Italian Herb Bread

Christina

This is a white bread full of flavorful Italian Herbs, soft and delicious, this is sure to please as an appetizer served with olive oil for dipping, as a sliced bread with dinner, or as a sandwich bread.

5 from 11 votes

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Prep Time 1 30

Cook Time 30

Resting Time 1

Total Time 1 2

Course Appetizer, bread, dinner, lunch

Cuisine American, bread baking, Italian

Servings 4 people

Calories 489 kcal

Equipment

4 Liter food container (or bowl)
Cover for container (or plastic wrap)
Digital Metric Scale
Bench scraper
Flat Baking Pan
Parchment Paper
Kitchen Sheers or Sharp Knife

Ingredients

525 grams White Bread Flour 14% protein
2 T Mixed Italian Herbs
425 grams Warm Water 90-100 F degrees
11 grams Sea Salt
⅛ tsp Instant Yeast

Instructions

Scaling

Measure all ingredients using a digital metric scale.
Hint: I prefer to make this dough at night, so about 5:00 p.m., I mix this dough and give it folds throughout the evening and then before bedtime, I place it in the refrigerator to bulk ferment overnight. OR, you can mix early morning, about 7:30 a.m., and leave to bulk ferment on the counter for 6-8 hours until doubled in size, plan to shape/bake that evening about 4:00 p.m.

Mixing

Add white flour to large container or bowl.
Add and mix Italian Herbs with the flour.
Add warm water (90-100 F degrees).
Mix together until no dry flour remains and you have a rough dough.
Cover dough and set aside for 30 minutes to allow the flour to autolyze (absorb the moisture).
After 30 minutes, uncover the dough and sprinkle the top evenly with the sea salt and the yeast.
Pull outside edge of dough and fold over center, do this 4-6 times until yeast and salt are enclosed.
Using two fingers (like you are making the "OK" symbol) cut through the dough 3 times.
Pull outside edge of dough up, it will not stretch much at this point, and fold over center again, 4-6 times.
Repeat the last two steps two more times until the salt and yeast are evenly distributed.
Turn the dough over so the last folds you made are tucked under a loose ball. This dough will need to be folded 3-4 times over the next 1.5-2 hours.
Cover the dough and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Uncover the dough and perform another fold by pulling the outside edge of the dough upwards, being careful not to tear the dough and folding over the center, 4-6 times.
Hint: Every time you fold this dough it will gain elasticity, strength and rise. Pull the dough up and over to achieve maximum stretch without tearing it, this builds the structure to hold the developing carbon dioxide gas.
Turn the dough over so the last folds you made are tucked under a loose ball.
Wait 30 minutes and perform the last two steps again. You will do this two more times for a total of four folds.
Hint: These folds can be done every 30 minutes or longer.

Bulk Fermentation (first rise)

After 3-4 folds, allow dough to rest until doubled in size, overnight in the refrigerator, or 6 hours at room temperature. My preferred method is to place this dough in the refrigerator overnight to slow the rise which develops flavor.
Hint: Using a clear container allows you to easily see when the dough has risen to double its original size. Mark the outside of the container with a marker or elastic at the desired point.

Punching/Folding

In the morning, pull the dough from the refrigerator, it should have doubled overnight. If not, leave it at room temperature until doubled. When dough has doubled in size it will be lofty with good structure, bubbles on top and inside. Flour a work surface and gently dump dough out. This will achieve "punching" the dough down, or expelling some of the carbon dioxide gas that developed during Bulk Fermentation stage.

Dividing

This recipe makes 4 mini rounds. Divide the dough in half and then in half again. Flour a line down the short center of the dough and gently pushing a bench scraper or knife through to divide the dough in two. Divide these two halves again for a total of 4 pieces, about 220-240 gram each. Continue with next step.
Next, pull outside edges of each piece of dough up (no need to stretch here) and fold over center, 4-6 times.

Pre-shaping or Rounding

Flip dough over so folds are tucked under a loose ball. Repeat until you have 4 loose balls.

Bench Proofing or Resting

Cover the loose balls with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.
Prepare the flat baking pan with parchment sprayed lightly with oil.

Makeup and Panning

Uncover the dough balls. Tighten them into a round ball. To do that, cup hand around the rear of the round shape and drag the dough towards you on the work surface. Turn the dough a quarter of a turn. Gently pick the dough up and place it further away from you again. Repeat four times or as many times as it takes to create a tightly rounded dough ball. Hint: You will need a little friction to drag the dough ball to tighten it into a round. If there is no friction, clear the work surface of the majority of flour and try again.
Once you have four tight dough balls, flour the tops. Pick each one up by gently sliding cupped hands under either side of the ball.
Gently lay the balls onto the parchment paper allowing space for them to double. Cover with plastic wrap or a linen towel.

Proofing (second rise)

If you want to bake that morning, set the dough balls aside in a warm place to proof. Allow the dough balls to rise until it has relaxed and doubled in size. This may take 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the room temperature.
Hint: If you prefer to bake later in the day, return the formed dough balls on the tray back to the refrigerator for a cold proof. This will take 8 hours. They can be removed from the refrigerator and baked right away once they have doubled in size.

Baking

Approximately 30 minutes prior to baking, put a metal cake pan filled with very cold water into your oven to create steam. Set oven temp to 460 F degrees. Set timer for 30 minutes.
When timer buzzes, check that your dough balls are doubled.
Hint: To check if your dough has risen enough, you can perform the poke test. Poke the dough with a floured finger. If the indent springs back quickly, it is not yet ready to be baked. Allow it to continue to rise. If the indent springs back slowly, it is ready to be baked. If the indent does not spring back at all, it is over-proofed.
If your dough is doubled, using kitchen sheers, cut an "X" pattern onto the top of each dough ball, being careful not to deflate the dough. Place pan with dough balls in oven to bake.
Hint: If the water has boiled away, fill the cake pan again.
Bake at 460 F degrees for 25-30 minutes, turn pan half way through baking.
Hint: The darker the outside caramelization is on the crust, the more flavor your bread will have. I personally like to bake it to a very rich golden brown.

Cooling

Remove the sheet pan with loaves and set on a heat proof surface.
Immediately set bread on a cooling rack to allow air flow around the bread. Allow to cool at least 15 minutes, preferably 30 minutes, before slicing.
Hint: I know it's hard to wait for that yummy first piece! However, the crumb needs time to cool so it does not get crushed when you try to cut the bread.

Storing

If you do not use this bread immediately, it can be stored in the open air for 8 hours, or even overnight, as long as it is not cut.
Once the bread has been cut, allow it to cool completely. Store cut side down on a cutting board for up to one day.
After that time, slice the remaining bread, place slices in an airtight bag, and freeze the slices. Warm each slice in a toaster before eating.

Keyword Italian, Italian Herbs, Mixed Herbs