Cinnamon Crunch Focaccia
an ode to Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is the ultimate place of nostalgia for me - it was the only chain restaurant my tiny town had for many years and it was always thought of as a beloved special treat. I read my little elementary school ass off so I could win a Book It personal pan pizza from the Hut. My favorite item was the dessert sticks. Pizza Hut still has dessert sticks on the menu but I SWEAR I remember them differently, topped with a buttery brown sugar oatmeal crunch on top. Maybe this is a Mandela effect?? I found myself craving these crunchy, crumble-topped dessert sticks, so I had to make my own. This is the perfect sweet treat & gives you all the good 90’s Pizza Hut feels.
Ingredients
Focaccia Base
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast (I use Fleischmann’s RapidRise Instant)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tsp salt
1 ¾ cups warm water
1 cup olive oil, divided. ½ cup for dough, ½ cup for baking dish
Cinnamon Sugar Mix-In
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Cinnamon Crunch Topping
¾ cup oats
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
½ tsp baking powder
1 stick cold butter, cubed (I use Country Crock avocado oil plant butter)
Powdered sugar glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons heavy cream (I use Country Crock plant cream)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the focaccia dough
Preheat your oven to the “warm” setting - around 200 degrees. Once preheated, turn oven off. (Yes, it’s an odd first step, but trust me!)
In the bowl of a mixer with a dough hook, add your flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Mix on low speed to combine. Add your warm water (think bathwater temp, around 105-110, not scorching hot!) and ½ cup olive oil; start mixing on low speed until a soft, sticky dough starts to form. Bump up speed to medium and knead for 5 minutes. The dough will be fairly sticky, still - don’t panic!
Prepare a large bowl with at least 1 tablespoon of olive oil - spread this up around the sides of the bowl with your hands so no stickage occurs once the dough is risen.
Transfer dough to the prepared bowl (this is easiest with a flexible bench scraper, or you can use your hands!) and cover with a clean hand towel. Place covered bowl in your warmed, but turned off, oven with the door slightly ajar and let rise for about an hour - until at least doubled in size.
Once risen, remove from oven and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough. Incorporate this cinni-sugar by lifting and folding the dough over itself a few times, either still in the bowl or on a work surface - don’t overthink this, nothing can go wrong, I believe in you!
Prepare your baking sheet with the remaining ½ cup olive oil (yes, it’s a lot of oil, but it’s necessary and delicious) - add the cinni-sugar dough to the pan and gently stretch and press the dough to fit to all edges. Use your fingertips to create dimples in the dough, as if you’re giving it a killer back massage. Cover with plastic wrap and place on top of your oven for a second rise - this does not have to be another hour, just the amount of time it takes for your oven to come to temp.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Make the cinnamon crunch topping
Add the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and baking powder to a medium bowl. Mix to combine.
Add the cubed, cold butter to the bowl and use your hands to squish the butter into the dry mixture until you get a moistened, crumbly texture. There will be larger chunks and some more dry, sandy bits. This is very forgiving, mix until your heart’s desire.
Assemble your dough & bake
Uncover your risen dough. Take handfuls of your cinnamon crumble and sprinkle onto the dough evenly across the entire surface. You can squeeze the crumble to form larger chunks if you feel so inclined!
Once all of your dough is covered in the crumble, slide onto the middle rack of your preheated oven. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Your focaccia will be soft and fluffy, and the crumble topping golden brown and a bit hardened - you can stick a knife into the middle and take a peek to make sure everything is cooked through. If for some reason it’s not, give it another 5 minutes and check again. Let cool for about 15 minutes.
Make your glaze & finish!
While the focaccia is cooling, add your glaze ingredients to a medium bowl and mix with a fork until you have a thick, but spreadable glaze. If the glaze is too thick, add a tsp more heavy cream. If too thin, add more powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency.
Drizzle the glaze all over the focaccia. Let cool for another 10 minutes or so, and then slice however you see fit, and enjoy! Take a bow, pat yourself on the back, appreciate your hard work and savor every bite!
Notes
I’m going to hold your hand when I say this. Olive oil belongs in desserts, too. Not only does it have a rich, complex flavor, but it creates the best texture - giving your focaccia a fluffy interior crumb, but also a crisp crust. Olive oil is really the star of the show in this recipe, and with that being said, you really want to use a good olive oil. Not to say that your focaccia would turn out badly with an inexpensive oil, but a good quality one will definitely elevate your bread. My favorite right now is the Graza brand.
This is my go-to focaccia base recipe. You can really experiment with different flavors and combinations, both savory and sweet. Have fun with it! Here are some ideas:
Add some sliced peaches or thinly-sliced apples underneath the crumble.
Skip the cinni-sugar and instead incorporate fresh herbs into the dough, like thyme, rosemary, or parsley. Add some chopped garlic and kalamata olives for an extra salty, savory bite.
I also use this base for my Sicilian-style pizza. Skip the cinni-sugar and add another 2 tsp of flaky salt to the dough. Once it’s risen for a second time, add pizza sauce and toppings and then bake for about 30 minutes. My favorite toppings are fresh spinach, artichokes, black olives, & sauerkraut.