Focaccia Two Ways: Orange-Lavender and Lemon-Asparagus Focaccia

Lemon Asparagus Focaccia

I've pulled this blog out of hibernation just in time to join the Virtual Vegan Potluck.  Welcome potluck attendees!  I made two types of seasonal citrus focaccia to showcase some of my backyard produce.
Above is lemon and asparagus focaccia with black pepper.  Below is sweet orange and lavender focaccia (which I overcooked a bit--oops, but still tasty). Both breads are based on the same dough, just with different toppings.

Orange Lavender Focaccia

The Ingredients:
Dough (for two loaves):
2 1/2 c warm water
2 T olive oil
1 T sugar
1 T + 1/2 t dry active yeast
2 1/2 t salt
6-7 c unbleached white flour

Orange Lavender topping:
about 1 T olive oil
4 t chopped fresh lavender (about half leaves and half flowers)
1 small orange, sliced as thinly as possible
2 t sugar

Lemon Asparagus topping:
about 1 T olive oil
5 asparagus spears, halved lengthwise
1/2 a large lemon, ends removed, sliced as thinly as possible
a pinch black pepper
a pinch salt

The Process:

1. To make dough, combine water, oil, sugar, and yeast in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, and let sit for 5-10 minutes until yeast is puffy.
2. Add salt and about 5 1/2 cups of the flour and knead with oiled hands or stir with the mixer's dough hook, adding more flour as necessary to form a slightly sticky but workable dough.  Knead about 12 minutes by hand or about 5 minutes with a stand mixer.
3. Form dough into a ball, coat with oil, and place in a large, oiled mixing bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and place somewhere warm.  Allow dough to rise until doubled. (This can take anywhere from about 45 minutes to more than 2 hours, depending on your yeast and the room temperature.)
4. Punch down dough and divide into two equal pieces.  Preheat oven to 400°.
5. Lightly oil 2 baking sheets, and stretch each piece of dough into a rough rectangle, mostly covering a baking sheet.  You can leave the edges rounded and uneven for a more "rustic" look.  Let sit, covered loosely with plastic wrap, for about 15 minutes, then uncover and lightly dimple the surface of the dough with your fingertips.  Brush each loaf with a generous coating of olive oil.
6. For the orange focaccia, arrange orange slices on top of dough, then sprinkle with lavender and lightly press the lavender in with your fingertips to make it adhere to the dough.  Top with sugar.
7. For lemon focaccia, arrange lemon slices and asparagus spears on top of dough, brush asparagus with a little olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
8. Bake about 20-25 minutes or until tops of loaves have golden-brown splotches, then cool on baking racks.

Thanks for dropping by! Feel free to go back to the Misfit Baker, go forward to Farmer's Market Vegan, or go to the host site, Vegan Bloggers Unite!

Taking a Blogging Break

I just wanted to let my readers know that I'll be taking a break for blogging for a little while.  The reason for the break:

the little girl I've been cooking up finally arrived on February 12. "Little" being a bit of a misnomer, since her birth weight was 9 pounds 8 ounces.  The only food I plan on making for the next few weeks is milk for this cutie...but I'll be back to blogging once we settle in to our new routine.

Peach Oat Nut Muffins

I expect I'll be writing a post about something besides muffins sometime in the foreseeable future.  But not just yet, thanks, since muffins are all I want to eat these days (well, and steamed broccoli, but THAT recipe wouldn't make much of a post).  And so I bring you peach-oat-walnut muffins.  Makes 12 muffins, or a couple more if you're shy about filling your muffin tins REALLY full.

The Ingredients:

1 c + 2 T white flour

1 c whole wheat flour

1 c rolled oats

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c ground flax

1 T baking powder

1 t cinnamon

3/4 t nutmeg

3/4 t salt

1 2/3 c almond milk

1/3 c olive oil

1 T vanilla

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 t maple extract (can be omitted if you can't find any)

1 1/2 c chopped peaches

1 1/4 c walnuts, chopped

The Process:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Whisk together flours, oats, sugar, flax, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, combine almond milk, oil, vanilla, vinegar, and maple extract.
4. Stir wet and dry ingredients together until just combined.
5. Fold in peaches and nuts.
6. Pour into lightly-oiled muffin tins (heaping full is a-okay) and bake until cooked through, about 25-30 minutes.

Chocolate Cherry Bran Muffins

I love my blueberry bran muffins, but to mix it up a little bit, and because I'm rather muffin-obsessed of late, I came up with this variation.  Makes 12 muffins.

The Ingredients:

1 c wheat bran

3/4 c unbleached white flour

3/4 c whole wheat flour

2/3 c sugar

1/2 c cocoa powder

1/4 c ground flax

1 T baking powder

1 t salt

1 1/2 c almond milk

1/3 c olive oil

1 T apple cider vinegar

2 t vanilla

1 t almond extract

1 1/2 c frozen cherries

The Process:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients.
3. Stir in wet ingredients until just combined.
4. Fold in cherries.
5. Pour into oiled muffin tins, and bake until cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Blueberry Bran Muffins

I think of these as my pregnancy power muffins, with flax for Omega-3s, blackstrap molasses for iron, blueberries for antioxidants, and bran to keep things moving.  If it makes a difference, my (non-pregnant and presumably rather biased) husband will vouch for them, too, though.  Makes a dozen muffins.

The Ingredients:
1 c unbleached white flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c wheat bran
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c ground flax
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1 1/2 c almond milk
1/3 c olive oil
1/4 c blackstrap molasses (or regular molasses for a milder flavor)
1 T vanilla
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 c blueberries


The Process:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Whisk together flours, bran, sugar, flax, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together almond milk, olive oil, molasses, vanilla, and vinegar.
4. Stir together wet and dry ingredients until just combined.
5. Fold in blueberries.
6. Pour into oiled muffin tins (filled very full) and bake until cooked through, about 24-26 minutes.