Feeling sick is terrible. And especially inconvenient over the weekend you were planning to try a pile of new recipes because you start work on Monday morning and might not have so much free time ever again. But instead you’re spending your last valuable hours comfortlessly rotating between the couch, the futon, the floor, the bed- everywhere but the kitchen. Up half the night watching episodes of The Kennedy’s (thank goodness for the DVR in your time of need). Because you’ve got the aches and chills and just the thought of food makes you feel queasy. Not cool.
Maybe I should be more concerned about recovering in time to make it to work tomorrow instead of what I’m not eating. It crossed my mind, but with my luck I’ll be perfectly recovered by 6 am in the morning and left frustrated that my weekend plans (cooking, baking, and ice cream-making) were thwarted. Actually, ice cream is the only thing that sounds appealing at all right now. That one might still happen.
On a much cheerier note, back when I was feeling more like myself (hearty appetite in-tact), I baked this wondrous loaf of rosemary bread. I was inspired by my sisters’ (yes, plural- they’re twins) roommate, Laura, who made something similar while I was a guest inhabiting their couch. (I’ve clocked a lot of nights on the couch lately it seems.) While I managed to get a peek at her recipe, I was foolish enough not to write it down. So when I arrived home with the urgency to bake my own version of the bread, I sought advice from a second recipe source. The main tinkering I did was to incorporate whole wheat flour and to use fresh rosemary instead of dried (either works fine). I was very happy with the result- a loaf so flavorful that it needs no accompaniment. The rosemary is prominent but not overwhelming. And while this bread is best enjoyed warm out of the oven, it can be frozen and reheated later.
Rosemary Olive Oil Bread
INGREDIENTS
1 cup warm water (100-110 F)
1 Tbsp. organic cane sugar
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped (or 2 tsp. dried)
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning (or pinch of each ground garlic, dried oregano, and dried basil)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup bread flour + extra for kneading
1 egg, whisked + 1 Tbsp. water, for egg wash
dried rosemary, for sprinkling
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, combine the warm water, sugar, and yeast. Let sit 10 minutes to proof.
2. Stir in the salt, rosemary, seasonings, olive oil, and whole wheat flour. Add the bread flour and stir until the dough forms a ball. Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, adding more flour as necessary to prevent sticking, until smooth.
3. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl; cover; and let rise until doubled in size, about1 hour.
4. Punch down the dough and form it into a round loaf. Place it on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or parchment paper; cover; and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, preheat oven (and pizza stone) to 400 F. Once the dough has risen, gently brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle with dried rosemary.
6. Bake on preheated stone for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.
Makes 1 round loaf.
(Adapted from Laura A. and All Recipes)
This bread was so easy to make. The texture was perfect and the taste was AMAZING! Will definitely make again (and soon).
I’m a us army wife living in korea and wanted to make something to impress my korean friend for lunch. I chose this and italian meatball soup. Thanks for the recipe. Found on pinterest. Wish me luck. The ovens are extremely small here and temp is uneven. °_○
I’m eating clean…. do you know if you can substitute honey for the sugar and I’ve never made bread before so I don’t know all the science behind it, but can i use all white wheat flour or some brown rice flour instead of the bread flour?
honey should work fine and you can make it with all whole wheat flour (I don’t have any experience with rice flour)- it will just be a little denser. the bread flour adds extra gluten to help it have a lighter chewy texture. good luck!
I make this bread all the time. It always turns out great. I would like to try honey next time, instead of the sugar. What would the quantity be? Thanks for a great recipe.
You could just replace the sugar with honey in the same amount and I’m sure it would turn out great. Honey is a little sweeter than sugar though so if you want to decrease it to 2 tsp. that work work as well. Good luck!
I don’t have a stone but want to make this bread. Has anyone made it using a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and cornmeal sprinkled on it?
Such an incredible bread recipe. Thank you so much for sharing. I am overseas and don’t have access to all the ingredients here so I had to substitute all purpose flour for the whole wheat and bread flour. It still came out magnificent!! I will be making again without the rosemary to see if it will be more of an everyday bread. Next time, I’ll also cut back on the rosemary, it was a bit overpowering. Overall an amazing bread that will be added in the rotation!
to make it turn out like Artisan Bread with the hard crust……..put a pan of hot water in the bottom of oven when you put the bread in to bake …….it will come out just like the Artisan Bread that you buy in the store…it is delicious.
I’ve made this twice now. It truly is amazing bread. It makes the house smell GREAT as well! Thank you so very much for sharing!
This by far is the best bread I’ve ever made. Everyone loves it, even my 2 yr old son.
I just tried this…. and let me tell you. It’s a miracle, it turned out amazing!!! Last time I tried to make bread I forgot about it and it was pulled from a smoking oven three hours later…. and the time before that the crust was inexplicably so hard it took serious jaw muscles and dipping in milk to eat it…. but this. This bread is lovely. Soft, delicious, aromatic, and the most beautiful color. :))) I’m having to prevent myself from eating the whole loaf all by myself right now. Thank you so much for the recipe!!
just made this bread came out fantastic! I did however change some things. I used regular white sugar and used one cup of whole wheat flour and 1 1/4 cup white bread flour.
Do you have to use bread flour for that extra 1/2 cup?
you definitely don’t have to. bread flour is best because of the high protein (gluten) content- it provides for a more elastic dough and a fuller rounder loaf, but all-purpose will still taste great!
Hey! Just tried this recipe and LOVE it. This was my first attempt at making bread and I’m so excited about how it came out, I feel like I can take this recipe and adapt it with other flavors too. I will be posting about this experience on my blog: http://www.livinglactarded.com and will link your blog to the post. Come check it out sometime!
Thanks again for the great recipe, I’m off to go eat some more of it!
-Sarah
Made this today, and all I can say is….WOW
Thanks so much for this one, it will be a regular in this house!
Can’t wait to taste it! My loaf is rising as we speak.
I served it with olive oil and pomegranate balsamic vinegar for a party yesterday and it was all gone in 15 min. Making another loaf tonight for dinner 🙂 Thank you for sharing!!!!
This recipe looks amazing. And rosemary is one of my favorite herbs. I try to cook with herbs instead of high calorie oils and butters so I can reduce my calorie and fat intake.
Here are some other healthy recipes that you will love.
as of right now, my dough is rising for it’s first hour. the minute i threw in all the spices and oil my entire apartment smelled like my grandfather’s home in greece! not to mention it opened my appetite. i cannot wait to taste it 🙂
http://www.stylish-chatterboxing.com
Have you ever tried chilling the dough after the first rise, then letting it re-rise for an hour or so before baking (after taking out of the fridge)? This is my favorite bread recipe and I want to make for dinner tomorrow, but am crunched for time, thought I might make the dough tonight, let it rise the first time, chill, then re-rise and bake tomorrow. Thanks for your help!
I’ve never tried it but I think it would probably work- it might take longer than an hour for the chilled dough to rise though. You could speed up the process by putting it in a warm oven (preheat to 200 F then turn the oven OFF and let the dough rise in there- just make sure to remove it before preheating before baking). Let me know how it goes!
Thanks, found this on Pintrest, I’ve never made bread before and couldn’t believe how easy and yummy this recipe was! I’ll be making lots more in the future. I’m making it today, and I’m going to make baggies with all the dry ingredients measured out for several more later! I’m also looking to try some more recipes. Thanks again!
made this last night (with a few modifications), and it came out perfect! i left out the rosemary & herbs because i just wanted a basic bread to go with my yellow curry. i used garlic olive oil and replaced white flour with all bread flour. the dough was bit dry after mixing with wet ingredients, possibly due to it being all bread flour??, so i added about a tablespoon of water. i also put in a pan of boiling water on the bottom rack as the oven pre-heated and left it in there while bread was baking. the end result was amazing—crusty top and soft & chewy inside. best (easiest) bread recipe thus far!
I am going to make this bread in “roll form” for Thanksgiving. I will let you know how it turns out!
I saw this recipe and had to try it myself. It was wonderful thx. I also gave you a shout out and a link for the recipe over @Feed Your Soul – http://chefpeterskitchen.blogspot.com/2012/11/rosemary-olive-oil-bread.html
Hi everyone – I am stuck living in Puerto Rico do to my husbands job. I have a very hard time finding organic and “normal” products here that we can find in the states so easily. So, what will happen to this recipe if I use regular sugar, not organic… and regular white flour and not white whole wheat as the recipe calls for.
Thanks!!!
It will turn out just fine! If you don’t use any whole wheat flour you’ll need to use more white flour (all-purpose is fine). Just keep adding it slowly while you’re kneading until the dough is no longer sticky. (Whole wheat flour absorbs more moisture so you need less of it.) Hope that helps! Good luck!
FYI this picture is being used on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/pin/62557882295404198/
which takes you to this link http://trendypics.net/other/crockpotrosemary-olive-oil-bread-like-macaroni-gri.html and doesn’t actually list the recipe, so I think they’re using your picture without permission.
What kind of dinner goes well with this bread?
Any kind of pasta meal or soup!! At Macaroni, it’s delish on everything they have in the menu!
this is an awesome recipe! tried it today and it is delicious!!! will be making more through the holidays…thanks for sharing! i love easy and GOOD!
Put the bread in the crock pot for an hour or so. It won’t turn out crispy, but it’ll bake it.
I tried these crock pot directions, and the bread didn’t rise while “baking” so it came out very dense, and definitely was lacking the crisp on the crust. I tried it again in the oven and it was wonderful!
Also, I just tried it using some different flavors. I added onion, garlic, basil and cheddar cheese. The only thing is you can’t add the garlic until after the dough rises the first time. It was delicious!
Any suggestions for a good pasta dish to go along with this? Someone mentioned pasta early on in the comments and now I’m inspired for dinner tomorrow.
I made this bread yesterday to accompany our boring spaghetti dinner. My husband and 2 year old DD loved the bread. I wasn’t sure if DD would eat it due to the rosemary but she climbed out of her booster so she could reach the bread basket for more.
Thank you for sharing the recipe.
This is my first time making bread and it is AMAZING!! So yummy, my husband says its as good as Macaroni Grill’s! Definitely will be giving this bread along with a dip as gifts this Chritmas, thank you!!
This bread is phenomenal!! I have no bread making experience and it was easy. I used all bread flour and quick rise yeast. You could not find better tasting bread anywhere. I made two loaves yesterday and am making two more today. Ther perfect thanksgiving ‘I love you’ gift for my parents and in-laws. Thank you!!
When I made this bread it would not rise, I followed all pf the directions but it just would not rise. I will have to give it a try another time.
Was your yeast fresh? Or there is also the possibility that you killed your yeast if the temperature of the water was too hot. Definitely give it another try- good luck!
Im going to make this tonight. I do not not have any bread flour so.. I hope extra whole wheat flour is going to work.
My husband is allergic to Rosemary. Is there another spice I could use as a substitute to achieve an equally aromic loaf?
Diane- the first thing that comes to mind would be basil. I know it is used in baking breads occasionally, but I’ve never tried it. Does anyone else have any suggestions?
I’ve baked using lavender in cookies, maybe that would be worth a shot ?
I would use dill!!
I think thyme might work well, too!
Wish I had a slice of bread right now! Will try. Thank you.
This is NOT a crock pot recipe. I’m not sure why someone on Pinterest said it was. If anyone has tried it that way they are welcome to share…
I know. So disappointed. Really hope someone replies with crockpot instructions.
I’m disappointed too….although this bread sounds delicious so I’ll probably make it someday. Anyway here’s instructions for crock-pot bread. You could probably use this recipe and those cooking time instructions. http://pinterest.com/pin/231091024600459374/
I have found many recipes on Pinterest that someone obviously added the words “crockpot” to, maybe to get more repins? Dunno. Anyway, with bread, the work is in the kneading and waiting for the bread to rise two times. Crockpots just cook! So try this recipe in the oven and enjoy!
W here are the crock pot directions??????
I made it today and it’s delicious!!! Everyone loved it!
I was wondering the same thing about the crock pot since the pin I clicked on at Pinterest indicated this bread was made in a crock pot.
Any suggestions on making this in a crock pot?
I LOVE this bread! So yummy, and I can’t even believe how easy it was! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
This bread sounds amazing but I am really intimidated.
THIS BREAD LOOKS SOOOO GOOOD! I CAN’T WAIT TO GIVE IT A TRY THANKS!
just curious… about how many slices does this yield?
I CANNOT WAIT to make this. It will make a delicious side for dinner next week…or maybe it should just be the main dish 😉
cheers!
Erin
http://thelawstudentswife.blogspot.com/
I am going to make this tomorrow, but instead of Italian Seasoning, I may use Herbs de Provence and I ran out of white whole wheat, so I will try using 100% bread flour. I can’t wait!
Could you make this in a bread machine? If so, how would I change the recipe?
If you’d like to try a different variation of your recipe, your recipe is almost exactly the same as a Rosmary Foccacia ring I make at Christmas. How I do mine is I add a high quality freshly grated Pecarino-Romano to the dough when I make it, about 2-3 tbsp’s, I use fresh chopped garlic and 1-2 tsp of fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried.(I don’t use any other seasoning) After the 1st rise I divide the dough into 24 equal balls, about the size of a ping pong ball only slightly larger. I arrange it in 2 circles to form a wreath. I brush the balls with a beaten egg, top with diced red bell pepper and small shavings of Parmesan cheese, Let rise until double, bake at 400 until golden brown. Serve with a bowl of marinara sauce in the center of the ring. Though I traditionally make this at Christmas, it can be made at any time of year, and it can be cooked in a round or loaf.
I am going to try your recipe the way you make it. I can already smell it baking. The aroma of any freshly baked bread is just awesome. Thank you for sharing your recipe. Happy Baking!!! <3
THE best bread EVER. Thank you!
I love it so much that I shared it with my readers and posted a link to your blog from mine! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us!
mmmmm thanks for sharing. Just made it and it’s amazing!
I am attempting to make this right now, but have a gooey mess on my hands, literally. I know that you are supposed to add flour as you are kneading the dough, but how much is too much? I have already added almost a cup, and it is still sticking to the counter and my hands. I decided to throw it into my kitchenaid with the bread hook hoping to make it behave, but it is still pretty gooey. I am going to proceed and hope it works! Anybody know about how much flour they added?
i just tried making and i had the same problem i added more bread flour until i could handle with my hands then when kneading it there was even more flour, i think in total i ADDED and EXTRA cup of the bread flour. its having its first rise now. hopefully it turns out ok.
When it’s humid, I have to add more flour to a yeast dough than on a dry day, so I don’t get super finicky about how much, focusing on texture instead. How’d yours turn out?