How are you all doing this summer? Are you enjoying the extra time at home during this crazy pandemic? Or is it driving you crazy? I admit I have experienced some frustration with the time in quarantine, but overall it has been nice to have more time at home to enjoy my family and tackle projects I have been putting off. My oldest son and his wife spent a couple of months with us this summer, and my cute daughter-in-law expressed interest in learning to bake bread. I of course jumped on that! I LOVE bread and I think baking it myself is very rewarding! It can be a little tricky to work with yeast at first until you get the hang of it. It ended up being so fun to show her how to make some of my favorite bread recipes and the BOYS were thrilled with all the fresh baking that they got to enjoy! We started with this Rosemary Bread just like the one served at the Macaroni Grill restaurant. Have you had it there? I think this may be one of my all time favorite bread recipes! It really easy to make, tastes incredible and smells amazing while it bakes!
We love to serve this bread with an Italian dipping sauce like Macaroni Grill. I will include the recipe for that below with the bread recipe. Although, it is SO good, it probably deserves it’s own post! This bread also freezes well which is perfect for entertaining. Bake one batch and you have amazing home made bread for several meals. I like to let it thaw completely on a parchment paper lined baking sheet then pop it into the oven for about 5 minutes. So delicious!!
Other favorite bread recipes:
Easy Breadsticks
Grandma’s French Bread
Yummy Easy Whole Wheat Bread
Zucchini Onion Flatbread
Macaroni Grill Bread
- Yield: 4 loaves 1x
Ingredients
- 2 Cups very warm water
- 2 TB active dry yeast
- 2 TB sugar
- 3 Tablespoons rosemary (I like to use fresh, but dried works great)
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 TB. olive oil
- *4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 TB melted butter
- *1/2 teaspoon flaked sea salt or course salt
Italian Oil Blend to serve with the baked bread:
- 1 tsp italian seasoning
- 1⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 TB grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- freshly ground black pepper
- sprinkle of kosher or sea salt
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, or in a stand mixer combine the warm water, yeast and sugar. Mix briefly then cover and let the yeast dissolve, 10 minutes.
- Add the rosemary, salt, olive oil, and mix while you add the flour, one cup at a time.
- The dough has enough flour when it starts to pull away from the sides of the bow. It should be tacky and stretchy, but not stick too much to your fingers. Be careful to NOT ADD TOO MUCH FLOUR!
- Knead the dough for 7-8 minutes in a stand mixer, or 15 minutes by hand.
- Let the dough rise, covered until doubled, about 60-120 minutes (depends on how warm your kitchen is).
- On a lightly floured surface, dump dough out of bowl and divide into four equal portions. With each piece of dough, roll into a ball by stretching the dough down and tucking the seams into the bottom of the ball. Repeat with all 4 pieces of dough.
- Take two baking sheets/jelly roll pans, lined with parchment paper or brush each pan with 1 Tablespoon of Olive oil. Put two rounds of dough onto each baking sheet. Drizzle and brush with melted butter.
- Let rise until doubled, about 45-90 minutes (once again, depends on the warmth of your kitchen).
- Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with more melted butter. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon course salt. Return to oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
I think you will love it!! It’s so good!!
I can’t wait to try this recipe!