Baked Sunday Mornings: Cheesy Focaccia

DELICIOUS!

 I know, I'm late, it's not Sunday morning any more, but is Sunday going-to-bed-time.  Sorry.  I decided to use this Baked project for our Superbowl fabulous food table this evening.  It was a hit.  We had a huge houseful of all ages and this was totally enjoyed.  

Since I waited until today  (I usually bake on Wednesdays when I have Honey and take an office work break...we love to bake together.) I'm behind on getting this post up.  I woke early, mixed up the dough and let it rise, then I put it into the fridge.  Every thing went well to that point.  When I returned home I took the chilled dough out of the fridge and thought it would take about an hour to warm up and get bubbly and oven ready.  Well, I was wrong.  It all worked out OK, but we're having a cloudy, sprinkley,  cold day and the house is a bit cold.  I did not want to turn on heat as I knew that we'd soon have lots of bodies in the house to warm it up.  Anyway, it took 4 1/2 long hours before I could begin baking.  Glad we did not plan to eat until Superbowl time.  It all worked out, but glad I was not in a hurry.  

My camera makes the crust look quite light...it truly was better browned.  This bread is light and airy, yet a little crusty...and the toppings were really tasty.  I went with this recipe as written except for the fridge time.  This is a keeper.

A note for those of you in the TWD group:

With a big crowd here I made 3 times the recipe...well two times this one and then I also made the TWD Focaccia which I'll post later.  I will just say that both recipes  are similar are delicious.  I like this recipe better if thinking of a sandwich use.  It puffed up better and is lighter.  I did use all bread flour in the TWD recipe to see what that would do.  Possibly that is why it did not puff up quite as much, although the quantities for the same ingredients are a little different proportions and that could be the difference.  I like the TWD recipe better when I want a more chewy bread.  

All my breads disappeared and all were totally enjoyed.  (I made the TWD dough yesterday so it could have a longer fridge time...supposedly this would enhance flavors, etc.  I did not notice a big difference.)

I'm ready to try this recipe again and without the chilling time.  It was all going so well and I think the whole process would have been easier...I must say that after 3 hours I was starting to worry about whether this bread would make it to our dinner today.

And I did get to bake with Honey.  Honey, her mom, and I all went to a baby shower yesterday.  I 'stole" Honey who spent the night and we did get to have our baking day together after all.

MY BAKED BUDDY

I looked quickly through your posts...they are wonderful...everyone did a great job and this recipe seems to be an all around hit.  "See" you all soon!