Here’s a yummy bread recipe that will fill your home with a beautiful savory aroma!
So far, I’ve made this bread twice, and it’s by far one of my favorites. On my first try, I made an entire loaf, and it split while baking. So heads up, if you choose to bake one loaf with this recipe, I recommend scoring the dough down the middle with a knife or lame.
Scoring bread involves slashing the dough before baking using a sharp knife or lame. The purpose of slashing is to create weak spots in the bread’s crust which allows for expansion instead of burst seams.
I’ve done scoring with my sourdough, why didn’t I think do this with my herb bread?
Anyway, check out the recipe below and enjoy!
Here’s what you need:
- 2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast
- 1 cup of warm water
- 3 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of melted butter
- 1 tablespoon of dried parsley flakes
- 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoons of salt
- 1/2 teaspoons of dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoons of dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
- 2 to 3 1/2 cups of flour (your preference of flour is cool here)
Here’s what you do:
Dissolve yeast with warm water. Add 1/2 tablespoon of sugar and melted butter. Allow this mix to sit for about 5 minutes; you should see your yeast bloom. That’s how you know that it’s active and ready to go!
Mix the flour and herb into a large bowl and mix until it’s smooth. I like to use 2 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour.
Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and stir it up! I recommend using clean hands to mix the dough. It’ll be super sticky, but the more you work with it, the dough should become more manageable. If the dough feels like it needs more hydration, have 1 cup of warm water nearby and add small increments until the dough is less dry.
Lightly flour a clean countertop and pour your dough onto the surface and knead the dough for 10-12 minutes to tighten the gluten strands.
Place the kneaded dough in an oiled bowl (feel free to lightly oil the dough) and cover it with a damped cloth. Set aside and let the dough rise for an hour.
Uncover the dough and punch it! Place it onto a lightly floured surface.
Shape the dough into a loaf.
Set your shaped dough aside, cover, and allow it to proof for 30 minutes. In the meantime, lightly grease a baking pan or cast iron. You can even use parchment paper.
Preheat the oven to 350 to 375 degrees and bake your loaf for 30 t0 35 minutes. (I have a gas stove, and I found that baking mine at 350 degrees for 30 minutes gives me a perfect loaf. You’re going to have to play around with this part to figure out how yours will turn out in terms of doneness.)
Remove your loaf from the stove and baking dish. Place it on a wire rack and allow it cool.
