Homemade bread, is there anything more rewarding or delicious to bake in your very own oven? The process is exciting and fun, activating the yeast, waiting for the dough to rise and finally pulling your golden bread from the oven to devour fresh and warm, it’s bliss.

For those of you out there a little intimidated by bread baking, never fear, this is a really simple no knead recipe that delivers a beautiful tasty homemade focaccia. Perfect for snacking, as an appetizer when entertaining or to serve with soups, stews, pasta or a crispy salad, focaccia is truly versatile.

Add your favourite herbs and spices to this homemade focaccia recipe and experiment with different toppings; try adding sliced olives or leeks, grated vegetarian or vegan cheese, sliced chilli or a sprinkle of different fresh herbs. With a little preparation time you will be rewarded with beautiful and tasty home-baked bread to enjoy fresh from the oven!!

My brother and I baked these homemade focaccia on a cold day here on the mountain and they where the perfect thing to enjoy sliced into warm pieces. Huge props to Tim for taking most of the beautiful pics on todays post. It was fun having someone else capture the cooking process, thanks Tim!!

Homemade Focaccia
Preparation time: 40mins (+ 1 hour proofing) // Makes 2 Focaccia

• 2 tsp dried yeast
• 1 tsp raw sugar
• 1¾ cup warm water
• 1 tbs olive oil
• ¼ cup gluten flour (wheat gluten)
• 440g (15 oz) plain flour (preferable 00/bakers flour)
• 1 tsp salt flakes
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• ½ tsp celery seeds

toppings

• 1 tbs olive oil
• ½ ripe tomato, sliced
• ½ red onion, sliced
• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp cumin seeds or fennel seeds
• fresh thyme, chopped

Combine the yeast and sugar with approximately ½ cup of the warm water, add the remaining warm water and the tablespoon of olive oil, set aside.
Sift the flours into a large bowl, add the salt flakes, fennel and celery seeds; stir gently to combine and make a well in the centre.

Check the yeast mixture is activated, you’ll notice the yeast very gently bubbling or rising to the surface, this may take a few minutes to happen.

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and using a wooden spoon stir for 1-2 minutes until well combined and formed into a soft, sticky dough. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and place in a warm corner to allow the dough to rise for about 1 hour or until approximately doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/428°F

Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and using floured hands, halve the dough into two rounds. Arrange the rounds onto lightly oiled baking trays and gently shape and flatten.

Top with sliced tomato, onion, garlic, cumin or fennel seeds and thyme. Brush with the olive oil and allow to rest for a further 15 minutes before placing in the hot oven for 10 -15 minutes until bread is golden brown.

Remove when evenly cooked and firm, slide onto a baking rack and allow to cool for a few minutes before slicing and devouring. Enjoy!!