Whole wheat rosemary garlic focaccia

My good friend Jaime Eggleston turned me on to the best blog ever! Have you heard of Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman blog? When I ask people about it every knows about it except for me! Well I've been stalking her blog for a few weeks now and she has some great recipes on it.

She had one for an olive focaccia bread that looked good, but we're not big fans of Kalamata and green olives. I decided to try it with another of her recommendations to add rosemary and garlic. In my quest to be healthy, I decided to try it with whole wheat flour. The result? A hearty, flavorful bread that begs to be devoured!

Here is my version of her recipe:

• 1-½ teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
• 1-½ cup Warm Water
• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1-½  teaspoon Kosher Salt
• ⅓ cups Olive Oil
• 2 TBSP. chopped Garlic
• 1 stalk fresh Rosemary, roughly chopped
• Olive Oil, For Drizzling
• Kosher Salt, For Sprinkling

Preparation Instructions

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Let stand for a few minutes.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Add the garlic and rosemary. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.

Warm a non-metal mixing bowl in the microwave until warm. Coat it with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.

To make focaccia remove dough from bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a large, thin oval/rectangle. Place on separate sheet pans (or cookie sheets) drizzled with olive oil. Drizzle more olive oil on top of the ovals, then cover each one with plastic wrap. Put in a draft-free/warm place for one hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the plastic wrap (dough will be puffy) and use your fingertips to press dimples all over the surface of the dough. Drizzle surface with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until focaccia is golden brown.
Cut into pieces with a pizza wheel or sharp knife. Serve immediately.

I tried this using 4 cups of wheat flour and while it was still great, it was a little heavy like whole wheat bread can be sometimes. Next time I am going to make it with half white half wheat. Yummy! Try it out and tell me what you think!