August 8, 2012

Italian herb mini loaves

Zesty flavours was a new blog which I happened to come across when I was looking for a quick bread to make alongside my pasta. I had just about 2 hours on my hand and I was also not in the mood for too much of kneading and proofing.

I did some changes to a recipe which I came across there and these mini loaves came out perfect. Soft, fluffy, and with a bang of flavours. These are those small everyday dinner breads you would want when not in a mood for some serious baking. It does not take too long, nor effort. But, the end result speaks far from it!



Ingredients ( Yields about 5-6 mini loaves)

Active Dry Yeast - 1/2 tbsp
Luke warm water - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Olive Oil - 1/4 cup
All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Garlic powder - 1 tsp
Dried Oregano - 1/2 tsp
Dried Parsley - 1/2 tsp
Dried Rosemary - 1/4 tsp
Italian Seasoning - 1 tsp

Procedure

1. Dissolve 1/2 tbsp sugar in lukewarm water, follow it by mixing in the yeast. Let the yeast get activated, which should take approximately 7 - 10 minutes.

2. In a bowl pour the olive oil and 1/2 tbsp sugar. Beat well, by hand or using an electric mixer. Now add 1 cup flour, salt and the flavouring ingredients, change over to a dough hook or knead by hand. Once the dough starts to form, add the remaining 1/2 cup flour slowly so that the dough becomes simpler to handle and starts leaving the sides of the bowl.

3. Continue to knead for about 10 minuted by hand or else about 6-7 minutes on the hook. Grease a dough lightly and let to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled, covered with a towel. In case the ambient temperature is a little on the lower side, place the bowl over a vessel with warm water and place a towel covering the entire setup.

4. Punch down and divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Roll out the dough into a rectangle, brush with olive oil and shape into a mini loaf. Now place this in a baking pan. Let the loaves rise for another 30 mins.

5. Preheat the oven to 200 C. After 30 minutes, lightly brush with some olive oil and bake for 15 - 18 minutes. The done loaves should sound hollow when tapped.

These can be served with some plain salted butter or some garlic butter too.