleached flour. Whichever your family prefers. We enjoy the mix. As long as you have 3 1/2 -4 cups of flour. ~

~ You can also use a stand mixer for this dough. Since I was stretched for time and not even letting the dough raise for a long amount of time, I just didn't bother with getting my mixer dirty.~

~ For a loaf of bread, form dough into a greased loaf pan or just in the shape of a loaf on a stone or cookie sheet. Let raise for an hour or so. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Top will be browned and it will sound hollow when you tap on it~