Delicious bread goes next level when you add fresh veggies to it. Focaccia is an Italian bread which is very popular in local bakery here. It is healthy and an all time snack too. Firstly, nothing beats a good loaf of bread and secondly when it has a beautiful design to it, it just looks wow. This traditional oven-baked bread recipe can also be made in an air fryer. Good for working parents who are always hard pressed for time in the kitchen. Have it with soup and your dinner is done or have it for breakfast with tea. Even great during road journey. Smell of fresh bread excites a foodie always. Happy tummy and happy me!
Other air fryer snack recipes include air fryer bread recipe, Air fryer pasties, Air fryer tofu nuggets, air fryer homemade tortilla chips, Air Fryer Stuffed Bell Peppers ,vegan soy curls , air fryer sweet potato hasselback & chocolate hot cross buns. Some other air fryer bread recipes are air fryer naan pizza, air fryer tortilla pizza, pizza toasts and air fryer pizza bagels.
You can make it in advance and send it in bento box too. Warm it and have it with breakfast with some hot cuppa. You can make any art by decorating veggies on the surface of the focaccia. It is your canvas!. Let your kids paint new colors on the focaccia dough as an activity. Sundried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, red peppers can give you some red. Yellow bell peppers and corn for yellows, broccoli and green peppers for some green. Olives for some black and green. Onions for some lilac, brown and pink. Your heart will be filled with pride when they see their homemade bread ready.
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Ingredients
- flour (unbleached plain flour )
- active dry yeast in warm water +½ tsp. sugar
- oil
- water to knead the dough
- salt
- Mix veggies (asparagus, bell peppers, olives)
Equipment
- stand mixer
- oven or air fryer
- tray
- small bowl
How to make focaccia bread in air fryer?
- Activate the yeast with warm water and sugar in a small bowl.
- Mix the flour with salt in a stand mixer bowl or a large mixing bowl.
- Add the yeast with oil and water.
- Knead the dough using a dough hook attachment, until you get a smooth texture.
- Cover and allow it to rise, punch down after 30 minutes.
- Spread the wet dough in a greased baking tray or a round pan. Depends on what shape you want to make.
- Spread the veggies on top of the bread in any shape/form. Brush with oil.
- Allow to rise for 20-25 minutes.
- Bake in a preheated(for 5 mins) air fryer at 180C/355F for 16-18 minutes or until the top of the bread sounds hollow
Variations
for oven-baked focaccia:
- Spread the dough in a greased baking tray.
- Toss/brush the veggies with oil.
- Spread the veggies on top of the bread in any shape/form.
- Allow to rise for 10 minutes.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 200(fan forced) for 20-25 minutes or until the the top of the bread sounds hollow
- Store it in refrigerator once it cools if you want to store for a few days. Not required if you consume within a day.
Top tip: You can make variations of this bread with addition of any veggies as popular toppings or just olives. Good sprinkling of the herbs will give you different flavor. garlic powder. You can also add some parmesan cheese or mozzarella cheese to the above recipe.
Substitution
How to increase fiber in your bread ?
There are a number of ways that can help increase the fiber content in buns or bread.
1.Use fiber rich flour such as whole-wheat flour/atta. In this case you may need to increase the quantity of yeast by 20% and use a bit more water/oil as this flour is a bit heaver than plain flour.
2. Add additional additives such as flax seed meal . 1 cup of plain flour contains around 3.4 gms of fiber compared to 11 gms in 1 cup of whole meal flour. 1 tbsp. of flax seeds contains around 2 gms of fiber. So an addition of 3 tbsp. of flax seeds to plain flour can help you get similar fiber content as whole meal flour.
3. Use a combination of above to make your own healthier bread recipe.
Storage
Store it in an airtight container in refrigerator. You can also wrap this with a cling film and freeze it for later use. Reheat before you serve after sprinkling some water drops on it.
Top tips
- Always preheat your oven or air fryer.
- Always reheat your leftovers.
- If water is too hot or cold, yeast will not activate and double. Also, when yeast is too old it will not work. If it doesn't activate, adding it dough will not help your bread. Make a fresh batch if that happens.
- I like to use the dehydrator function of the air fryer to proof my dough(allow it to rise)
FAQs
It looks tight and tough so it will not stretch after baking.
Firstly, it should spring back when pressed.
Related links
air fryer focaccia bread | focaccia bread recipe
Equipment
- oven or air fryer
- knife
- chopping board
- stand mixer for kneading (optional)
- tray / baking tin
Ingredients
- 1-½ cups plain flour / all purpose flour
- 1-½ teaspoon instant yeast with water and sugar
- ¼ cup warm water for yeast above
- ½ teaspoon sugar for yeast above
- 2 tablespoon oil
- ¼ cup water ¼ to ½ cup extra water to knead the dough. Generally for 1 cup flour , we need ½ cup of liquid,count the water added t,yeast and oil as well.
- 1 teaspoon salt or as per taste
- 1 tablespoon oil to brush the veggies and bread
- Mixed veggies Asparagus,bell peppers,olives
Instructions
- Add sugar to lukewarm water, mix until it dissolves. Add yeast to sugar water, so that it activates. This will make the mix frothy and activate in 15 minutes.
- Mix the flour with salt in a bowl
- Add this yeast mix to the flour with salt.
- Knead the dough until you get a smooth texture.
- Cover and allow it to rise for first time, punch down after 30 minutes.
Air fryer focaccia
- Spread the veggies on top of the bread in any shape/form.Brush with oil.
- Allow to rise for 20-25 minutes, for the second time.
- Bake in a preheated air fryer(preheat for 5 minutes) at 180C/355F for 16-18 minutes or until the the top of the bread sounds hollow
Bake foccacia in Oven
- Spread the dough in a greased baking tray
- Toss/brush the veggies with oil
- Spread the veggies on top of the bread in any shape/form
- Allow to rise for 20-25 minutes.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 200(fan forced) for 20-25 minutes
- Check the readiness, by knocking on the top of the bread,if it sounds hollow then its ready.
- Allow to rest outside the oven for 5-10 minutes,serve warm.
- Store it in refrigerator once it cools if you want to store for a few days.Not required if you consume within a day.
Notes
Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation while cooking.
Conclusion: Toddlers love to chew on bread and this is a great way to feed them veggies.
Jenniffer says
Really loved this Focaccia recipe! Made this as a snack for school and will definitely make again, kids loved it! I made a few extra additions, I added cherry tomatoes, vegan cheese crumbles https://violifefoods.com/ and onion. Thank you!
bhavana bhatia says
Thank you Jenniffer for stopping by and sharing your feedback. So happy that you liked the recipe.