When I first made this herb bread back in 2011, it was the first loaf of bread I had made in many years. It turned out perfect and so very delicious. Also, it made me realize how much fun it is to make bread!
During the first few years of our marriage I made pretty much all of our bread. Then my career, travel and life got in the way. I’ve been itching to get back into making it and finally that itch got the best of me. I knew it was going to happen when I saw the recipe for the Macaroni Grill Bread on Kneady Sweetie’s site. It was an herb bread finished off with butter and salt. What a great place to start!! However, as always, I made a few, actually several changes to the original recipe. I used the same yeast, water and flour amounts, then went wild with the herbs. I love a good herb bread and this is definitely a good one!
Herb Bread
“*” See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
- 1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/4 tsp. sugar
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 1/2 cups AP unbleached flour
- 1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
- ½ tsp. dried marjoram, crushed
- ¼ tsp. garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp fresh parsley/basil/rosemary mix, finely chopped*
- 1 egg or 1 egg white
- *Your favorite herb mix or 2 tsp. fresh rosemary
Combine water, yeast and sugar in a large bowl. Stir to mix a bit and let it sit for 5 minutes to activate.
- While the yeast is activating, mince all of the fresh herbs and place in a small bowl with the oregano, marjoram and garlic powder. Set aside.
- Add the salt, oil and 1 cup flour to the yeast mixture. Stir to incorporate at least 30 seconds.
- Add another cup of flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring and incorporating flour into dough.
- Spread the last ½ cup flour on a marble slab or a kneading board. Transfer the dough onto the slab and knead until all of the flour has been incorporated. Continue to knead for about 7 to 10 more minutes.
- Pour the herbs over the dough and continue to knead until all of the herbs have been incorporated into the dough. If the bread dough is still sticky or too moist, knead in a little more flavor until you get a smooth, non-sticky dough.
Clean the bowl, coat with a touch of oil and transfer the dough back into the bowl. Roll it around to coat with oil, and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Let it rise for an hour to 1.5 hours, or until double in size.
- Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Shape into balls and place on a cookie sheet sprayed with oil. Leave enough space between the loaves for them to double in size.
- Lightly coat the edge of a sharp knife with oil and cut 2 slits in the top of each loaf of bread.
- In a small bowl whisk an egg. Brush the egg all over the top of the loaf and into the slits.
- Place the loaves in the oven. Turn the oven on and set the temperature to 170° F. Let the bread rise until double in size, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Turn the oven up to 370° degrees and bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
This herb bread is best if eaten within a day or 2 after making. Any leftover stale bread makes great croutons and grilled cheese sandwiches.
The herbs – The first time I made this herb bread the only fresh herb I used was the rosemary. However, when I made it the second time, I used the fresh basil, parsley, and rosemary mix. Both batches were excellent, so it really doesn’t matter. And yes – I do use quite a bit of herb in this bread. I guess that’s because I’ve always loved a good herb bread, plus I grow a lot of herbs.
I don’t have a mixer so I did the kneading by hand which I find a very Zenlike thing to do. In fact, it was in the kneading step that I realized why I enjoyed making bread. I don’t think I would make bread, if I used a mixer. For me, manually kneading bread is why breadmaking is so much fun!
If you love making a good quality yeast bread and a great tasting bread, one that you’ll want to make over and over again, here are a few more to try.
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Heaven bless you for the hand-kneaded dough! I’m so impressed you put that much love into your bread because it’s been a LOOONG time since I kneaded dough by hand for an extended period of time 😉 This sounds delicious and I love that you can use fresh herbs in the bread. And the idea of turning these into rolls is very appealing 😉
Thanks so much for sharing…
wow!!so delicious bread!!
Thanks for sharing with Midweek Fiesta & hope to see you again….
Thanks for linking this up. It will be featured, this week, at Bake with Bizzy. Stop by and say hello.
Fresh bread is a true gift. There is something about the combination of the aroma and the flavor. I love breads which have a lot of flavor and all these herbs but make it pop in your mouth.
If you have a moment, I would love it, if you would link this to Bake With Bizzy.
Thanks for the comments. Thanks for asking me to link up to your site! It’s done!
My hats off to any baker that can bake bread like that!! You are really talented because you bake and your cook really well. I am a cook… baking is relatively new to me. I think I need a little more courage before I try to bake bread without my bread machine. My family would think I was pretty awesome if I pulled that beauty out of the oven. 🙂
I actually put away my bread machine and made this bread. It was so easy so a great recipe to start with. Thanks for your nice comments Darlin!
This looks really good! My husband woud love it as he likes any type of bread that has herbs in it! Thanks for sharing & thanks for stopping by my page the other day!
Willa
I love making fresh bread at home! Thanks for sharing!! 🙂
Oh! What a lovely loaf of bread…I love herbed breads…thanks for sharing 🙂
YOU BAKED BREAD… and now I have proof! 🙂
So glad you did! And now I have to start making bread again, too! 🙂
🙂 🙂 🙂
Home made bread is all ways good:). U make so perfectly.
Thanks for all of the wonderful comments! I definitely plan to make this recipe one of my “old standbys” in that I will be making it a lot. 🙂
Homemade bread is always good! One can make so many varieties and so cheap! This herb bread looks too yummy to resist!
What a great looking batch of bread! I love herbs too MJ, so I would probably put a lot of those in mine too! 😉 I wish I could have a bite of that!!!
Lovely – my favourite thing in life is good bread. Did you ever try using semolina flour? I find a half/half mix of semolina to regular makes a fantastic bread, and it’s slightly easier to digest than plain white too… as well as staying soft and fresh for longer (for some reason :/)
No I have never used semolina flour in bread. I definitely will have to try it. Thanks for the suggestion!
wow..sounds utterly delicious..;)
Tasty Appetite
Herb bread! This sounds delightful.
Oh, MJ, I can smell this delightful loaf from here… The crust looks perfectly glazed and deliciously crunchy. Love all the beautiful herbs – marjoram particularly interesting.
Such a pretty loaf of bread-
Love all of the herbs in your bread. I’m totally with you – nothing is better than an excellent herb bread. I need to get back into making bread again
MJ…what a gorgeous boule! I need to start making more bread. I especially love this herb bread and would be happy to just dip it into some really good olive oil! I think I’ve just been inspired!!! : )
This is a beautiful bread. I’m sure this is very tasty. I’ve never baked bread with herbs. I should try this out. Thanks for sharing.
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Regards
Spoon and Chopsticks
http://spoon-and-chopsticks.blogspot.com
This bread looks amazing! I can imagine taking the first slice of this bread while it’s still hot and smelling the herbs!
There are times I go to Macaroni Grill just for the bread. Your recipe looks outstanding and I can’t wait to try it. Other copy cat recipes just haven’t done it justice but this one looks fabulous!
What a beautiful loaf of bread! Now that the weather is cooler, I’m looking forward to making some homemade bread too.
MJ that bread looks perfect. I tried making bread this past week and I just don’t know what goes wrong. I wanted to make little buns for sliders and when I put the slit in the top before cooking, the dough collapsed and so there was no height to the buns. I could eat yours right now, Nothing better than fresh bread from the oven.