I love making this recipe at home with my kids. They think it's so much fun poking holes with their fingers and beating up the dough with their hands. This is my signature bread recipe we serve every Friday night.
Please enjoy it; you can easily add your ingredients to this recipe to make it your own!
Ingredients:
- 3 and a half cups of All-Purpose flour
- 2 cups of room temperature water
- 1 oz of white sugar or 2 oz of honey (I prefer to use honey)
- 1 oz of dry yeast (can be bread yeast, bakers’ yeast, or quick rising yeast)
- Pinch of table salt
- 3 ounces of olive oil
- ½ bunch of fresh chopped rosemary or 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary
Method:
Combine yeast, sugar/honey and water. Give it a quick stir, about four or five times. Let this rest at room temperature for about 15 to 25 minutes or until brown bubbles are formed on top.
In a stand mixer with dough hook (or in a large bowl) place flour, salt & ¾ of rosemary into a bowl & mix until thoroughly blended.
Add the bloomed yeast and water mixture to the flour. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds in the stand mixer. If doing it by hand, knead and fold flour mixture as you combine with the yeast mixture slowly.
Once the yeast and flour start to mix together, give it a few seconds then add half of olive oil and mix again until a ball is formed in stand mixer (may take two to three minutes). If doing by hand, mix it well until a dough is formed. Remove from bowl and knead by folding it over on to itself for about one to two minutes. (Kids love helping here)
Once a bowl is formed, place in a warm/room temperature area for about 30 to 45 minutes.
While the dough is resting, take a dish with a large lip (deep baking dish or casserole dish; I use my cast iron skillet) and rub the bottom with olive oil (a very small amount will help the bread to come out easily) then cover with parchment paper.
Now that the dough has rested for 30 minutes, place dough into the pan and press it into the corners and flatten it slightly.
Now, with your fingers, poke holes into the dough evenly throughout. Approximately an inch or two apart, so you end up with 6 to 8 holes. Kids love this part!
Cover the top of the dough with rest of the olive oil, rosemary and lightly salt the top of the dough.
Place into your oven at 375-degree Fahrenheit for 35 to 45 minutes.
You'll know the bread is done when the top is brown & crispy. When you tap the top of the bread it will sound hollow.
Allow two or three minutes to cool down and remove it from the pan.
Cut to your desired size. Enjoy!
