Swirled Garlic Herb Bread #Recipe by @LibbyKlein

Libby Klein I'm a sucker for showstopping breads. Bread is already one of the coziest foods on the planet. When you can make it something of beauty inside and out you get culinary magic. I have a dear friend who often says, "You eat with your eyes first." I think that's the reason I'm drawn to recipes like this one. That herby garlicy swirl was love at first sight. 

Things like this always look more complicated than they really are. Creating the intricate swirl is really only a matter of slicing the rolled up log in half and braiding it. Then delicately swirl the dough into an S shape and leave it to rise again.

The original recipe can be found on Half-Baked Harvest.

What is your favorite recipe that seems harder to make than it really is?

🍞To download and print this recipe click here.

Swirled Garlic Herb Bread

By Libby Klein

Yield: 1 loaf

 

Ingredients

¾ cup warm whole milk
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons honey
3 large eggs
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
2 cloves garlic, grated, frozen in cubes, or finely chopped
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup mixture of fresh basil, rosemary, and thyme, finely chopped
Flakey sea salt

Instructions

Bloom the yeast. In a measuring cup, gently heat the milk until just barely warm. Add the yeast and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Let it sit while you get the dry ingredients ready. If it isn’t foamy after 10 minutes the yeast has gone bad.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine honey, eggs, 3 1/2 cups flour, and salt. Add the bloomed yeast and milk. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated, about 4-5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of soft butter and mix until smooth. If the dough is still sticky, add a spoonful or two of additional flour and mix until the dough is soft and silky and comes together into a ball. 

Cover the bowl with plastic and let sit in your oven (turned off) with just the light on until doubled in size. 1-2 hours. In a small mixing bowl, combine the butter, garlic, parmesan, and chopped herbs. Set aside.

 

When the dough has risen, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 12X18 rectangle -about the size of a jelly roll pan. (Okay, mine looks nothing like a rectangle, but it is supposed to. Sometimes you’ve just got to go with whatever direction the dough wants to roll.) Spread the garlic herb butter evenly over the dough. 

Starting with the long edge, roll the dough into an 18” log. Pinch the edge to seal. 

Then about 1 inch from the top edge, cut the rest of the log in half.

Place the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. Now braid the dough and coil it into an S.

    

Cover and let rise in (turned off) oven with the light on until doubled in size. Mine took 2 hours.

   Remove the risen dough from the oven. Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Transfer the bread to the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the bread is cooked through. Brush the top of the loaf with butter and sprinkle with flakey sea salt and more grated parmesan.

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Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her 
classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/