Bread machine Focaccia

I love this bread machine focaccia recipe. It's so fast and easy to make and tastes delicious. The techniques I've added below help give it its crispy bite. If you have sourdough starter, that'd be a great addition for flavour and texture.

We top it with what we like, half and half for picky eaters, and it's great just as it is, or sliced open for a sandwich. Bet you can't keep this around long!

Ingredients

225ml (8 fl oz) lukewarm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, stem removed and chopped (2 tsp dry rosemary)
400g (14 oz) bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dried active baking yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt 

Method

Prep: 10 min › Cook: 25 min › Ready in: 35 min

Place water, 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, rosemary, flour, yeast and salt in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. I like to make a slight hole in the centre of my flour to add the yeast to, and sprinkle the salt around the perimeter of the pan. Select the DOUGH cycle; press START.

Remove the dough from the bread machine when the cycle is complete. On a slightly floured surface, gently pat dough into a rectangle approximately 23x33cm (9x13 in) by using your finger tips to make dimples and push to the outside. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest while oven preheats.

Place a pizza stone in oven on a rack and turn it on, preheating to 390F/ 200C / Gas mark 6. Halfway through preheating, fold the dough in half lengthwise and poke it into its general rectangular shape again.

Fill the bottom of a 23x33cm (9x13 in) metal pan with 1/8" of olive oil. When oven in preheated, place the dough into the pan and form to the outer edges using the poke and push technique. Oil will slosh up onto its top, that's quite alright. 

At this stage you can get creative. While you poke and push with your fingertips, you can embed into the dough some sliced olives, grilled peppers, grilled or sundried tomatoes, or whatever you'd like. Top with rosemary or other herbs and Parmesan cheese.

Spritz the side and back walls of the oven with water, close the oven door and wait a few seconds, then place the pan on the pizza stone in preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Remove immediately from pan so it does not sit and soak up oil. Place on rack to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Making baguette the EASY way!

I've completed my very first video, ever! Hopefully it will be useful in demonstrating how easy it is to make bread. I use the machine for the heavy, hard work by using the "dough" setting, then remove it to shape any type of bread you wish!

Bread machine recipe for three baguettes (in a nutshell):

1 3/4 cup water

4 1/2 cups BREAD flour (approximately)

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Add ingredients to bread machine in order listed. Set to "dough" setting. When done, shape loaves as desired. Let rise 2-4 hours. Bake in 350F oven for 22-25 minutes.

Watch the video for full instructions. It's my very first video ever, so be gentle with me!

BTW, the music is Sevillana by Commandos Percu.

Multigrain Raisin Bread

Lately I've been making the previous recipe as it was intended, as a raisin bread. I must say, it is absolutely delicious and the family goes through it pretty quickly!

I have altered the recipe and put in 1 1/4 cups of raisins, so that is more than you see in this photo. It makes quite a difference and really makes this loaf perfect.

It's so nice toasted in the morning with coffee, or for a snack in the afternoon!

Here are the steps to this very easy, completely done in the bread machine, bread (as opposed to my usual way of just using the dough cycle on the bread machine to do the hard work of kneading and the first rise).

But before we continue, I must say, I absolutely love my particular bread machine.  It is a Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme® Breadmaker BB-CEC20. Its loaf pan lays horizontal, with two paddles, not like most bread machines which make a vertical, tall and skinny, loaf of bread.

Completely unnatural!

The ingredients...
1 1/4 cups of water
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups White Bread Flour
1 1/4 cups Multi-grain Bread Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon bread machine yeast
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups of raisins

Add 1 1/4 cups of water to the pan, then add 2 tablespoons of butter.

 Add 3 tablespoons of honey.

Add 1 1/2 cups of white bread flour, then add the 1 1/3 cups of multi-grain bread flour.

 Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, being careful to distribute it around the outer edge of the pan.

Make a small depression in the middle of the two flour layers. Be sure that the depression does not penetrate through to the water.

Add 1 teaspoon bread machine yeast into the hole.

You want to be sure it does not touch any liquids, and also make sure it stays away from the salt.

 Sprinkle the 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon around the outer edge of the pan.

Put the pan back into the bread machine, set it to run on the "wheat cycle". Sit back and wait.

After kneading is under way, this particular machine beeps in case you want to add something. This is the time to throw in the 1 1/4 cups of raisins.

After 3 hours, 40 minutes (this includes the machine's preheat time), the bread is ready to come out of the pan.

Set it on a cooling rack to cool completely.

Sliced open, here it is.

It didn't turn out too bad considering I completely ignored, or didn't hear, the "ADD" beeps! When I realized what had happened, I pulled the dough out during the first rise and kneaded the raisins in by hand.

Syrian Pita

Today I dumped everything into the bread machine to make my new favourite Multigrain bread (listed in a previous post) and left for a nice, long motorcycle ride. Came home and had some wonderful, fresh bread waiting for us.

After another ride in the late afternoon, I remembered I had to make pita for the the BBQ later. So I rushed home, threw the ingredients into the bread machine and put my feet up while it did all the mixing and kneading for me.


Ingredients

1 1/8 cups water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Add to bread machine in your manufacturer's recommended order. Select Dough cycle, press Start.


After it finished rising, I cut the wonderfully tender dough ball into 9 equal pieces.

While the sausages were cooking on the BBQ, I warmed up a skillet and started rolling out the balls. I like to keep the balls covered with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out while I fry each pita.


I roll out the first one as thin as I can, throw it into the skillet and by the time I finish rolling out the next pita, the one in the skillet is done.

 I don't use flour on the counter when rolling. All that does is make your pita slip around with the end result being you'll have a very difficult time getting it as thin as needed.


I'm not that great at making it perfectly round, but it's close enough.

In the skillet, I start off with just a little olive oil to season the pan, then after that I add nothing. Just the teflon pan is good enough.



Here, on the right, you see it starting to bubble up. I love it when it does that.

I've heard that the thinner you roll it, the better your chances are of that happening!

Here it's been flipped and I'm cooking the other side. It really only takes 2-3 minutes on each side.

A little bit of blackness adds to its character.

The batch is nicely cooling on a cooling rack.



And there's a nice BBQ'ed sausage in a pita fresh off the skillet!

Day 2...Time to catch some microorganisms

Cover with some cheesecloth, held with an elastic, and wait.  Stir twice a day, keep bowl inside or outside.  In two days there should be bubbles.

Sourdough goodness

I started a sour dough starter a week ago and have been using it the past few days.
It is really starting to flavor up nicely. I'm really happy with how the bread is turning out.
In the bread machine, it does not rise as high as the white bread I do for baguette, but it still works out.

Baguettes the easy way!

Here are some tricks I have developed to make it all work. Important notes are in bold. Good luck!

Things to know:

• This dough doesn't want to be handled too much, so you won't be doing any more kneading than it has had already in the bread machine (Lucky you!).
  
• Be gentle with it when handling.
  Make sure the yeast is still good (must be fresh, not too close to the expiry date!)
  
• Use bread flour. It is a harder flour than all-purpose flour, and contains more gluten for bread making. This will give the bread a nice texture after baking.
  

Use the bread machine to do the hard work of mixing, and the first rise.

Here are the ingredients applicable to the size of my bread machine which has a capacity of approximately three quarts:

 (Makes 3-4 baguettes)

1 3/4 cup tepid water
4 ½ cups bread flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons dry bread machine yeast

It is important to put the ingredients into the bread machine following the order listed in your bread machine's recipe book. 

Use the dough setting on your bread machine. This will mix the dough and perform the first rise (TIME: 1:30) 

Optional step: Spray a medium to large sized glass bowl with olive oil. After the first rise in the machine is complete, "pour" the dough out of the bread machine and into the bowl.

Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm place until about double in size. Remove the plastic wrap and punch down dough. (TIME: 1:30) 

Spray two large (17.25 x 11.5") cookie sheets with olive oil, or line with parchment paper.  Note: You can reuse parchment paper, and it's recyclable! I just leave it on the baking sheet for the next day, shaking off any crumbs.

Forming

Gently form the dough into a big ball by grabbing one section of the dough from underneath and pulling it up over to its opposite side, gently tuck it underneath. Turn the dough a quarter turn and repeat once or twice more to form a nice ball.

With a large butcher's knife, cut it into three or four equal parts.

On a non-floured surface, slightly flatten one of the balls. Bring the left side into the centre and pat down briefly, repeat with the right side.

With the edge of your hand, form a slight crevice down the centre of the dough, parallel to the counter edge. (pictured above right)

Now fold the bottom half of the dough up toward the centre crevice, and then the top half of the dough down to the centre crevice. 

With both hands, gently start to roll back and forth to form a cylinder, taking steps to form nice smooth ends as well. Do not force the dough into the shape. If it starts resisting, let it rest and move on to the next piece of dough. Rotate through all three or four dough pieces, taking turns with each until they are all about 15” long.

If, while rolling the baguette into shape, you can feel an air pocket, pinch or squeeze the air out and reshape that area to return it to the nice cylindrical shape.

Keep in mind that you want to complete these steps as quickly as possible, with as little handling as possible. The more you handle it, the denser you will make your bread. (TIME: 00:08)

Efficient handling is one key to success.

Now that they're shaped

Gently place on cookie sheets, leaving room to grow between them.

With a very sharp knife, cut four or five diagonal slices into the baguettes.

Lightly support the dough with the fingertips of one hand while slicing with the other hand, about 1/8" - 1/4" deep.
Preparing for the final rise

Whatever you use to cover the baguettes during the final rise risks sticking to the dough and deflating the baguettes when you remove it.

Every time I've ever used damp tea towels, dry tea towels, or plastic wrap to cover the baguettes, the dough sticks when you try to remove it. Once they deflate, there is no turning back. (and I don't care what your Mom says, try it and see!)

As long as it is warm enough, the bread will be fine to rise without being covered.

Alternatively, my favourite method, is to take a couple of clean linen tea towels, lightly dust them with flour. This will prevent them from sticking to the dough. When you are finished letting them rise, carefully fold up the tea towels and place them in a sealed freezer bag for next time.

My house is cold, so here is what I do:

Set the toaster oven to about 150F on bake, put a couple of tea towels or an oven mitt on top of it. Place one of the cookie sheets on top of the oven mitt so it is trapped in the smaller warm space between the top of the toaster oven and the bottom of the cupboards. The other cookie sheet gets put on top of the coffee machine which is beside my toaster oven.

That confined space with the heat of the toaster oven helps keep it nice and warm. Optimally, the dough needs a temperature of 70F to rise.

Now let your nicely formed baguettes rise in a warm, draft-free spot. (TIME: 2 hrs)

Time to bake 

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Optional: 

Beat an egg yolk with 2 tablespoons of water. VERY CAREFULLY, and lightly, brush the egg wash over the baguettes. You do not want to disturb or deflate your nicely risen bread at this point!

Optional:

Put a small pan of water on the very bottom rack of the oven. Try not to have it directly oven a large portion of the element. This helps to add humidity for a nice crisp crust.

Bake the bread for 20-25 minutes, until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Immediately remove from the pans to cool on wire racks.

Still having trouble?

1. If your breads are still having trouble rising nicely, make sure your yeast isn't stored in a place that is too warm. You could store it in the fridge, and then take it out about an hour before preparing the bread to let it come to room temperature.
2. Remember: efficient handling is key
3. Always use the same everything: same measuring cups, same methods. Eventually you will learn to make your own adjustments to find what YOU have to do to get consistent results.
   

For instance, my measurements, in reality, are really 4 ½ cups of flour, plus a smidgen. The water is 1 ¾ of a cup, minus a smidgen.

IF I use a different measuring cup for the water, minus my smidgen, that smidgen won't work with the new measuring cup, resulting in a dough that is too wet. Then if you try to knead in more flour to compensate, the baguettes will shrink and the dough will be dense!

It sounds silly, but believe me, once you find a rhythm with one method, don't change anything!

You will notice that on certain days, even though you've done the correct smidgen adjustments, they still fall a little flat. In cases like that, take notice of the weather for the day. I find that in higher humidity in the summer, I'm actually doing 5 cups of flour PLUS the smidgen!

You have to do what works, but hopefully this will give you a head start and show you how easy it is to make bread!

Timing it for a work day

Essentially, you could start the bread machine as soon as you get up, then 1 1/2 hrs later when it's ready, it takes only 5-8 minutes to form it and set it aside to rise while you're at work.

When you get home, preheat the oven and pop them in, then you've got fresh baked bread for dinner!

Anything I don't think we'll get through that evening for dinner, the next morning for breakfast, or the next morning while making lunches, I freeze for days I can't, or don't want to make bread. I keep extra traditional bread bags around, double bag them for the freezer and single bag the baguettes being left out for evening/morning/lunch.

If you don't bag it for the overnight period, they will be too hard to eat the next day.

Happy Baking!