Savoury Braided Bread ... with garlic rosemary and sundried tomatoes

Baking | Savoury Braided Bread … with garlic, rosemary and sundried tomatoes

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning

Savoury Braided Bread with garlic, rosemary and sundried tomatoes. In my little corner of the world, home baked bread doesn’t get tastier than this. It’s been a while since I baked bread. Getting onto the KitchenAid Culinary Council got me back to doing something I enjoy loads, baking bread. Just the ease of a dough hook of the KitchenAid stand mixer that works magic inside one big bowl, leaving you hands free to add things at will is a liberating feeling.

I had a field day adding my favourite flavours to the bread. The base dough was deep deep garlic and olive oil of course, two of my most favourite flavours in the world. Then I added more flavours to the bread after the first rise, which happened in the bowl of the KA itself. It’s this very convenience that won me over. Threw in some cheese and sun dried bread, another quick knead with the dough hook to mix in the new additions, and voila! Silky smooth dough ready to braid.

Of course you can just shape the loaf if you like, but for me the eternal charm lies in adding some drama to the bread. A twist to the visual effect. A loaf is pretty enough, but a braid is more fun and prettier. It’s also easier to tear apart and devour.

Recipe: Savoury Braided Bread

Summary: Delicious part whole wheat Savoury Braided Bread where the mixer does all the hard work, literally all in the same bowl. It leaves you all the time in the world to gently braid the silky smooth dough to offer a show stopper loaf. With Christmas holiday colours of red, green and white, this vegetarian bread is bursting with flavour and goodness. Fresh bread will never be the same again! Makes 1 X 12″ loaf. Serves 4-6

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour plus rising time
Ingredients:

  • Dough
  • 250g plain flour
  • 100g whole-wheat flour
  • 1/2 tbsp dried instant yeast
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp dried rosemary
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Pinch sugar
  • 200-250ml buttermilk
  • 40g extra virgin olive oil
  • 50g cheddar
  • Filling/Topping
  • Few sprigs of rosemary
  • 3 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 25g sundried tomatoes in olive oil, chopped {reserve a few bits of tomato for the topping if you like}
  • Himalayan sea salt for topping
  • Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling over

Method:

  1. Place flours, yeast, salt, sugar, minced garlic and dried herbs in bowl of Kitchen Aid. With the dough hook attachment on, run KA on speed 4 for 30 seconds to mix.
  2. Add 200ml buttermilk and olive oil and work dough hook until the mixture comes together and a sticky dough forms. Place the shield, and pour in more buttermilk if required.
  3. Continue to knead to dough for a further 5-6 minutes on speed 5 until you get smooth silky dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
  4. Drizzle the ball with olive oil, turn over, cover the bowl with cling wrap and leave in a warm place for the dough to double. It should take a couple of hours.
  5. Preheat the oven to 250C.
  6. Once the dough has risen, grate the cheddar into the bowl and add the sundried tomatoes. With the dough hook, mix in the cheese and sundried tomatoes on speed 4 for 30 seconds to incorporate.
  7. Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface. Knead for 30 seconds to being together. Divide into 3 parts, and roll into 10-12″ long ropes.
  8. Braid the ropes into a neat little loaf, tucking the ends in to hold the braid. Spray a KA jelly roll pan with olive oil {or lightly brush} and gently transfer the braided dough onto the baking pan. Sprinkle over with Himalayan sea salt, sliced garlic, reserved sundried tomato and sprigs of rosemary.
  9. Bake at 250C for 10 minutes, then reduce to 200C and continue to bake for approximately 30-40 minutes until golden brown, and hollow when tapped underneath. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil as soon as it comes out.
  10. Serve warm with extra virgin olive oil to dip into.

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

Published by

Deeba @ PAB

About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

8 thoughts on “Baking | Savoury Braided Bread … with garlic, rosemary and sundried tomatoes”

  1. Deeba the braid looks gorgeous and seems delicious. Wish I could grab it out from my monitor.
    Best wishes for 2016 – may you have the best of health, happiness and prosperity.

  2. What a gorgeous loaf of bread. Nothing can top freshly baked bread and the aroma it fills the house with. Happy New Year Deeba!

  3. Thank you for sharing so nice recipes tips. I’ve joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your wonderful post.

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