Can you think of anything in life more satisfying than pulling a perfectly baked loaf of French bread out of the oven that you made all by yourself? Ok, watching your kids graduate high school, finding a hundred dollar bill on the street, or getting your drivers license ranks up there. But seriously when your kitchen is filled with the amazing aroma of freshly baking bread and you pull a beautiful loaf of bread out of the oven, it ranks up there on the list of one of the most satisfying things in life! And the best part? You get to eat it too!
What makes this loaf so darn tasty is the addition of fresh Rosemary and garlic. It’s a classic flavor profile and pairs beautifully with all your favorite Italian dishes. Dip it in a little olive oil or slather it with butter. It’s delicious!
Baking bread isn’t difficult, it just takes time. Try baking this easy to make loaf when you’re at home for the day so you have the time needed to make it. Keep reading for the easy to follow, step-by-step instructions and you’ll be enjoying a loaf just like this one tonight with your favorite Italian dinner.
Start by adding yeast to warm water and stir to combine.
Allow yeast to bloom/activate, about 5-10 minutes. It will start to look bubbly like this.
Stir together the flour and Kosher salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add the activated yeast water to the dry ingredients.
Stir it together until you have a shaggy dough that looks like this.
Cover the bowl with a dish towel and allow the dough to rise for 3-5 hours. Placing it in your oven with just the light on creates the perfect cozy environment to get your yeast going.
This is what your dough should look like after 3-4 hours.
Mince rosemary and garlic, and set aside.
Flour your work surface.
Transfer the dough from the bowl onto the floured surface.
Flour your hands and gently stretch the dough out into a square shape. It doesn’t have to be perfect, mine was more of a rectangle shape. Be gentle with the dough, you don’t want to squeeze out all the air bubbles that have formed in the dough.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the chopped rosemary and half the minced garlic onto the dough in an even layer.
Fold the four corners of the dough into the center.
Gently stretch the dough out into another square.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary and the remaining minced garlic onto the dough in an even layer.
Fold the corners the dough into the center.
Cup dough with your hands and gently form dough into a ball turning it a quarter turn in a clockwise direction as your shaping it.
Transfer the dough ball onto a sheet of parchment paper. Using a dough scraper makes it easy to pick up the dough and transfer it onto the parchment paper.
Place an empty Dutch oven pot in the oven and preheat to 450℉.
Allow loaf to rest for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.
After 30 minutes, brush the top and sides of the loaf with a little olive oil.
Sprinkle the remaining ½ tsp chopped rosemary and some coarse salt onto the top of the loaf.
Score an “X” onto the top of the loaf with a sharp knife.
Remove Dutch oven pan from the oven. Grab the four corners of the parchment paper and carefully lower the dough into the preheated Dutch oven pot.
Cover with the lid.
Bake loaf, covered for 30 minutes.
Removed lid and bake for an additional 10-20 minutes. The longer the loaf bakes uncovered the crunchier the crust will be.
Loaf is done when it sounds hollow when tapped and the crust is a rich golden brown.
Carefully remove the loaf from the Dutch oven pot and place it on a rack to cool. Be careful, the pot will be quite hot. The loaf should make a soft crackling sound for the first few minutes as it cools on the rack.
Cool loaf completely, at least an hour, before slicing the loaf. Resist the urge to cut into the loaf while it is still hot. It will be gummy and unappetizing. Giving the loaf the time to cool allows the stream to redistribute inside the loaf so that when you cut into it you will have a light fluffy loaf of bread instead of a gummy brick.
If you love the flavors of rosemary and garlic you are going to love this delectable loaf of bread. It bakes up nice and airy on the inside, with a crunchy crust on the outside. The salt flakes enhance the flavors of the garlic and rosemary. The garlics sharpness mellows as it bakes in the oven, giving this loaf more of a roasted garlic flavor. This is one of my very favorite loaves of bread to bake. Give it a try, I think you will love it too!
I bake this loaf often. Good thing I have a front yard full of rosemary.
Rosemary Garlic Bread
Equipment
- Dutch oven pot
Ingredients
- 1½ cups warm water
- 1½ tsp active dry yeast
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 2½ tsp fresh Rosemary, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ tsp Large flake Maldon sea salt or coarse ground Kosher salt
Instructions
- Add yeast to warm water and stir to combine.
- Allow yeast to bloom, about 5 minutes.
- Stir together flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the yeast water to the dry ingredients.
- Stir together until you have a shaggy dough.
- Cover bowl with a towel and allow dough to rise for 3-5 hours.
- Lightly flour your work surface and transfer the dough from the bowl onto the floured surface.
- Gently stretch dough out into a square.
- Sprinkle 1 tsp chopped rosemary onto the dough in an even layer.
- Top with ½ the minced garlic.
- Fold corners of the dough into the center.
- Gently stretch dough out into a square.
- Sprinkle 1 tsp chopped rosemary onto the dough in an even layer.
- Top with the remaining minced garlic.
- Top with the remaining minced garlic.
- Fold corners into the center.
- Cup dough with your hands and gently form dough into a ball.
- Transfer dough ball onto a sheet of parchment paper. Allow dough to rest for 30 minutes while oven preheats.
- Place an empty Dutch oven pot in the oven and preheat to 450℉.
- Brush loaf with olive oil.
- Sprinkle remaining ½ tsp chopped rosemary onto the top of the loaf.
- Sprinkle the top of the loaf with coarse salt.
- Score an “X” onto the top of the loaf with a sharp knife.
- Remove Dutch oven pan from the oven.
- Grab the four corners of the parchment paper and carefully lower the dough into the Dutch oven pot. Cover with the lid.
- Bake loaf, covered for 30 minutes.
- Removed lid and bake for an additional 10-20 minutes. The longer the loaf bakes uncovered the crunchier the crust will be.
- Loaf is done when it sounds hollow when tapped and crust is golden brown.
- Carefully remove loaf from the Dutch oven pot and place it on a rack to cool.
- Cool completely before slicing the loaf.
Did You Make This?
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Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
John 6:35
Remember…Jesus ❤️’s you!
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