Romantic Rosemary Or Lavender Bread

Total Time: 4 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 3 hrs Cook Time: 1 hr 15 mins

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup lukewarm water (120f)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh rosemary or 1/4 cup fresh lavender blossoms, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (approximately)
• yellow cornmeal, as needed
• coarse salt, for sprinkling on loaves (optional)
• spray bottle filled with cold water, for spritzing loaves

Recipe

• 1 combine yeast and lukewarm water until well blended and let sit about 10 minutes- it should look foamy and thick (if your water was too hot or your yeast is bad, it will not get foamy and you'll need to start over).
• 2 combine buttermilk, oil, rosemary (or lavender), 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp salt in a mixer bowl, then add the yeast mixture and combine well.
• 3 add flour gradually, beating slowly until enough flour has been added to form a dough ball that leaves the sides of the bowl in one mass.
• 4 dump any remaining flour a flat surface, dump dough that surface, and with floured hands knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5-10 minutes.
• 5 set dough into a large greased bowl, flip dough over to grease both sides, cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk- about 1 1/2 hours.
• 6 on dough has risen, place dough a floured surface and cut into equal halves and form each half into a round loaf shape.
• 7 set loaves a large greased baking sheet dusted with cornmeal.
• 8 cover with a clean, slightly damp towel and let rise 1 hour.
• 9 preheat oven to 425 degrees f.
• 10 using a serrated knife, slash the top of each loaf with an asterisk (*) pattern and sprinkle each with a little coarse salt (optional).
• 11 bake in center of the preheated oven for 15 minutes, spritzing occasionally (at least 2-3 times).
• 12 continue baking another 45-55 minutes (no more spritzing) or until the loaves sounds hollow when rapped on the bottom and they appear golden brown.
• 13 let cool on racks completely.