Crusty Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Bread

Ingredients

• 1 head garlic
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• salt to taste
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey or sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (about a hundred degrees Fahrenheit)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped rosemary
• 8-10 roasted garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 3 cups (360 grams) All-Purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

1. 1

   --- FOR THE ROASTED GARLIC: ---

2. 2

   Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

3. 3

   Trim the top off the head of garlic to expose the cloves inside.

4. 4

   Place garlic in a small lidded baking dish.

5. 5

   Drizzle garlic with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

6. 6

   Cover garlic and roast for 30-45 minutes or until cloves are soft and lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

7. 7

   --- FOR THE BREAD: Make the dough & first rise (1 Hour) ---

8. 8

   Combine yeast, honey, and warm water in a large mixing bowl (you can also use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook!) Let the yeast proof for about 5 minutes until the mixture is foamy.

9. 9

   Add salt, rosemary, and chopped roasted garlic to the bowl.

10. 10

    Add flour to bowl a bit at a time and stir with a wooden spoon or stiff spatula until all flour is incorporated and ingredients have just come together to form a slightly shaggy dough.

11. 11

    Drizzle dough with olive oil and turn the dough over to coat all sides. Cover with a clean tea towel and let rise on the counter for about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.

12. 12

    --- Shape the dough and final rise (30 minutes) ---

13. 13

    When dough has doubled in size, lightly flour a large cutting board.

14. 14

    Tip the dough out of the bowl and onto the cutting board. DON'T PUNCH THE DOUGH DOWN! We want to preserve all those nice air bubbles.

15. 15

    Pull each corner of the dough into the center of the loaf one at a time as if you're folding an envelope. Repeat this process 4-5 times until dough feels relatively stiff, then flip the dough over and lightly twist while pulling it towards you across the cutting board until you have a nice round loaf. (Watch our Easy Crusty French Bread video to see how we do this!)

16. 16

    Flour a proofing basket or a small mixing bowl and place your loaf into it seam-side down. Cover with a clean tea towel and let rise for 30 minutes.

17. 17

    --- Heat the oven ---

18. 18

    While your bread does its final rise, place an empty Dutch oven into your oven and heat to 450 degrees F.

19. 19

    --- Bake! ---

20. 20

    When the oven is hot, you're ready to go! Use oven mitts to pull the Dutch oven out and remove the lid.

21. 21

    Tip your bread dough gently out of the proofing basket back onto your floured cutting board. The seam side should face UP this time - that's what gives it a nice crackly look on top! You can tip the bread onto a piece of parchment paper here to make it easier to lift the bread in and out of your Dutch oven if you like.

22. 22

    VERY CAREFULLY (no burning yourself!) place the bread seam side up into your hot Dutch oven.

23. 23

    Put your oven mitts back on, place the lid onto your Dutch oven, and slide the whole thing back into your hot oven.

24. 24

    Cook bread for 30 minutes.

25. 25

    After 30 minutes, remove the lid from your Dutch oven. The bread should be crusty and lightly browned. Continue cooking, uncovered, for 10-20 minutes more until the bread has deepened in color and you have a beautiful browned crust.

26. 26

    When the bread is done, use oven mitts to pull the pot out of your oven.

27. 27

    Use a long spatula to lift the bread out of the Dutch oven and onto a cooling rack. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting into it.

28. 28

    Slice, slather with butter, and enjoy!