Rosemary Focaccia Bread

Old Man Winter, step aside! While you might be snowed in, iced over, up to your eyeballs in scarves and jackets in the middle of winter, I'm here to share a classic bread recipe that is perfect to pair with your comforting soups and heart stews. Rosemary Focaccia is similar to making pizza dough, a simple recipe using few embellishments to make it feel special.

Orange zest and coarse sea salt take this rustic bread to another level, and will make your kitchen smell amazing! This yeast bread takes a little bit of patience to attain the perfect rise, but is well worth it in the end!

Rainy day, baking bread with my toddler

This winter has been so mild and beyond dry. So when rain was finally in the forecast, I celebrated a bit, and then came up with a plan to adapt our routine up a bit to account for afternoon wet weather.
Usually, our routine allows us to get out to run errands or visit the park before lunch and naptime, and then after big brother gets picked up from school we play in the backyard or take a walk around the block until sunset. This allows me to wear him out enough so we can relax for a bit and catch the evening news before making dinner for the family. S loves to help me in the kitchen, a trend that I hope will continue for a long while, since big brother and my husband have no interest in cooking.

Yesterday, I decided to skip the park in the morning, and instead we stayed home in the backyard. S hunted for ladybugs and rocks, while I did a bit of gardening, weeding and cleaning my vegetable box for early-spring planting, which will happen in the next few weeks. I love living in California. After our afternoon snack, the clouds had come in and it was threatening to rain, so we stayed indoors and finished up some housework, which S helped with, as much as an almost 2 year old can. Afterwards, it was still to early to start on dinner, so I decided that it would be a good time to get some baking done.

I set out a quick snack for S while I picked the bread recipe, got the ingredients ready, and set up a stool in front of the mixer so S could watch. I added the ingredients to the stand mixer using the dough hook, and was surprised how fast everything came together. I got the mixer for Christmas and was used to making yeast dough by hand. See my post Nut and Raisin Bread For a Rainy Day for the recipe. After the dough came together, S helped me knead it on a floured board for a few minutes, then we put it back into the greased bowl to rest and rise. While we were waiting, I got out another type of dough, our homemade play dough, to smoosh and smash around while I cleaned up. After our dough (the edible kind) had risen, I shaped them into two loaves and set them next to the stove for rise #2 while I cleaned up the play dough and got started on dinner. S had already lost interest by then and was playing with his trains in the living room. By the time dinner was put on the table, the bread was cooling on the counter. We enjoyed it before bedtime with a bit of butter and a glass of milk.

Nut and Raisin Bread for a Rainy Day

I adapted this recipe from The Book Of Bread's "Sunflower Meal Bread with Sunflower Seeds and Raisins" to use up ingredients that were already in my pantry, since running to the bulk bins at Whole Foods at 4:45 on a Wednesday evening in commute traffic didn't sound like much fun. The original recipe calls for 2 cups of sunflower seeds, 1 cup as ground sunflower meal, and 1 cup whole, folded into the dough before baking. I only had about a cup, so I used walnuts and almonds to make up the 1  cup of nut meal, while keeping my cup of sunflower seeds to fold into the bread. I also added a bit of whole wheat flour and combined golden raisins and dried cranberries to fold into the loaf.

Nut and Raisin Bread for a Rainy Day

Makes 2 loaves or rounds

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon active dry yeast

2 cups warm water

1/4 cup honey

1/4 nonfat dry milk

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup almonds

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3 cups unbleached bread flour

1 cup sunflower seeds, divided

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

In the bowl of your mixer (or a large bowl if making by hand) dissolve the yeast in half the warm water. Dissolve the honey, dry milk, and salt together in the rest of the warm water. Add to the yeast. Meanwhile, grind the walnuts and almonds together (I used my food processor for this) into a coarse nut meal. Stir the nut meal and the whole wheat flour into the liquids. Add enough of the bread flour until it becomes hard to stir. If you are doing it by hand, this is the time to turn the dough out onto a  floured board and knead it, adding more flour as necessary, until it is smooth and no longer sticky. If you are using a stand mixer, you can do the same process using your dough hook. You will still need to knead the dough a few times by hand after it had come together. Return the dough to the greased bowl and cover, for about an hour, or until it has risen and doubled in size. 

Toss the raisins, dried cranberries, and 3/4 cup of sunflower seeds with the cinnamon, then fold into the dough. Divide the dough in half, and shape into 2 loaves or rounds, loaf pans optional. I have done both with good results. Let rise in a warm spot for 35-40 minutes. When you are ready to bake, brush the loaves with a beaten egg and sprinkle the remaining sunflower seeds on top. Bake in a 350 F degree oven for 45 minutes. Let cool before slicing. Enjoy with a spread of butter, with a cup of tea in the afternoon, or with peanut butter for breakfast.

 

Click here for a printable recipe
 

Feel free to use my recipe as it is written or substitute in your favorite nuts or dried fruits. Please write in the comments what you used, how it turned out, or if you have any questions. I look forward in hearing about your creativity!