Rosemary mini focaccias (fuffins)
This is a terrific way of having fresh focaccia on tap - simply bake them once, then pop into the freezer, and refresh in the oven each time you’re ready for another go. It’s also an excellent school holiday activity in weights and measures. This is a 660g ball of dough. If using a 6-cup muffin tin, each ball should weigh 110g, for a 12 cupper, get the kids to weigh 55g balls of dough for each. Feel free to add your own touches, like fresh garlic, or other hard herbs like thyme. Sundried tomato or olives could make an appearance - it’s another recipe ready for riffing!
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Ingredients
Dough
- 1 sachet dried yeast (7g)
- 1 heaped teaspoon honey
- 1 cup warm water
- 400 g Tipo 00 flour plus extra for kneading
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil plus extra for proving
- 660 gm dough
- 110 gm balls approx
- Rosemary tips for poking
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix the yeast, honey and warm water together, using the honey spoon to stir, and leave to sit for 10 minutes until frothy.
- Put flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre, then pour in your yeast mixture along with the oil.
- Mix with the hands until the dough has come together then tip out onto the bench and knead for 5-7 minutes until the dough is a smooth, elastic ball. If using a stand-mixer with the dough hook or a food processor with the plastic blade, mix on low for 5 minutes until the bowl is clean. Turn out and form into a round ball.
- Bounce the ball into a clean and oiled bowl and cover with a damp tea towel and place in a warm spot until doubled in size if you are in a hurry (30-60 minutes) or overnight in the fridge if you would like a slower ferment (or if the kids’ attention spans are waning). Just be sure to take it out of the fridge 4 hours before you are ready to cook, so it gets back to room temperature before you take on the next step.
- Prepare a 12 cup muffin tray by pouring a tablespoon of olive oil into each hole (fun for the kids to measure and pour!).
- Cut the proved dough into 12 even blobs with a butter knife or pastry cutter. Roll into balls and poke into the muffin tin. Pop a damp tea towel over the tray and leave to prove in a warm spot for 15-30 minutes.
- Strip the rosemary by pulling the leaves away from the base of the stem. They should come clean off!
- Now that the dough has proved again, poke divots with pokey fingertips and stick 4-5 rosemary tips into each fuffin. Brush liberally with olive oil again and sprinkle with salt flakes.
- Preheat the oven to 200℃ (180℃ fan)
- Bake the fuffins for 25 minutes until golden and puffy.
- Serve warm or cold. And if getting a little stale, refresh with a splash of water and back into the oven to warm through.
