Thyme Honey Focaccia Bread
Founder / Chef / Everyone’s Best Friend
Andy Hay
Welcome to my kitchen. I hope to inspire you to grow as a home cook!
Now more than ever it is important for us to sit down with the ones we love and have uncomfortable conversations about race, privilege and systemic racism. For me, the place for these conversations to happen is at the dinner table, breaking bread. So here is a very easy recipe for you to make at home. I hope I’m helping you make bread so you can break bread.
One of my favourites is Focaccia. It’s moist, chewy, and fairly easy to make. This is a great choice if you are new to the world of dough making as it’s relatively fail-proof.
What makes this Focaccia bread especially craveable is the addition of thyme infused honey, drizzled on at the end. I love the balance of sweet and salty, and the fact that I am addicted to bread makes this a particularly dangerous combination.
Ingredients:
Bread
- 1⅓ cups lukewarm water
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2¼ tsp active yeast
- 3½ cups AP flour
- ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2 tsp salt (preferably high quality flaky salt), plus more for finishing
Thyme Honey
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup fresh thyme
Instructions:
- Okay, let's bake some bread! Nothing difficult about this one so do not panic! First things first: place the yeast, sugar, and lukewarm water into a stand mixer bowl. Give the mixture a stir and let rest until yeast starts to bubble, about 5-10 mins.
- Once the yeast is alive, attach the mixer bowl and set the mixer to low speed, while you gradually add the flour, olive oil and salt. Increase speed to medium-low, and continue mixing for 5 minutes or until it is elastic and smooth. If the dough seems too wet, add a small amount of flour.
- First dough rise: remove dough from the mixing bowl, and use your hands to shape it into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl with olive oil or cooking spray, then place the dough ball back in the bowl and cover it with a damp dish towel. Place in a warm location and let rise for 45-60 minutes, or until it has nearly doubled in size.
- Second dough rise: punch the dough down then turn onto a floured surface, and roll it out into a large circle or rectangle until the dough is about 1/2-inch thick. Cover the dough again with the damp dish towel, and let continue to rise for another 20 minutes.
- While the dough is doing its second rise, get started on the honey. Add honey and dried thyme to a pot and place over low heat. Let honey simmer for 10 minutes and then filter out the thyme using cheesecloth or a fine strainer.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Transfer the dough to a large parchment-covered baking sheet. Use your fingers to poke deep dents (push right down to the pan) all over the surface of the dough. Drizzle a tablespoon or two of olive oil all over the top of the dough, and sprinkle evenly with fresh thyme and sea salt. Bake for 22 minutes, or until the dough is slightly golden and cooked through.
- Once you pull the bread from the oven, brush on honey, sprinkle with salt, and douse with olive oil. Serve warm and enjoy!
Andy Hay
Andy is the founder of ECK, Chef, and let’s admit it… the reason you’re here. He taught himself to cook, and it all paid off when he secured his spot in the season 5 Finale of Master Chef Canada. Now, Andy uses his big energy to showcase recipes that actually make people want to cook. His brand was built on butter and East Coast charm, and Andy’s kept that same energy ever since. Off-camera, you’ll find him doing what started it all: cooking for his two daughters, wife and the people he loves.
Similar recipes
Rate & leave a comment
2 Comments
— End of comments —
— No more comments to load —
If I leave out both the honey and thyme, will this focaccia recipe still work?
I tried your other recipe, but the dough did not rise like in the video. Thanks for your help.
I Eva, you can leave out both the honey and thyme and the focaccia will still work. They’re only for flavour. For the rise, make sure the yeast gets foamy first and let the dough rise somewhere warm until nearly doubled.