When I was in high school, one of my favorite places to eat was the Macaroni Grill.  Maybe you still go there (I don’t have one nearby) or maybe you too remember their focaccia, a flat oven-baked Italian bread, topped with herbs and served with olive oil.

After seeing pins on Pinterest for crock pot breads, I decided to try making focaccia in my crock pot.  I used the recipe here at Host the Toast for some tips on the mechanics of crockpot bread making.   I added some whole wheat flour but you can use three cups of white flour if you’d rather.

The verdict: this is an easy way to make a pretty good, anytime loaf of bread that gives the Mac Grill a run for its money and won’t heat up your kitchen on a hot summer day.  Can you tell I love my crock pot?

What to buy (makes one loaf):

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 cups white flour
• 2¼ teaspoons dry active yeast (or one packet)
• 1 cup warm water
• ¼ cup dried rosemary, plus extra for sprinkling on top
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling

You will also need:

• parchment paper
• paper towels

What to do:

• in a large bowl, mix together the water, yeast, and sugar and let sit 10 minutes
• stir in salt, rosemary and flours, mixing until fully combined, it will be very wet and sticky
• heat oven to 100 degrees for five minutes and then tun off your oven
• place the dough in a large bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and put it in the turned-off oven so it can rise for 1 hour in a warm space
• after an hour remove dough from the bowl and gently roll it into a ball on a floured surface
• let it sit for another 20 minutes
• line crock pot with parchment paper  (I used two pieces, leaving at least 2 inches hanging out of each side of the crock pot)
• set the crock pot to high and place the dough in the crock pot, sprinkling with extra salt and rosemary
• lay a paper towel over the top of the crock pot and then place the lid on to capture any moisture that would sit on the lid to prevent it from dripping back onto your bread
• bake bread for 2 hours and remove from the crock pot
• serve with extra olive oil drizzled on top

yeast bubbles are good

throw in your flours

and mix until sticky

this is what you’ll have after it spends an hour rising in the warm oven

drop your dough into the crock pot

sprinkle with rosemary and salt 

and 2 hours later…