There’s nothing quite like warm freshly baked bread and if you’ve never made it before this easy focaccia recipe is the perfect place to start. This recipe comes straight from Gousto’s own Serena and Chiara of the BreakfastInBedSisters and the smell of this heavenly focaccia baking is well worth your time all on its own. But the taste? Absolutely amazing – salty, fluffy crispy, chewy this focaccia recipe is everything good bread should be and more. Plus, this recipe is completely fool-proof making this a great kitchen project to cook up with kids…

Black Olive And Cherry Tomato Focaccia Recipe

For the dough:

• 500 g of plain flour
• 10 g of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 275-300 ml of lukewarm water
• 7 g dried yeast

Toppings:

• 2 tablespoons of oil
•  Salt flakes
• Cherry Tomatoes (optional)
• Olives (optional)

Method

1. Place the flour into a large bowl and stir with the yeast.
2. Make a hole in the middle and add sugar, salt and oil.
3. Gently stir with your hand or a fork to form a dough, then knead the dough in the bowl for at least 10 minutes, gradually adding the warm water. We used the mixer with the dough hook for this step but you can always do this the old fashioned way with your hands it takes around the same amount of time and it’s a lot of fun, especially if you’re cooking with kids.
4. Make the dough into a round shape and leave it to rest for 1h under a humid towel (possibly in the oven with only the light on or in a lukewarm place). The dough should grow to double its size.
5. Flatten the dough with your hands pushing to the corners in a rectangular baking tray (previously greased with 1 tablespoon of oil). Make some holes with your hands and then leave to prove for 15-20 minutes.
6. Add 2 tablespoons of oil on top, salt flakes, olives and halved cherry tomatoes (or whatever other toppings you like best) and bake for 15-20 minutes at 200 degrees.
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly then slice and enjoy!

Fancy a little something sweet for after you finish off your focaccia? Try our Ginger Cake With Salted Caramel Icing or our  Easy Vegan Brownies.  Or if you’ve still got bread on the brain our  Banana Bread recipe is a must. Tell us what to make next, or let us know what you’ve been baking, in the comments below!