Lavender Focaccia Bread
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
1 2/3 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees), divided
1(1/4 oz.) envelope active dry yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender flowers
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon coarse salt (sea or kosher)
¼ teaspoon black pepper
In a small bowl, combine sugar or honey with 1/2 cup of warm water.
Sprinkle yeast over the mixture; let the stand until foamy, 5 to 8
minutes.
Sift the flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the
flour and pour in remaining water, yeast mixture, and 4 tablespoons
olive oil. Mix approximatelly 5 minutes or until you form a dough;
transfer to your work surface. Knead for 10 minutes then add the
salt and knead for a approximately 6 to 10 minutes or until the
dough is very smooth (if the dough sticks to your hands, add some
additional flour, one tablespoon at at time).
Spray a large bowl with non-stick cookiny spray. Form the dough into
a round shape and place dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap,
and set aside in a warm place (draft free) to rise for approximately
45 to 60 minutes or until dough has doubled in bulk. NOTE: At this
point you can refrigerate the dough overnight. Be sure to allow the
dough to return to room temperature before putting it in the oven.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil a large baking sheet (I
use the new silpads instead of oil). Lightly flour work surface and
roll out dough into a large rectangle.Transfer dough to the baking
sheet, cover with plastic wrap and let rise approximately 30 to 45
minutes or until it doubles in size.
While dough is rising, make the lavender garlic topping. Finely chop
the lavender. In a small bowl, mix lavender and garlic with
remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Make dimples in the dough with your fingers by pushing into the
dough several times. Brush the lavender-garlic topping all over and
into the dimples. Sprinkle coarse salt and pepper on top. Bake for
30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. A good check is to use an
instant digital thermometer to test your bread. The temperature
should be between 200 and 210 degrees. Remove from oven and transfer
to wire rack to cool, Let baked loaf cool for 30 minutes before
cutting (this is because the bread is still cooking while it is
cooling).
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