Quick foccaccia

A quick and easy version of foccaccia - less than 2 hours from start to finish - from the amazing folks over at King Arthur flour.

Quick foccaccia
(aka Cheesy Pan Bread)
1.5 cups warm water
3 tsp olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)
1.25 teaspoons salt
3.5 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 T instant yeast
4 tsp Pizza Dough Flavor, optional
.25 cup Vermont cheese powder or 1 cup grated cheese (optional)
Pizza Seasoning or other herbs and spices (optional)

Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom.


Combine the water, olive oil, salt, flour, yeast and pizza flavoring. Beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds. (Beat a little bit longer than this picture shows - the gluten should be more developed than this. Also, I opted to add 1 c of grated cheddar cheese to the dough.)


Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, pushing into all the corners. Cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it's become puffy. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F.


Once risen, gently poke the dough all over with your index finger. Drizzle it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with pizza seasoning, and/or the dried herbs of your choice, if desired. (I used kosher salt, garlic powder, basil, and onion powder.)


Bake the bread till it's golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. (I sprinkled it with some parmesan after I removed it from the oven.)


Wait 5 minutes after removing it from the oven, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.


Enjoy!