Italian Herb Bread Recipe

 

    It is easy to lose sight of what is important and take things for granted. Wether its your relationships with friends, family, your partner, or God; or maybe its the amenities around you, such as running water, electricity, or a fully stocked grocery store.
   When it comes down to it, the most important things in life are considered basic necessities, for example: food, water, shelter, social contact, and spirituality. These are things that we have every single day and are often times overlooked. This hard lesson came to me when I started baking bread.
    I can remember the first time my mom made bread, it came out amazing, it was soft and fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside and was amazing with a slab of butter or dipped in her homemade chili. My moms cooking inspired me to try and make my own in the bread machine.
I looked up and recipe and followed it exactly, once it was done the smell was heavenly, but in the end, I wrapped it up in tin foil because I was too scared to eat it.
    My bread making experiences after that were less than pleasant, I would always want to rush the process, or try to skip steps and it would end up in a terrible crust or lumps of flour throughout the loaf.
    Since my husband and I have been self isolating, my bread has gotten better. I have all the time in the world to relax and spend two to four hours making bread; and since I have, other aspects of my cooking have been enhance too.
    Now to wrap things up and get to the recipe I will leave you with this, if you don't take care of the basic things in your life, everything else is going to suck.


 

    This Italian Herb bread recipe has been adapted from AllSheCooks.com's "Copycat Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread" recipe which you can find here, and I recommend that you check our her blog.

Ingredients:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2 tsp. white sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil, plus extra for brushing
• 1 tbsp. italian seasoning
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. salt, plus extra for topping the loaves
• fresh cracked pepper for topping
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

Instructions:

1. Combine the yeast and 1 cup warm water in a large bowl, mix until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast on top and cover with a towel for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
2. In the same large bowl, add 1 tbsp. vegetable oil, 1 tbsp. italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp. salt, and all of the flour. Mix until a dough if formed, then knead on a lightly floured surface for 7 minutes. Rub some oil on the inside of your bowl and place the dough in it. Cover with a cloth and let rise for 1 hour.
3. Get a baking sheet and place some parchment paper in it. Then place your dough on a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2. Knead each half for a bit, forming it into a ball. Place the two formed halve onto the baking sheet covered in parchment and allow to rise for another hour.
4. Preheat oven to 400 F. Bake for 10 minutes, the remove them and brush with remaining oil and sprinkle with some salt, pepper, and italian seasoning. Bake for another 10 - 12 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Enjoy!