This week I attended a sweetened dough bread-making class with Blackbird Bread in Twickenham. We made croissants, St. Lucia buns and cardamom and cinnamon rolls. It was three hours of mixing, kneading, shaping and baking, which was great fun and I will be writing a post about it soon.
In the meantime, going to the class reminded me how much I enjoy making bread, so the idea for this rosemary and sage bread was born.
Last weekend, I was given a big bunch of rosemary clippings by some ladies who were clipping back a large rosemary hedge by the river, and I still have some left.
I decided to use both rosemary and sage in the bread, as I thought this would be tasty in a loaf to be served on the side with our evening meal, as it will go with many savoury foods and it will be wonderful with cheese or cold meat in a sandwich.
There’s nothing better than baking your own bread, you get a real sense of satisfaction at having made your own creation. I enjoy the kneading and shaping as well.
For this loaf I made a plait and then coiled it into a circle. You can also keep it simple and make a round loaf if you prefer!
This rosemary and sage bread works well whether served with soup and salads for lunch, as sandwiches, or on the side of a main meal.
For more bread ideas, take a look at these from some fellow food bloggers:
- Zaatar and olive foccacia from Fab Food 4 All
- Muesli bread from Recipes From A Pantry
- Wild garlic pesto pinwheels from Foodie Quine
- Danish bread from Tinned Tomatoes
- Rosemary asiago cheese bread in the crockpot from Goodie Godmother
I’m looking this recipe up with the Bready Steady Go challenge from Michelle at Utterly Scrummy Food For Families and Jen from Jen’s Food. The theme this month is bread with bits, and I used sage and rosemary in my bread.
Pin this rosemary and sage bread for later!
Rosemary and Sage Bread
Ingredients
- 225 g strong bread flour
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp easy-bake yeast
- 27 g unsalted butter
- 60 ml boiling water
- 60 ml milk
- 1 egg
- 1-2 tsp dried sage
- 2-3 large sprigs of fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Place the flour in a large bowl and add the salt on one side of the bowl and the yeast on the other.
- Rub in the butter roughly then add half the egg. Keep the rest for egg wash before baking.
- Add the milk and water and mix until the dough forms a ball.
- Knead the dough for ten minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Add the sage and most of the rosemary during kneading,
- Place the dough in a bowl covered in clingfilm to prove for 45 minutes to an hour.
- When the dough has risen, take it out of the bowl and press it all over with your fingers to knock it back.
- Split the dough into three using a dough scraper and form each piece into a long sausage shape.
- Press one end together, plait the three pieces together, then coil the plait into a circle shape. Press the ends in.
- Place the coiled plait on an oiled baking tray to rise for another 45 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and place a deep baking tray at the bottom of the oven. Boil your kettle.
- Brush the bread with the egg wash, sprinkle with the rest of the rosemary leaves, a little dried sage and some coarse sea salt.
- Put the tray in the oven and pour freshly boiled water from the kettle into the baking tray at the bottom of the oven to create steam. Shut the door quickly.
- Bake for ten minutes, then turn the baking tray around and bake for another ten to fifteen minutes until the bread is golden brown and the base sounds hollow when tapped.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Sparkle Stationery says
That looks absolutely gorgeous – I love all forms of bread, but this looks really scrummy!
kneadwhine says
Oh I want this so badly right now – two of my favourite flavours in my favourite carb!
bakingqueen74 says
Hear hear 🙂
Jen @ Jen's Food says
Fresh rosemary in bread is so tasty, love the salt crystals on top and very impressed with the braiding, I need to work on my dough braiding skills! Thanks for linking up with Bready Steady Go 🙂
bakingqueen74 says
I have a lot of practice in braiding my daughters hair, that must be it!
The Vagabond Baker says
Delicious! I can’t wait to read about that bread class, I’d love to make St Lucia buns (the s-shaped saffron buns right?) I devoured them in Stockholm! I’m also completely addicted to cardamom dough!
bakingqueen74 says
Those are the ones, so good. Cardamom is fab isn’t it!
The Vagabond Baker says
Yes, the heady scent of cardamom in the kitchen and I’m transported across the North Sea to Scandinavia!
Janice (@FarmersgirlCook) says
I adore rosemary and my plant is really huge this year! This looks like a great way to use it.
bakingqueen74 says
Very envious as I only have an old leggy plant in my garden