I’ve never been much of a baker. I have one cookie recipe, one blondie recipe, and have made a tart or two in my life. And until I started making focaccia, bread was totally out of the question. Anything that involved yeast and it rising, it felt like it was beyond me, and like I’d mess it up. Well, even a total baking novice like me can handle focaccia. This recipe is the same basic recipe as the Bon Appetit focaccia but with some modifications to the flour, oil, and butter used. The grocery store near us makes focaccia that is a slightly spicy tomato topping and that’s my inspiration for the topping here but focaccia is a great blank canvas so you can take this any direction you like. If you want a thicker bread (ie something you can halve for a sandwich), bake in a 9x13 dish. If you want something crispier and thinner, use a large 12x17 sheet as I have here.

Ingredients

For the Bread:

• 500 g all-purpose flour

• 125 g whole wheat flour

• 2 1/4 oz (1 packet) active dry yeast

• 2 tsp honey

• 2 tsp kosher salt

• 5 tbsp olive oil, divided

For the Topping:

• 3/4 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 2 tbsp thyme leaves

• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

• Black pepper

• Flaky sea salt

Method

Add the yeast and honey to 2.5 cups of lukewarm water, mix, and let sit for 5 mins to activate the yeast. Now, add both flours and salt. Mix with a wooden or silicone spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Don't use your hands - you will overwork the dough. In a separate, large bowl, pour 2 tbsp olive oil and spread it around. Move the shaggy dough into this oiled bowl. Cover with plastic or a cloth and let the bread rise for 3-4 hours. If you live in a colder climate, place it inside the oven with the oven light on or else leave it on your counter.

Once the dough has doubled in size, un-stick it from the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Now, fold the dough over itself, rotating the bowl as you go, until you've made 6-8 folds. Oil your baking sheet with 2 tbsp olive oil and migrate the dough to the baking sheet. Gently working, spread the dough as evenly as possible to all corners. Now, leave this to rise for another 1-1.5 hours.

Prepare the topping. Mix everything under “For the topping” in a bowl and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Take the risen dough and gently poke the risen dough to create little dents all over; there is no wrong way to do this and it is also really fun. Now, top with the tomato-thyme mixture. Drizzle a little more olive oil on the top and finish with flaky salt, pepper, and more thyme.

Bake for 20-25 mins, depending on your oven. Remove and let cool for 15-20 mins. Slice and eat!