Get More Than Dough In Baking Competition

(NAPSI)-Dust off your recipe box and put on your thinking apron: America's oldest flour company is bringing a new baking competition for home bakers to the nation.

The National Festival of Breads, sponsored by King Arthur Flour and Kansas Wheat, is a celebration of "the staff of life," a tribute to the age-old tradition of home baking and to the role bread plays in a healthy lifestyle.

Any home baker age 18 or older with an original yeasted bread recipe can enter the contest. Contest categories include Ethnic Breads, Rolls, Time-Saving and Easy Breads, and Whole Grain Breads.

Eight finalists will bake their recipes for judges at the National Festival of Breads competition in Wichita, Kan., in June 2009. One lucky home baker will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to King Arthur Flour's Baking Education Center in Norwich, Vt.

For contest rules and entry form, visit kingarthurflour.com/ events. Here's an idea for an easy bread that requires no kneading:

No-Fuss Focaccia

1½ cups (12 ounces) warm water

1 tablespoon instant yeast or 4 teaspoons (2 packets) active dry yeast, stirred into the water

3 tablespoons (1¼ ounces) olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)

1¼ teaspoons salt

3¼ cups (13¾ ounces) King Arthur's Unbleached Bread Flour

Italian seasoning or dried herbs of your choice, for topping

1) Lightly grease a 9" x 2" deep round or a 9" x 13" rectangular pan. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom and tilt pan to spread.

2) Combine all of the ingredients (except the topping) in the order given. Beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds.

3) Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan with a towel and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes (for instant yeast) to 90 minutes (for active dry yeast), until it becomes puffy.

4) Preheat the oven to 375° F.

5) Drizzle dough lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with Italian seasoning and/or the dried herbs of your choice, if desired.

6) Bake the bread until it's golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.

7) Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 1 loaf.

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