Lemon Rosemary Bread

photo by Stephen Carlile :)

This is one of the simplest bread recipes I have ever made :) I found this recipe a while back from Williams Sonoma and it's been on my list of things to bake.  The only thing stopping me was time.  This bread does take a couple days to make but I only spent actually 20-30 minutes with it.  And you don't have to knead it at all, so easy!  So today was the day, I'm home studying for finals and a special friend's birthday is tomorrow... perfect.

Note: You need a dutch oven to bake the bread but you could probably use a regular bread pan too. 

Lemon Rosemary Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 lemon zest
2 teaspoons rosemary (fresh or dried)
1 1/2 cups water

 Combine flour, salt, yeast, rosemary, and lemon zest in a large bowl.  Add water and stir until the ingredients are blended.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough sit overnight (12-16 hours)

 The next morning, the dough will have risen and there will be bubbles on top.

 Place the dough on a floured surface and fold dough over on itself two times. 

 Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

After dough has rested, add enough flour to form the dough into a ball.  Generously cover a towel with cornmeal and place the dough on the towel, seam side down.  Sprinkle the top of the dough with more cornmeal and cover with another towel. 

 Let dough rise for about 2 hours until it has doubled in size.

 When dough is about 30 minutes from finishing rising, preheat a dutch oven at 450 degrees in the oven.  Gently place the dough into the dutch oven, seam side up.  It may look messy but no worries. 

 Cover with the lid and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake another 10-15 minutes until crust is golden. (Enjoy the wonderful smell while the bread is baking!)

Remove from dutch oven to cooling rack.  Enjoy!