Country Herb Bread Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F & coat the inside of a 9"round baking pan (or a 9" pie pan) with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, combine 1st nine ingredients (from the flour to & including the dill weed), & mix well.
• Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
• In another bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt & milk, then stir this egg mixture into the dry ingredients until just moistened.
• Spoon into the prepared baking pan & sprinkle with poppy seeds.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
• Cool in pan on wire rack before cutting into wedges.

Steps:

• The day before making the bread or early in the day, make the poolish (or biga) by placing 8 ounces of the flour, 7 ounces of room temperature water and the yeast in a large bowl and mixing it well with a wooden spoon. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it stand for 2 to 3 hours at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight. The poolish should double in volume.
• Add 1 pound of the flour and 12 ounces of room temperature water to the poolish and mix together well with your hands. It will be very sticky. Cover the bowl with the kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle the salt over the surface of the dough and then fold the dough onto itself several times until the salt is incorporated. Cover the bowl with the kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 1 hour.
• Cover your hands with flour and sprinkle flour around the outside edge of the dough. Fold the dough onto itself 6 to 8 times. Cover the bowl with the kitchen towel and let rest for 1 hour.
• Fold the dough onto itself 6 to 8 times, dust a board generously with flour and pour the dough out onto the board.
• Divide the dough into two equal parts and turn and form each part into a ball, stretching the dough to form a smooth top. Sprinkle flour heavily in 2 separate bowls (there should be enough flour to keep the dough from sticking) and turn each ball of dough upside down into a bowl. Sprinkle the top of each ball with flour, cover each bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rise until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
• Preheat an oven to 500 degrees F and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
• Turn each ball of dough bottom-side up onto its own sheet pan and use a knife or razor blade to score a tic-tac-toe design on the top of each loaf.
• Place the loaves in the oven, immediately lower the temperature to 450 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes. (Do not open the oven door!) The loaves are done when they are golden brown and make a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Cool the loaves on a baking rack.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Oil the inside of the bowl of a mini food processor. Add the softened butter, garlic, cheese and herbs. Pulse until well combined.
• Slice the bread into 1-inch thick slices. You will need 12 to 16 slices.
• Spread the butter mixture onto 1 side of each bread slice. Arrange slices, butter side up and bake in the oven until lightly toasted, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Steps:

• Set an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
• Combine all ingredients except bread in small bowl. Arrange bread on baking sheet; spread with herb mixture.
• Broil until golden, about 2 minutes.

Steps:

• Mix yeast, warm water, and white sugar together in a large bowl. Set aside for five minutes, or until mixture becomes foamy.
• Stir olive oil, salt, herbs, garlic powder, onion powder, cheese, and 3 cups flour into the yeast mixture. Gradually mix in the next three cups of flour. Dough will be stiff.
• Knead dough for 5 to 10 minutes, or until it is smooth and rubbery. Place in an oiled bowl, and turn to cover the surface of the dough with oil. Cover with a damp linen dish towel. Allow to rise for one hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
• Punch dough down to release all the air. Shape into two loaves. Place loaves on a greased cookie sheet, or into two greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about a 30 minutes.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 minutes. Remove loaves from pan(s), and let cool on wire racks for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, salt, marjoram, thyme and rosemary. In a saucepan over low heat, heat milk, water and 1/4 cup butter to 120°-130°. Pour over the dry ingredients. Add egg and blend well. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Punch dough down. Divide into three equal portions. Shape each into a 28-in. rope. Braid ropes; pinch ends to seal. Tie braid into a knot. Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown; cover with foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent overbrowning. Melt remaining butter; brush over bread. Sprinkle with additional herbs if desired. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Steps:

• Combine salt with flour in a mixing bowl, then add water and mix either by hand or with a dough whisk until fully incorporated into a "shaggy mass."
• Add starter and mix / squish by hand until fully incorporated. The process of incorporating the starter is a bit of primary kneading and should result in the dough smoothing out some, but don't go nuts. As soon as the starter is fully incorporated, you're done.
• Cover mixing bowl and let sit.
• First Bulk Fermentation Period
• The first (of three) bulk fermentation period is at room temperature which for me is 73 - 75 degrees F, and lasts about 10 hours.
• At about an hour in, do 5-10 minutes of hand kneading (see notes and video below) until the dough develops some strength and elasticity and becomes noticeably smoother. Cover and let sit.
• Every 1-2 hours (exact timing is not important - really!) do a short round of stretching and folding to re-develop the dough's elasticity (see notes and video below). Then re-cover and let sit.
• Second Bulk Fermentation Period
• After about 10 hours, or whenever the dough has risen to about 1.5 times its original volume, put the covered bowl of dough into a cold (~40 F) refrigerator and let sit (for me, this is overnight) for about 10 hours.
• Third Bulk Fermentation Period
• Remove dough from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature again.
• As the dough warms up, resume periodic stretch and folds. Dough should be feeling progressively more lively, developing a bit of sour aroma, and eventually starting to bubble some.
• This final bulk fermentation period is the hardest to put a time length on. Getting it right matters, and it will totally depend on how active your starter is, how warm your kitchen is, and a whole host of other mostly invisible things. You are shooting to finish this period when the dough has risen to 2 - 2.5 times its original volume and ideally is actively blowing a few bubbles. I've had this take anywhere from 4 - 8 hours depending on this and that. Your mileage may vary. Try not to overshoot this - you'll probably have a better result erring on the too soon side than the too late side.
• Shaping and Proofing
• (See notes and video below)
• Prepare a lined proofing basket by generously flouring the inside and set it aside.
• Lightly flour a large work surface and turn the dough out onto it.
• Wet your hands, punch down the dough and then stretch and flatten it into a large thin rectangle.
• Fold dough in half from top to bottom and press top into bottom, flattening again but not as big as the initial rectangle. At this point, you want the height of the dough rectangle to be right about the length of your proofing basket (no more than that).
• [Optional] Lightly flour the top of the dough (and your hands).
• Start at one end and roll the dough rectangle into a cylinder.
• Keep track of the seam and transfer the dough cylinder into the lined, floured proofing basket seam-side up.
• Cover and let sit for 1 - 1.5 hours.
• Baking
• From 30 - 60 minutes after transferring dough into proofing basket, pre-heat oven and clay baker to 450 degrees F ~ about 20 - 30 minutes.
• Uncover dough and transfer from proofing basket into base of clay baker, score top of dough, cover and bake at 450 F for 25 minutes.
• Uncover clay baker, reduce oven temperature to 400 F and bake uncovered for another 20-25 minutes (or until desired crust color develops).
• Remove bread and place on cooling rack for at least a couple hours before cutting.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl, combine butter, lemon zest, tarragon, and salt; heat on stove or in microwave until butter melts.
• Without cutting all the way through, slice baguette in 1-inch intervals; brush butter mixture between slices. Wrap in foil; bake until hot, about 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, pepper, allspice and nutmeg in a large bowl.
• Stir in cheese, green onions, parsley, dill, thyme, and rosemary.
• In another bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, and butter and blend well.
• Stir egg mixture into flour mixture just until moistened. Let stand 5 minutes.
• Spoon batter into a greased 8x4 inch loaf pan. Spread evenly.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes (toothpick inserted near center should come out clean). Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan and cool 30 minutes more. Serve warm.
• Refrigerate leftovers.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the first nine ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. In another bowl, whisk the egg, yogurt and milk. Stir into dry ingredients until just moistened. , Spoon into a 9-in. round baking pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. , Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into wedges.