Mennonite Girls Can Cook is a collection of recipes which were posted daily for a period of ten years from 2008 to 2018. We have over 3,000 delicious recipes that we invite you to try. The recipes can be accessed in our recipe file by category or you can use the search engine.

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Foccacia Bread


This bread is fast and easy to make and great to serve with pasta or anything Italian. 
Be sure to serve it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping like the Italians do.
 I have small individual dishes so everyone can have their own but in restaurants they often pour the oil and vinegar onto a plate for everyone to share.

  • 3 - 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon instant yeast
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 egg
  • 3-4 Tbsp. olive oil
Your choice of toppings:
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary or basil or  a handful of chopped fresh rosemary or basil
  • very thinly sliced red onion or red pepper
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • minced garlic
  • chopped chives
  • Parmesan cheese
  1. Grease a cookie sheet or heavy pizza pan and sprinkle with a bit of cornmeal.
  2. Mix 1 cup flour, sugar, salt and yeast in mixer bowl. 
  3. Heat water and oil until very warm. 
  4. Add liquid and beaten egg to flour in bowl. Blend at low speed until moistened, then for 2 minutes at medium speed.
  5. Gradually add 2 cups flour and mix with dough hook or knead by hand until dough pulls away from bowl - about 5 minutes. You can knead in a little more flour until dough is smooth and elastic.
  6. Cover dough with a large bowl and let rest for 5 minutes
  7. Roll out or shape dough into a 12 inch circle and place on baking pan.
  8. Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and cloth towel and let rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
  9. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Uncover dough. 
  10. With handle of wooden spoon,poke holes in dough at 1 inch intervals. 
  11. Drizzle with 3-4 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with desired toppings. (choose 3 or 4 from the list)
  12. Bake at 400 degrees for 17-22 minutes or until golden brown.
  13. Immediately remove from baking pan and cool on wire rack.
  14. Cool and cut into wedges or into the traditional slices.

17 comments:

  1. Oh this looks so easy to make and my husband and I really enjoy having bread for dipping. We even add a little extra fresh grated Parmesan to the oil and vinegar...Love the taste and I cannot wait to try this for our family!!
    Blessings,
    Melissa D. SC
    http://www.xanga.com/MelissaDSC

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  2. Perfect....I was wondering...what to have with my lox and cream cheese platter...now I know.

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  3. YUM...I love pretty much anything Italian..My friend, Rosalie, whose parents came over from Italy on a boat (literally), she makes Foccacia, and they use it for sandwiches, says it is delicious..

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  4. This looked so good and easy that I brought my laptop right out to the kitchen and got started. The bread is rising in the pan now. . .

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  5. We sure enjoyed this bread at your home with your lasagna. The vinegar & oil are a must. Thanks for posting thie recipe. Kathy

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  6. You make this look so easy and I love the holes you made with the wooden spoon handle. Awesome!!! I might have to surprise myself and give this a try.

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  7. Now this looks like my kind of bread...and I like the 'holey' effect.

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  8. This is something I make quite often! Love it! The flavors are wonderful!

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  9. Hey Bev, I believe I know why you are cooking.....
    Happy Birthday my friend.
    Thanks for the recipe. I love Italian food and will try that for sure. I'm sure it would be fantastic in my Paninni Grill.
    Have a wonderful weekend.

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  10. That recipe is a real keeper. We gobbled it up! I topped ours with the red pepper and onion strips, sea salt and freshly grated parmesan cheese. This is the best new recipe I've tried in a long time. . .

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  11. WONDERFUL! can't wait to try it

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  12. This is a fantastic sight that I just learned about. I have enjoyed looking to see what you might cook up next. This is the first recipe I've made. It turned out great, plus it was easy and delicious. I posted a link to your blog on my blog, so hopefully more can enjoy :) Thanks for the recipes and thanks for the great pictures, too!

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  13. How would caramelized onions on top work? would the dough hold up and not deflate???

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  14. Can you make this recipe without the egg? (an egg-allergy person coming to visit)

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  15. I've not tried it so I can't say. But you could try substituting the egg as suggested in this link that I found on Google. http://www.breadbeckers.com/blog/egg-substitutes/ (you may have to cut and paste the link address)

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