Rosemary Focaccia Bread

There is nothing better than homemade fresh baked bread, today is a rainy cold day in phoenix so I have a fire going in the fire place and am baking bread. I also have intentions to make some homemade soup tonight as well (I will attempt to blog if all goes well) in the mean time this recipe is naturally vegan (as lots of yeast breads are) I doubled this so I made 2 loaf's you can always freeze one. Give it a try it was much easier than I thought it would be, and you can just let it rise in between loads of laundry or whatever your weekend holds! :)

Rosemary Focaccia Bread 

    Dough:
    1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
    1 cup lukewarm water, divided
    3 tablespoons olive oil
    1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    2 cups unbleached wheat flour

    Topping:
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    1 tablespoon crushed fresh rosemary leaves
    1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Directions:

1. Place yeast in a bowl with 1/2 cup of the lukewarm water and stir until dissolved. Add remaining water, oil, salt and flour and mix well. Cover bowl and let rise in warm place until doubled in size.

2. Oil 1 9" cake pan. Knead dough on floured surface, adding more flour if needed to make a shiny and elastic dough.

3. Place dough in prepared pan. Press dough into pan and let rise again for at least 1/2 hour. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix topping ingredients.

4. When risen, make many deep holes in dough with finger and brush on topping. Bake for 20-30 minutes.