I love the smell of freshly baked bread. They should make that into a candle (surely someone has by now). I especially love adding a little rosemary to bread as it reminds me of my mom. She often baked a loaf of rosemary bread in her bread machine back when I lived at home. And if there's one thing I love eating, well, it's bread.
And pizza.
And donuts.
OK, let's focus. I can feel myself starting to drift off into a food day dream. And as I write this, it's getting dangerously close to dinner time, so I need to try and shift my thoughts away from donuts for a minute.
A few years ago I set off on a bread baking challenge. I had recently read 52 Loaves
and also recently been dumped. So, baking a bunch of bread really appealed to me on a lot of levels, you could say.
I tried lots of different kinds of breads and methods. It was a delicious adventure for sure. But I've got to say that one of my very favorite methods is one of the first ones I ever tried. It is what is commonly called French Oven Bread. It's super easy and makes your whole kitchen smell amazing (and it's totally yummy too). So, I thought I'd share a simple French Oven Bread recipe with you in case you've never tried it. And yes, this one involves a little rosemary. 🙂
Rosemary Olive Oil Bread, makes one loaf
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
big pinch of sugar (I don't measure this, but it's probably a little less than 1/8 teaspoon.)
1 1/4 cups warm water
3 1/2 cups flour (all-purpose)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
2 teaspoons olive oil
Add the sugar to the warm water. Give it a stir. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and allow it to start to come alive for a couple of minutes. It should begin to foam a little (like in the photo above). It's black magic!
In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, rosemary, and olive oil. Pour the yeast water into the bowl. Stir until a soft dough ball forms. Then knead for 3-4 minutes. I do this directly in the bowl with well-floured hands. This dough is quite soft, so it's super easy to knead. If you find that it's sticking to the bowl or your hands too much, just sprinkle in more flour. A super soft dough like this can withstand some added flour during the kneading process. 🙂
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise for 1-2 hours (until it doubles in size). If you're house is super cold this time of year (like mine is), I'll often turn the oven on for a couple of minutes, turn it off, then place the dough inside and shut the oven door. Just make sure the oven isn't hot enough to cook the dough.
Holy cow—that's what I'm talking about! It blew up like a hot air balloon!!!!
Calm yourself. OK, now punch the dough down. Knead for 2-3 minutes. Then place back in the bowl and allow to rise for another hour.
I moved my dough to a proofing bowl because it makes a fun shape on top of your loaf. This is totally optional. You could just allow the dough to rise the second time in the same bowl if you want. Remember to cover your dough while it rises so it doesn't dry out.
Boom—balloon moment #2. Now we're ready to bake. Depending how long it takes for your oven to preheat, you can turn your oven on a little before the end of the second rise. Set your oven to 400°F.
Depending on your French oven (or dutch oven), you may need to remove the lid knob before baking at this high of a temperature. As you can see, I have a Le Creuset
. Some of their French ovens (the Signature range) have lid knobs that can withstand higher temperatures while other French ovens (the Classic range) are only recommended to go up to 375°F. Check your brand's website if you're unsure. And I say, better safe than sorry, so I tend to remove the lid knob before baking bread out of habit as I've had a number of different French ovens over the years. Some French ovens won't have any of these features and you won't have to worry about this at all! But if you're new to baking in a French oven, I just wanted to make sure I draw this aspect to your attention in case you have one that needs special care.
Cover the bottom of the French oven with parchment paper, place the lid on, and allow the pot to heat up with the oven. Then flip the bread out of the bowl and into the pot. Be careful, the pot will be hot, so you don't want to touch it. As you can see, my flipping was subpar. Boo! So you can only see about half of the proofing bowl design. Oh well, doesn't affect the flavor or texture of the bread, so it's not a big deal. But I'll have to work on my flipping skills some more. 🙂
Bake with the lid on for 10-12 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to bake for 18-22 minutes until the bread looks crusty and done. Once you remove the bread from the oven, sometimes you'll hear it kind of crackling. That's a good sign!
Allow the bread to cool enough to handle before slicing into it. I love to eat fresh bread when it's still warm enough to melt butter added to a slice. That's what I call luxury. This would make a great companion to soup or if it gets stale, French toast. 🙂 If you have an oven safe vessel, I highly recommend you bake some bread this week! xo. Emma
Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.
40 Comments
Oh, yum! Seriously, nothing beats homemade bread fresh from the oven. I have some rosemary exploding in my backyard right now, so I’ll definitely be trying this. Thanks, Emma 🙂
Cat
http://oddlylovely.com
Question… What if I wanted to make this in a loaf pan… is there anyway to successfully translate this recipe? It looks SO good and I have all the ingredients but not the pan. So sad. Fingers crossed!!
Olives are my number one favorite thing to eat and rosemary is always a good idea!!!
Thanks for sharing!
http://lasagnolove.blogspot.it/2014/12/inspiration-lately.html
Bacio, Bambi
Similar question to Johanna, but I’m wondering if I can use this dough recipe in a bread maker? I’ve had one for almost a year now that I’ve never used and my boyfriend has taken to pointing this out and making fun of me every time he opens the cabinet and sees it in there. If I could break it in with this yummy recipe I’m sure it would end the ridicule! Thanks!
That looks delicious! I’ve never tried making fresh bread without a bread maker, but this looks simple enough and completely worth it! 🙂
YUM!! I must agree there’s nothing quite like the smell of bread baking. I used to bake bread all the time, but have since fallen out of the practice. I have this great whole wheat sourdough recipe that I LOVE! When I would make it, it would be gone the same day because my family would devour it right out of the oven. Now I’m trying to think of when I could possibly carve out the time to kneed the wet dough for 20 minutes…
This recipe looks lovely and I am a huge fan of adding rosemary.
Thanks for sharing.
http://absolutelytara.com
OMG I love love love bread, I am going to try to make this on my next organic cooking adventure and swap out the ingredients for organic goodies. i can’t wait. Thanks for sharing. http://www.beautyjunkkie.com
This is such a great recipe! And it looks SO refreshing! Love it!
http://sometimesgracefully.com
Looking at the photos has made my mouth water from anticipation. I dont have much time during the week, but this weekend some time will def be put aside to make this bread.
Thanks!
http://www.southernfolly.com
We love homemade bread, healthy and delicious!
http://inatrendytown.blogspot.com.es/
Learning how to make bread is one of my goals for the upcoming year, and this recipe looks and sounds so delicious! Maybe I’ll embark on my own bread baking challenge. 🙂
-Helen
http://www.sweethelengrace.com
Oh my. This looks delicious! I bet it would taste great dipped in some oil and spices.
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try.
I was researching the melting/exploding knob issue on Le Creuset ovens recently. I found out they sell stainless steel knobs to replace the plastic one so you don’t have to worry about removing it. Someone even suggested using a stainless steel cabinet knob, which would be even cheaper than the already inexpensive Le Creuset option.
Oh my I’m a bread lover and this looks lovely! Definitely putting it on my list of breads to bake.
http://erstwhilefelicity.blogspot.co.uk/
Mmmm…rosemary olive bread is my favorite!
This looks so darn good! And you food photography is on point!
Love, Summer.
http://www.lifeassummer.com
You know, I’m not totally sure. I think it would still bake just fine in a loaf pan (didn’t shape). You may want to adjust the bake time slightly since you won’t have the lid on for the first part of the baking. If you try it let us know how it works. Good luck!
-Emma
Again, not entirely sure as I haven’t tried it. But, I don’t think so. Bread machines are a bit different from baking in the oven, so I probably would not try this exact recipe in a bread machine as it would likely change the bake temperature and time in a way that I really can’t predict.
Did your bread machine come with a booklet of recipes? Pull it out and add a little rosemary to one an I bet you can make something delicious even if it’s not exactly the same as this.
-Emma
Weekend bread baking is the best! Totally agree, unless you’re staying in all night after work then this will likely take too long to pull off easily.
Another reason to look forward to the weekend. 🙂
-Emma
I’ve heard of the stainless steel knobs, just haven’t bought one so I always take mine off.
Using a stainless steel cabinet knob—that just blew my mind! Genius!
-Emma
I couldn’t resist making this the second I saw it! I didn’t use a metal loaf pan, but I did bake it in a glass round casserole dish with the lid on at first like in the recipe. It worked perfectly! I just had three slices. 🙂
One of my flatmates makes bread with rosemary and its absolutely delicious!!
bisouselle.blogspot.com
This candle totally does exist. This place is in Austin and they’re awesome. They have a bunch of other awesome/funny scents, too.
http://shop.theburlapbag.com/product/baked-bread-soy-candle-8oz
Gorgeous recipe– I wonder if I could do it with Gluten free rice flour? I’d love to be able to eat this masterpiece!!!
xoxo
http://loveyenrose.blogspot.com
This looks amazing! can’t wait to try it, thank you for sharing 🙂
Bread is the best! This recipe looks fabulous.
This looks yum…
xo
Hems
agoldentulip.blogspot.com
The texture of the bread looks perfect! I’m also loving the cracks on top – makes it look like artisan bread.
Ohh my this looks delicious!!
cheryl
Htp://daisycandle.com
So, as I’m about to go on my Christmas break, one of the things I’m looking forward to the most is having the time to cook time-consuming things, like bread. Nothing like the magical smell of freshly baked bread! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve never baked my own bread. It scares me. This one looks amazing… should I try it? Oh, I don’t know…
xx,
E.
http://www.theslowpace.com
There IS a candle that smells like bread! Bath and Body Works makes it. I think it’s called french baguette or something. Check it out!!! (Last year after xmas they had an amazing sale on their candles too)!! Love me some Rosemary bread! I usually make it in the bread machine but I’ll have to give this a go and get the apartment smelling cozy!
Has anyone tried this with gluten free flour? I’m on an elimination diet (just in time for the holidays, ugh) and would love to bake myself a treat. Thanks!
This sounds really tasty! I’d love it if you could feature some gluten/wheat free recipes on here as I loved trying out some of your bakes before I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. I may try this with gluten free flour although it tends to be difficult to transfer non gluten free recipes into edible gluten free ones!
Holly
i love rosemary bread…try sprinkling a buttered slice with a little bit of really good sea salt! that’s my favorite!
Yum! Perfect flavors for holiday baking. How did two such creative, productive people come out of the same family? Like, were both your parents artists or something? You guys inspire me to get off my rear end after work and make something, anything!
YUM! this looks incredible!
xx nikki
http://www.dream-in-neon.com
That looks great!
I LOVE baking bread. I’ve only done it a handful of times, but it was one of the most satisfying experiences. I’m pretty obsessed with rosemary as well. I kind of want to do a rosemary asiago loaf or something with this recipe. Yum. :] // http://www.itscarmen.com â–²
Just got a rosemary plant as a gift two days ago. Perfect timing! I was told to plant it outside in the ground and NOTHING will kill it. May be baking lots of bread…