Personally, I really like Focaccia bread, and I wondered if I could make something reasonably close in the bread maker. Obviously it won’t be flat like the Focaccia is, but it could share some of the features of the bread.
For this recipe I used a mix of OO flour and strong white bread flour, but I think you could use either just as well. Use a light sugar such as either white sugar or regular brown sugar. As per the method below, you can replace around 20g of the white bread flour with rye (or other coarse flour).
As the Olive pieces are both heavy and substantial in size, they will interfere with the proving; so I tend to add them in the second mixing stage. Most bread-makers beep after about 30-40 minutes of proving where you can add extra ingredients.
Herby Italian Olive bread sliced
Ingredients
- 315ml luke-warm water
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 480g strong white bread flour
- 10g salt
- 1/2 tbsp of sugar
- 7g of dried yeast
To be added during the second proving (usually bread-makers beeps at this point)
- A small bowl of olives (about a handful size)
- 1tsp Italian herbs
Method
Mix all the ingredients into the bread-maker tray, most bread makers suggest liquid ingredients first so I’ve structured the list that way. If you’re using fresh yeast instead of dried powdered yeast, warm up the water slightly and crumble the yeast into the water along with the sugar for a few minutes before anything else.
Herby Italian and Olive ingredients
When adding the flours into the machine, a nice variation is to replace about 20g of the white flour with a coarse flour such as wholemeal or rye. I’ve tried this and it gives a slightly different texture. Just make sure the yeast and the salt say separated until mixing starts.
Always make this loaf on the regular setting in the bread-maker. I normally set the weight to maximum and bake to the dark/longer option. However, if you’re not that used to your bread-maker, try medium first.
Take the bread out of the tray as soon as possible after baking is complete and put onto a wire rack. The basket will be very hot, take care when removing it. If the base is soft, I normally turn the loaf upside down for a few minutes once it is removed. It makes the base more crispy. Just remember after a few minutes turn it back the regular way around.
Loaf turned upside down
Although tempting, don’t eat the bread until it has cooled, as it is still cooking when hot.
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