I’m currently out at my parents’ house in Colorado. In case you missed it on Instagram, I made this easy homemade rosemary bread the other night for a nice little dinner with my parents. It came out so delicious that I had to share the recipe with you guys!
But before we dive in, I had to tell you guys what I went through to make this homemade rosemary bread. Two things in particular made this baking experience a little more interesting than usual:
- My parents’ house is located at an altitude of about 8600 feet (baking can be quite tricky in altitude).
- My mother doesn’t own a loaf pan.
So I made a few adjustments and made this bread in a circular Pyrex. But there was still the question of altitude / climate.
How do altitude and climate impact baking?
Since the Colorado mountains are a dry climate, I may have used a bit more liquid than you would need in a humid climate (like Dallas). As stated in the recipe, have 2 cups of water set aside but add it slowly. You might not need all of it.
Also, things take longer to cook (and to rise) given the lower oxygen and low boiling point associated with higher altitudes. I let my bread rise for a total of 90 minutes, but you might only need 30-60 minutes at sea level. I put this in the directions below, but I wanted to call it out ahead of time, just in case!
Homemade Rosemary Bread
Now that that’s covered, let’s get into the recipe. As always, drop me a note if you decide to bake your own homemade rosemary bread. I’d love to know how it turns out!
Homemade Rosemary Bread
Ingredients
- 4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons of salt
- 1 tablespoon of baking powder
- 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary, separated
- 1 tablespoon of active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 2 cups and 2 tablespoons of lukewarm water or milk, separated
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil (for greasing the pan)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary. Mix and set aside.
- Place the active dry yeast and the sugar in a small cup. Add about 2 tablespoons of lukewarm water or milk and then mix to combine.
- Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture. Wait a few seconds before mixing to combine. Add the warm water (or milk), 1/2 cup at a time, mixing in between, until you reach the desired thickness (should be sticky, thicker than pancake batter but thinner than pizza dough).
- Set the dough aside for 30 minutes to let rise. At 30 minutes, mix the dough with a wooden spoon (no need to kneed!) and set the dough aside for another 30 minutes to rise (I actually did this a total of three times because of the altitude, but twice is fine for sea-level).
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC) and grease the loaf pan (or Pyrex in my case).
- When the 30 minutes are up, transfer the dough to the baking pan and sprinkle the remaining rosemary (about 2 teaspoons) on top. Let rise for 10-15 minutes before placing the pan in the oven.
- Bake the bread for about 40 minutes, or until the crust turns golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy!