Rosemary Bread

Since I got the Kitchen-aid stand mixer, I knew I wanted to make rosemary bread. I really like rosemary- mmm. Since i was house-sitting and my parents rosemary plant looked so good, I decided to give it a go!

So fresh and plentiful!

I took inspiration from the food network's recipe and adapted it to take into account some of the comments it received on how to improve it. The bread is so light and airy! It feels almost hollow. I cut the bread into slices at first and then realized I could easily just rip off pieces and dunk them into oil and vinegar. A nice little appetizer or after-work snack to hold you over until dinner.  Like the other breads I have made so far, this one was easy, but you do need some time. For these loaves you don't need  bread pans, just a baking sheet. It makes 2 decent/small sized loaves.

Ingredients
1  packet active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing and serving
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons dried rosemary
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. Stir the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. << I realized that last time i didn't let it sit long enough. This time it really foamed, so now I know what to look for. 
2. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, the flour, 1 1/2 tablespoons rosemary, the fine salt and 3/4 cup warm water; stir with the dough hook  until a dough forms. Continue kneading with hook on medium until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
3. Brush a large bowl with olive oil. Add the dough, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until more than doubled, about 2 hours.
4. Brush a baking sheets with olive oil. Generously flour a work surface. Punch down dough and divde into 2 pieces. Working with one piece at a time, sprinkle some flour on the dough, then fold the top and bottom portions into the middle. Fold in the sides to make a free-form square. Use a spatula to turn the dough over, then tuck the corners under to form a ball. Place seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Let stand, uncovered, until more than doubled, about 2 hours.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the loaves 10 minutes; brush with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with the kosher salt and the remaining 1/2 tablespoon rosemary. Continue baking until golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Serve with olive oil and vinegar or whatever you choose. 

Enjoy!