After 11 years of bringing you local reporting, the team behind the Vancouver Observer has moved on to Canada's National Observer. You can follow Vancouver culture reporting over there from now on. Thank you for all your support over the years!

Making fresh bread at home with the kids

Baking bread at home on the weekend is a great way to involve the kids in the kitchen. Photo by Ben Kiely.

Whole wheat Focaccia bread with rosemary

I like to make bread at home on the weekends. This recipe is straight forward for home baking and a nice introduction to bread making. Getting the kids involved is fun and easy to do.

I use instant yeast in this recipe which means you can just add the yeast with the flour. I enjoy the flavour of whole wheat bread however if you like, you can just use all purpose white flour.

Focaccia makes flavourful panini sandwiches or you can just enjoy it with good olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  

Ingredients

960g whole wheat flour

2 tsp/7g dry instant yeast

2 tsp/7g salt

720 ml water

240ml extra virgin olive oil

160g all-purpose flour

1 tbsp/10g chopped fresh rosemary

Pinch Rock salt

Method

1. In a large bowl combine whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, yeast and salt. Now gradually work in the water and the olive oil until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, should take about 10 minutes. Place in a large greased bowl and brush olive oil on the dough. Cover the bowl with a slightly damp tea towel and place it in a warm place for about 1 ½ hours until the dough has doubled in size.

3. Punch down the dough and place it in a lightly greased 12 inch sauté pan. Press the dough to fill the sauté pan and work it with your finger tips to create dimples all over the bread. Let rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200C/ 400F

Sprinkle the rock salt and rosemary on top of the dough and place in the pre-heated oven. Bake for around 30 minutes until golden colour on top. Allow to cool on a cooling rack before eating.

More in Recipes

Spanish style clams with sherry, garlic and parsley

Serve as an appy or toss with pasta for a full meal
Vietnamese inspired calamari salad with mint and mango

Vietnamese inspired calamari salad with mint and mango

Fresh mint ups the flavour content while chile sweet and sour dressing gets a kick from the chili

Portuguese octopus stew with chickpeas, chorizo and eggplant

Portuguese octopus stew with chickpeas, chorizo and eggplant This recipe is packed full of vibrant tastes and colours, the key to the octopus is the long slow cooking which will develop flavour and...
Speak up about this article on Facebook or Twitter. Do this by liking Vancouver Observer on Facebook or following us @Vanobserver on Twitter. We'd love to hear from you.