I return to this recipe for herb-cheezy focaccia again and again. One of the great things about focaccia is that kneading isn’t required (though stirring is), yet you get an airy, chewy, flavorful bread. It’s fairly quick to mix together, too, so you can have fresh homemade bread on the table without a lot of fuss. The original recipe called for garlic olive oil and Asiago cheese. I’ve omitted the oil and replaced the cheese with nutritional yeast, which is optional if you are not a fan of the flavor. I also bumped up the quantity of whole wheat flour. Dried thyme in addition to or instead of the oregano would work really well, too. This makes a wonderful sandwich bread as well as a straight-up munching bread to pair with soups, stews and salads.
Easy Herb Focaccia
Makes 8 Large Chunks
1 large head garlic, roasted (Cut off top of head, wrap in foil and roast at 425F until soft, about 35-45 minutes. You can do this a day or two ahead.)
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. agave nectar
1 2/3 cups warm water
1 tbsp. kosher salt
2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
1/4 cup nutritional yeast, optional
In a large bowl, whisk together the water, yeast, agave nectar and salt. Stir in the flours, oregano and squeeze in the cloves out of the roasted garlic. Stir the dough – adding water if needed to create a wet, sticky dough – for a couple of minutes so that all the ingredients are well-combined.
Transfer dough to another large bowl that has been sprayed lightly with cooking oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise for about 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in bulk. Meanwhile, lightly spray a 9″ x 13″ baking pan, line with parchment paper and lightly spray with oil again.
When the dough has risen, stir and knead in the 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, if using – and then scrape dough into the baking pan, using wet fingers to spread the dough to the edges. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise again for another hour. Preheat oven to 450F.
Bake the focaccia for 20-25 minutes. The bread should be a deep brown on top and sound hollow when tapped. Carefully remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack before cutting and serving.
(The original recipe with lots of oil and cheese, came from Vegetarian Times.)
[...] sandwiches with a schmear of Vegenaise, thin slices of red onion and fresh bib lettuce on homemade Easy Herb [...]
I’m planning on making this tomorrow. Can’t wait!
I finally made it. Delicious!
[...] Unrefined Vegan. A delightful blog from a positively delightful woman. You can find the recipe here. To naysayers, my non-vegan, non-vegetarian family loved this bread, so yes, it’s good. [...]
Incidentally, one of my girlfriends picked up this recipe, too, and loved it. You’re famous!
Haha! Yay!
[...] I used Ann’s recipe exactly as it was laid out in her blog, so I’m just going to link up to it here. [...]
[...] one of my favorite breads, the beautiful Annie’s focaccia from An Unrefined Vegan – recipe here – and bruschetta topping. Also, isn’t the jar packing kind of awesome for taking food [...]
[...] with one of my favorite breads, the beautiful Annie’s focaccia from An Unrefined Vegan - recipe here - and bruschetta topping. Also, isn’t the jar packing kind of awesome for taking food along [...]
[...] One year ago today: A Peek Into the Man-cave (a.k.a. The Greenhouse) One year and one day ago: German Chocolate Bundt Cake [...]
[...] Now maybe this is knowledge held by every vegan out there except for me. I’ve always felt a little wasteful tossing out the seitan cooking water. It smells pretty good! Certainly it could be put to good employ somewhere. Like in soup. After my last batch of seitan, I decided to hang on to the broth – and I used it in this soup. I have to say, it really did something special. If you haven’t tried using all of that good seitan broth before, I’d suggest giving it a whirl … [...]