For our regular #foodiefriday posts, Sage Garden staff member Holly shared her awesome focaccia recipe. Check out full details here:

This bread is tasty, easily customized, and easy to make! It’s also got a very short ingredient list, you’ll need flour, water, yeast, salt, honey, olive oil, and whatever toppings you decide to use. 

For one loaf you will need: 

• 2 ¼ tsp of quick rise yeast

• 1 tbsp of honey

• 4 tsp of salt

• 5 cups of flour

• 2 ½ cups of warm water

Whisk your yeast and honey into the warm water. I let mine sit for 10 minutes to make sure it is foamy looking. This is a sign that your yeast is alive and will actually allow the dough and bread to rise. If you don't see any foaming, I’d restart with new yeast as it is vital to the success of the recipe. 

Now it’s time to work the flour and salt into the wet ingredients to form the dough. I start off folding the flour in with a rubber spatula and then usually end up switching to kneading the dough by hand to make sure there are no streaks of flour left. Once the ingredients are well mixed it’s time to let the dough to rise. I like to coat the bowl I’m going to store the dough in with some olive oil to make sure it doesn't stick to the sides, if you want to make a garlicey bread you can use garlic infused olive oil here. I also like to put a piece of parchment paper over the top of the bowl and then put a hand towel over that, just to make sure the dough doesn’t stick to the towel later if you chose to cover it with one. I let the dough rise between 8 - 24 hours in the fridge. 

Once the first rising of the dough is over I usually transfer it into an oiled 9” by 13” pan. In the photos I did use some different shaped pans, but this will fit a single loaf perfectly. Just plop the dough into the pan and let it rise some more in a warm spot. I use a heat pad but I’ve also used a heat vent and the top of a fridge before. It should kind of settle and fill out the pan on it’s own. One of the fun things about focaccia is the dimples it has, this is from poking holes in the dough with your fingers. You’ll wanna push into the dough just before you hit the bottom of the pan all over the dough.

Now you can top with your choice of herbs, veggies, or flowers! My favourites tomato, onion, feta, peppers, and some basil. But you can go really ‘out there’ for toppings on this bread as it’s so versatile, so have fun and get creative. 
For the baking you’ll want to heat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, and then I usually let it bake for 20 - 30 minutes. You’ll want to keep an eye out for the top getting a little crispy and turning a golden brown colour.

Once it’s done baking, enjoy it right away or within the same day as unfortunately the bread doesn’t keep well for long. But it does freeze well! 

Happy baking everyone - Holly :)

PS. Be sure to drop by our Instagram for more #foodiefriday posts, and video showing the various styles of focaccia Holly made!