The first bread I ever tried to make was a Rosemary-Olive Oil Bread because these loaves cost $4 or more when we can find them. We really like the bread, but not the cost. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it to work, even after playing around with it in ways suggested by a friend who bakes bread on a regular bases. I finally put the recipe aside and started working with less fussy breads to learn the process. Once I got those down, I finally came back to this one, determined to get it down.

The first attempt came out okay, but I had forgotten that I had made some of the failed changes a part of the recipe, so the dough came out soft and flat and had a few other issues. The bread was better than previous attempts, but still not quite right.

So I made a second loaf, though I still made some other changes: I went to 1 1/2 for the dough to get a larger loaf (turned out to be not quite necessary to do that, because we ended up with a huge loaf as a result, but, we do love the bread…lol), reduced the salt (BP concerns), and had to watch the water. And that last turns out to be the key to this bread. You have to start with the smaller amount of water, and add a little at a time while doing the first knead to avoid an overly dry, stiff dough.

The result was this….

Here’s the full recipe, with the lower measurements in parenthesis, in case you’d like a smaller loaf than the monster we got.

Rosemary-Olive Oil Bread

4 ½ c. Bread or All Purpose Flour (3 c.)
2 tsp. Salt (1 1/2 tsp.)
1 ¼ – 1 ½ c. Warm Water (110-115 degrees) (3/4 – 1 1/4 c.)
1 ½ pkgs Instant Active Dry Yeast (1 pkg)
1 ½ TBL Sugar (1 TBL)
1/3 c. Olive Oil (1/4 c.)
2 ½ TBL Coarsely Chopped Fresh Rosemary (1 1/2 TBL)

Oil or butter a large bowl; set aside. Combine flours and salt in medium bowl; set aside. In another large bowl, combine 1 ¼ c. (3/4 c.) water and yeast, stirring until creamy (about 5-10 minutes); add remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Add flours. Add more water as needed. Knead on lightly floured board until smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes. Place in oiled bowl and turn to coat; cover with towel and let rise about 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch down; knead gently. Either shape into loaf and place in greased loaf pan OR shape into a ball and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet, cover with towel, and let rise another 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Remove towel, dust with flour. Bake at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool a few minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

You may need to add more water than what’s listed; just keep an eye on the dough. If it’s too dry and stiff, add more, but small amounts at a time. I started with 1 1/4 c, but the dough was VERY dry, and I ended up adding at least 1/4 c. more to get a decent dough. It rose beautifully both times, which was a huge problem in my first attempts (the second rise in particular just wouldn’t happen the way it should).

Also be aware, it doesn’t rise “tall” as much as “out”, so you may want to use a loaf pan if you want a taller bread.

And here’s the loaf right out of the oven:

I attempted a more oblong than round loaf. More than likely next time I’ll use a loaf or similar tall pan to get a taller loaf. Regardless, I’m quite pleased with it. And the aroma while it was baking was wonderful. I find working with fresh rosemary a bit of a pain, but love the smell of it. And the flavor was beautiful.