Whole Wheat Basil Focaccia

I have not given up on the whole low-carb thing, but I've worked back in enough to prevent weight loss.  What I'm still trying to avoid is excess refined sugar.  It's unfortunate, but I do feel a lot better when I lay off the carbs.  A single serving of bread does not appear to spike my blood sugar, provided I have some protein at the same time.

I've struggled with making focaccia in the past, and I think it's because I wasn't using enough olive oil.  That was when I was still focused on low-fat.  It would come out more like pizza crust.  Focaccia is related to pizza dough, but is generally more tender and has shorter gluten strands.  That's the oil.

This new technique I tried out produced the desired result.  Well, new to me.  It's probably centuries old.

1/2 C 100ºF water
1/2 tsp yeast
3-4 Tb olive oil, divided
scant 1/8 tsp honey
*1/2 C whole wheat flour
about 1 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
*1 Tb dried basil, plus more for sprinkling
1 Tb crumbled feta for garnish, optional

1.  Stir together water, yeast, honey, and 1 Tb oil.  Let sit until yeast is active and foamy, 5-10 minutes.

2.  In stand mixer with the paddle, stir together yeast mixture and the wheat flour.  Beat into a stringy batter.  Add 1/2 C A.P. flour, salt, and basil and beat into a thick batter/light dough for 2 minutes, until you can see gluten strands form.

3.  Pour out dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, adding flour as necessary to keep it from being sticky.  Smooth into a rounded ball.  Place in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat all sides, cover, and place in a warm place to rise until doubled, about an hour.  It's going to look like a tiny ball of dough, but it will puff up nicely.

4.  Once risen, punch down dough and let rest 10 minutes.  Swirl 2 Tb oil in an 8" round cake pan or square casserole.  Press dough into pan to the edges.  It's fine if some of the oil ends up on top.  I used a 6" pan because the dough looked small, but then the loaf ended up much thicker than I had anticipated.  Cover and let rise again 30-45 minutes.

5.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Before baking, brush top of focaccia with oil if it looks dry.  Sprinkle with coarse salt and basil flakes.  Bake 20 to 30 minutes, until hollow when tapped.  It won't look overly browned because this is a low-sugar recipe.

6.  If using feta as a garnish, remove pan from oven when bread appears almost done.  Gently remove it from the pan, then put it right back in.  This is so all the cheese won't fall off later when you try to take it out.  Top with the crumbles and put the pan back in the oven for 2-4 minutes, until the feta is slightly melted and toasty.  Now you can cool it for real 10 minutes in the pan, then completely on a rack.  Slice and serve.

Makes one loaf, about 6 servings

Difficulty rating  :)