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Herbed Garlic Parmesan Focaccia – Savory Style

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If you were to ask me to list a few of my favorite things, I would probably start rambling off something that includes giraffes, coffee, rainy mornings, fresh flowers, and warm, steaming garlic bread. Emphasis on that last one if you can tell where I’m going with this!

This recipe was born from a late night craving for that delicious restaurant bread that comes in those bread baskets at Italian restaurants. I knew I wanted to make some to slather in butter and decided to give making homemade focaccia a go. And not just plain focaccia, but a batch that would be covered in plenty of rosemary, garlic, and parmesan.

As silly as it sounds, I haven’t always been so bold with bread. When I was first starting off in the baking world in high school, yeast used to intimidate the heck out of me. There was just something so foreign, so strange about yeast. I mean, what even is it? How do those tiny packages turn into the fluffy, golden deliciousness that is a staple in my life?

I even went as far as to write one of my college essays about my first experience baking with yeast and, I guess it turned out to be a good enough story because here I am! A big ol’ college girl making her way through life, conquering the world and any bread recipe that comes my way.

If you’ve never had fresh focaccia before, you’re in for a big treat. Focaccia is an Italian bread that has a fluffy texture that is similar to pizza, but a million time better. It bakes up to have a perfect golden crust, but a soft interior. When making it, it’s traditional to make small pockets on top and brush on olive oil to hold in texture. Little bits of olive oil and parmesan accumulate in these little holes and add for extra deliciousness!

It’s made with all the ordinary bread staples (flour, water, yeast, etc), but is often filled or topped with extra goodies for more flavor. This particular recipe involves using dried rosemary, garlic salt (my favorite thing in the world), and parmesan. You know a recipe is going to be good if it has that combination of ingredients!

While the rising period may turn some of you guys off of making bread, it really isn’t too bad. I like to fix it and forget it by quickly putting the dough together, then going about my business. Oftentimes, I’ll let the dough rise, then keep it in the fridge for a day or two until I’m ready to bake up a storm!

I made this focaccia for my friends a few nights ago and it was absolutely demolished. I had a late night bread craving, pulled some of the risen dough out of the fridge, and had warm, steamy bread out of the oven within 15 minutes. The entire batch was eaten by four girls in a matter of an hour. And trust me, this makes a lot of focaccia! It’s impossible to stop eating once you get your first taste!

One little thing that makes this recipe extra special is baking it in mini cast iron skillets. While I know not everyone has them lying around the house, I picked them up for a few bucks each and am absolutely smitten over how cute each little focaccia loaf comes out! If you don’t have any available, feel free to bake the bread in a 9×13 inch baking pan. It’ll come out every bit as good!

  • 2½ tsp active dry yeast

  • 1¾ cup lukewarm water

  • 2 tbsp olive oil

  • 4 cups white flour

  • 2 tsp salt

  • ½ tsp dried rosemary

  • garlic salt

  • ½ cup parmesan

  • extra olive oil for drizzling

  • Add the yeast to the warm water and let activate for 10 minutes. Add in the olive oil.
  • Sift together the flour, salt, and rosemary. Add the wet and dry ingredients together in a stand mixer and use the dough hook tool to mix together the dough for 2-3 minutes.
  • Let the dough rise for two hours in a warm place, covered.
  • Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Punch the dough down, then divide into three different balls and place in three mini skillets, spreading out the dough to fill the skillets. Let rise for 20 minutes.
  • Use your fingers to make indents in the dough, then sprinkle with garlic salt and the parmesan. Drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil on each skillet.
  • Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. If the top begins to burn, cover with aluminum foil.