Italian Rosemary Focaccia Bread

A few weeks ago one of my good friends offered me a Focaccia bread recipe that she assured me was hands down the best and easiest Focaccia recipe ever! Well as I've mentioned before I love cooking/baking with yeast because of the chemical reaction and all. But what I didn't tell you is that some of the specialty breads, Focaccia, Brioche, Artisan, etc. etc. sort of intimidate me. So I tucked the recipe in my cookbook and thought hmm, maybe one day?!? Well as I was trying to decide what to serve with the world's best Butternut Squash Soup (here) I thought OK today's the day. Well guess what--Focaccia bread is ummm 100 times easier than even your standard sandwich bread. Yeah that's right, I said it, way easier! You mix it all, let it rise, pour it into a greased 9X13, top it with whatever you like, and that's IT!!!!!!! So don't be a scaredy cat like I was, try this recipe. I promise you'll be making it a LOT more than what you'd ever think!

Italian Rosemary Focaccia Bread

2 cups Warm Water

1 package Dry Yeast

1 tablespoon Sugar

4 cups A.P. Flour

2 teaspoons Salt

2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning

2 pinches dried Rosemary

3 tablespoons Salted Butter, melted

Garlic Powder, for sprinkling on top

Parmesan Cheese, for sprinkling on top

1. Dissolve yeast and 1/2 cup of the warm water, let sit for 10 minutes.

2. To the yeast mixture, add the rest of the warm water, sugar, flour, salt, Italian Seasoning, and Rosemary. Mix Well.

3. Cover with a greased plastic wrap.

4. Let rise until the dough doubles in size.

5. Pour dough into a greased 9X13" pan. The dough will be VERY sticky so butter up your hands and push the dough out to the edges.

6. Let rise for 20 minutes.

7. Poke several indentations into the dough and pour melted butter all over the top.

8. Top with garlic powder and parmesan cheese.

9. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

10. Let cool for 10 minutes and eat your heart out.

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