Herbes de Provence Bread
Another great bread recipe! I’m really beginning to think that you just can’t go wrong with homemade bread. This was another simple one, with a key star ingredient – Herbes de Provence. This seasoning was highly recommended to me by the Apples of Gold cooking mentors, so of course I bought some. Then I had no idea what to do with it until I found this recipe on tastykitchen – a new recipe website started by Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman. This bread is nice and light and flavorful from all the herbs. Perfect to serve with an Italian meal!
My bread loaves always seem to expand out rather than up. Maybe I’m making them too wide to begin with? No matter how it looks, though, this bread tastes great. A lot of it was eaten warm from the oven, and the rest of it is sitting in the freezer, waiting to round out a wonderful homemade Italian meal. Mike rated it 3.75, but he didn’t have any right out of the oven like he normally does, so I think it’s actual rating is higher 🙂
 
Herbes de Provence Bread
Ingredients:
1 cup Warm Water
1-½ teaspoon Sugar
1-½ teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
2-½ cups Flour
1-½ teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3-½ teaspoons Herbes De Provence (or Italian Herb Mix, Or Your Own Favorite Herb Mix)
¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
Directions:
Using a stand mixer with a dough hook, mix the water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes, or until bubbly. Add 1/2 cup flour, the salt, olive oil, herbs and pepper and mix, on medium speed, for a minute or two. Gradually add the rest of the flour, mixing on low speed until all of the flour is incorporated, and the dough starts to pull away from the bowl, about 6 minutes. Grease a clean bowl, and transfer the dough to the greased bowl. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place for an hour. Press the dough down, and transfer to a baking sheet. Form the dough into a loaf shape, cover with saran wrap sprayed with cooking spray, and let the dough rise for another hour. Carefully remove the saran wrap and bake the dough at 375° for about 30 minutes.
From Belle of the Kitchen