This rosemary and sage bread is a simple plaited loaf flavoured with fresh herbs, great on the side with soup, salads or stews.
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.
It reminded me how much I love to make bread!
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.
It goes with many savoury foods and it is 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.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need and some info about some of them. Note you’ll find the quantities in the recipe card at the end of the page.
- strong (bread) flour – I used white. Make sure you use strong flour intended to make bread, it has more gluten than plain flour.
- salt – an essential ingredient in bread to add flavour, without it the bread will taste very bland. We also top the loaf with some salt before baking.
- easy-bake yeast – this is a kind of yeast with added vitamin C which makes the action of the yeast fast. It is equivalent to instant yeast. Look for the small tins in the baking aisle of the supermarket.
- butter – a small amount of butter in this recipe adds richness.
- water
- milk – using half milk and half water to make the dough is another way of enriching the dough.
- egg – the addition of egg also enriches the dough.
- dried sage – both herbs are kneaded in and also scattered on top to add their flavour.
- fresh rosemary
Method
Here’s how to make this recipe step by step.
- 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°C / 400°F 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.
Related
For more bread ideas, take a look at these:
- Wholemeal Olive Focaccia
- Fruit Bread Crown
- Apricot Couronne Recipe
- Instant pot Muesli bread from Recipes From A Pantry
- Wild garlic pesto pinwheels from Foodie Quine
- Danish bread from Tinned Tomatoes
Pin this rosemary and sage bread for later!
Recipe
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.225 g strong bread flour, 0.5 tsp salt, 1 tsp easy-bake yeast
- Rub in the butter roughly then add half the egg. Keep the rest for egg wash before baking.27 g unsalted butter, 1 egg
- Add the milk and water and mix until the dough forms a ball.60 ml boiling water, 60 ml milk
- Knead the dough for ten minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Add the sage and most of the rosemary during kneading,1-2 tsp dried sage, 2-3 large sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 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°C / 400°F 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.
Katharine says
I love the look of this bread! Could you please tell me what would happen if I would use fresh sage?
bakingqueen74 says
It will add even more flavour, I would be sure to chop the fresh sage leaves before adding them to the dough. Let me know how it goes!
MA says
Is the 200 degree oven Fahrenheit or Celcius please? I’m in the US and would like to try this recipe today. Thanks so much and have a lovely day!
bakingqueen74 says
Hi there, that is 200°C which is equal to 400°F. I’ll update that in the recipe card.
Amy says
My bread is usually terribly stodgy and dense but I followed this recipe to the letter and the resulting loaf was absolutely lovely. Thanks so much!
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks for leaving your review Amy, that is wonderful to hear!
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
Kit Veerkamp says
The leginess of your rosemary shouldn’t matter.
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Kit, I have a new rosemary plant now in any case.