I love bread. I love everything about it, especially how easy it is to make at home. This recipe is my current obsession, born in my kitchen after loving an expensive store bought loaf I knew I could improve upon. Bliss! I hope that you will love it enough to make it, and then put your own spin on the recipe. I use instant yeast here, if you use the regular kind, in the packet, each packet contains one Tablespoon of yeast, regardless of the speed, make sure water is no hotter than 110° Fahrenheit, and "proof" your yeast, or add it, to the water with the garlic and rosemary and salt and honey in the food processor, and allow to foam up before proceeding for five minutes. Also, allow for extra rise time with traditional yeast.
Oven: 350°
Yield: 2 loaves
About 4 C. excellent flour, such as King Arthur Brand Unbleached All Purpose Flour
2 T. instant yeast
1 T. Kosher salt
4 sprigs fresh rosemary, destalked, and chopped roughly
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 T. good quality honey
2 C. bottled or filtered water
2 T. good quality olive oil
1 C. dried cherries and or cranberries
3/4 C. chopped mixed nuts, or nut of your choice
Heat water to 120° Fahrenheit, set aside. In food processor, combine garlic and rosemary and honey, whir until combined. In medium sized bowl, combine 2 cups of flour with yeast and salt. Use a wire whisk to mix well together. Add flour and yeast to bowl of food processor, whir to combine. Add all of water to food processor, add oil. Mix will be wet.
Add a scant cup of flour at a time, allowing mix to absorb flour, not looking for a completely dry product at this point. An excellent tip for making bread is to always go a little on the wet side when adding flour, allow the bread to absorb its liquid slowly, ensuring tender bread. When your bread dough is forming somewhat of a ball around the blade as you process, it's time to transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. I use the bowl that I mixed the flour and yeast in, to save a little cleanup. If it's necessary, add a 1/4 C. of flour to your dough, and knead in. Add the dried fruit now and nuts and knead away. You want a silky, baby's bottom feel to this dough. At this point, if the dough feels heavy and dry, your yeast was not good. You can salvage this product, by stretching it out as flat as possible, and baking it on a sheet tray for about 25 minutes. It will be a sort of manna/focaccia, good, just not what you were going for. Practice, practice.
If the dough is visibly wet, add small amounts of flour sprinkled over the dough, and keep kneading in gently.
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