Thin Focaccia with Cashew Cream Cheese
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups of bread flour
1 3/4 cups of warm water
1 tbsp of oil + more for baking
1 1/2 tsp of instant yeast
2 tsp of honey + more to drizzle
2 tsp of salt
Toppings of choice: cheese, herbs, spice, olives, sun-dried tomatoes
1 cup of raw cashews
1 cup of water to soak
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp of salt
1 tbsp of garlic powder
instructions:
Add the water and cashews together into a bowl and allow it to soak for at least 2 hours while we make the bread.
In a bowl, mix the warm water with 1 tbsp of oil, instant yeast, 2 tsp of honey, and salt. Stir the liquid and allow it to sit for 5 minutes. The mixture will become milky as the yeast activates by feeding off the sugar and water.
Add the flour in with the liquid and use a silicone spatula to combine until it forms a dough with no dry patches. You don’t have to mix it thoroughly, just enough to bind the water with the flour together.
Cover the dough with saran wrap or a damp towel for 15 minutes. As the gluten develops, the dough will become more elastic with these first proofing sessions.
Once the 15 minutes are up, wet your hands with water to perform four folds: north, east, south, west in clockwise. Grab one edge and carefully stretch away from the center, then fold it back in and repeat with the next side until all four corners are folded. Cover the dough and wait another 15 minutes before performing four more folds.
After two folding sessions are done, it’s proofing time! Cover the bowl and allow it to sit for 2 hours.
Once the first proofing time is up, generously drizzle olive oil on baking sheet or tray to coat. Wet your hands and transfer the dough onto the pan. Use your hands to gently stretch the dough as much as possible, without creating holes. I like to do the window pane test to test the gluten strength. You can do this by grabbing two corners of the dough like a wet t-shirt, and gently wiggle the dough until it stretches out more and more until it’s thin enough to resemble a window without breaking. IF it does break, that’s okay! Just re-fold the dough like you did earlier to form a ball and stretch it out gently again.
Drizzle more olive oil on top of the focaccia once it has been stretched out as much as possible. A classic focaccia recipe dimples the dough with your hands but for this rendition, we will not be doing that. You are welcome to but since the bread will be so thin, I found that this step wasn’t necessary.
Cover the dough on the baking sheet air tight with saran wrap. Do NOT let the saran wrap touch the dough. Otherwise, it will stick to the plastic and ruin the exterior when you remove it later. Let this proof in a warm spot of your home or kitchen for 1.5 hours.
While the final proof is underway, the soaked cashews should be softened and ready for blending. Drain the cashews from the water and add Into a blender or food processor with the salt, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast until it resembles a cottage cheese consistency. You may need to stop intermittently and scrape down the edges then pulverize again.
10 minutes before the final proof is done, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Remove the saran wrap off of your dough. Now is your opportunity to add any toppings of your choice. I added shredded cheese and dried basil seasoning.
Put the focaccia in the oven and bake for 15 minutes on the top rack.
Once the bread is done, remove from the oven and allow it to cool on the baking tray. The most difficult part of this entire recipe is going to be cutting the thin focaccia in half to stuff it. I suggest cutting it in half first, then placing a towel on top to protect your hand from burning and slicing evenly through the middle from the side. Drizzle the focaccia with honey and enjoy!