Parmesan Rosemary Bread

5 from 1 vote

This Parmesan Rosemary Bread is seriously dangerous. It is basically just a rosemary garlic pizza crust topped with loads of parmesan reggiano and herb oil. Kind of like the breadsticks you might find at your local pizza place, but way better. You can’t beat homemade bread and melted cheese!

Prep Time2 30

Total Time2 30

Course: Appetizer/Snack

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: round

Calories: 1579kcal

Author: Brianna May

Equipment

Ingredients

Dough

⅔ cup warm water around 110 degrees
1 heaping teaspoon instant yeast about half of a standard packet*
1 teaspoon honey*
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary*
1 Tablespoon olive oil plus more for greasing
1 ½ cups (195 g) bread flour plus an extra ½ cup (65 g) if needed*
½ teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon salt

Topping

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1-2 cloves garlic pressed or minced finely
1 heaping teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 heaping teaspoon chopped fresh basil
1 heaping teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 ½ ounces (½ cup) parmesan reggiano, grated

Instructions

Review all recipe notes and instructions before beginning.
In the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large bowl), whisk together the water, yeast, honey, and rosemary. Let stand for a few minutes.
Add the olive oil, 1 ½ cups of flour, garlic, and the salt. Mix on low with the paddle or dough hook attachment until well combined. Add another ¼ - ½ cup of flour if your dough is still wet enough that it is sticking to the sides of the bowl. Once the dough stays wrapped around the hook, mix on medium speed for 5 minutes. You can also knead it by hand if you do not have a mixer. The dough should feel slightly sticky.
Form the dough into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl and dough well with olive oil, making sure the ball is coated.
Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm environment for 1-2 hours or until it has doubled in size. (See notes about the warm environment).
Preheat the oven to 550 degrees (or as hot as it goes).
Once the dough has doubled, gently tilt the bowl so the dough falls out onto a clean surface or a large piece of parchment paper. It will naturally begin to spread into a circle. Gently press and pull it into an oval that is about 9 x 13 inches.
Let it rest for at least 10 minutes. While the dough rests, combine the olive oil, butter, and garlic in a small saucepan. Heat over medium until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat. Stir in the remaining herbs. Set aside. Slide the parchment paper with the dough onto a pizza pan or baking sheet. Sprinkle the dough with the parmesan.
Drizzle the herb butter on top as evenly as possible.
Bake for 11-13 minutes, rotating and checking the bread halfway through. Slice & serve warm.

Notes

Instant Yeast: The only yeast I use is the Red Star Platinum Superior Baking Yeast. It never fails to give my dough a good rise and works quickly. I highly recommend ordering it if you can’t find it at your local grocery store.

Honey: Swap for granulated sugar.

Fresh Rosemary: I do not recommend using dried rosemary or dried herbs in general for this recipe. Since the herbs are so important to the flavor of this bread, fresh are crucial.

Bread Flour: You can swap this for all purpose flour, but I prefer the texture with bread flour. Bread flour has more protein which produces more gluten in the bread. This gives it more structure and a chew.

You can make the dough in advance and let it rise slowly in the refrigerator covered for 10-12 hours. Let it come to room temperature before shaping. Follow the rest of the recipe as written. You can also let it double in size at room temperature and then store the dough in the refrigerator for 1-2 days to develop more flavor.

Use Red Star Platinum Superior Baking Yeast. This is the best yeast and always gives amazing results.

Measure the temperature of the water. If the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast. To ensure the perfect temperature use a thermometer.

Use fresh herbs. Since rosemary is one of the key flavors in this bread, I do not recommend using dried herbs.

Weigh the flour. Use a kitchen scale to measure the flour in grams. This is probably the most important part of the recipe. If you do not have a scale, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a knife. This ensures the flour does not get packed in.

Do not add too much flour. Too much flour will not allow the dough to rise properly, but not enough and it will be too sticky. This is why I always start with less flour and add more as I go.

Let the mixer do the work. I recommend using a stand mixer so you can knead the dough in it. You can make the dough by hand if you do not have one.

Find a warm environment for the dough to rise. If it is warm and sunny outside, place your covered dough on a window sill. You can also use your oven. Preheat the oven as low as it can go, then turn it off once it has come to temperature. Wait about 5 minutes and then put the dough in the oven with the door cracked. After 20-30 minutes, close the door so no more heat is lost.

Do not overwork the dough. When shaping the bread, do not fight it too much. If it seems hard to stretch. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes and then come back to it.

Bake on high heat. The best way to make restaurant style pizza or breadsticks at home is to create an extremely hot oven. This is similar to a restaurant set up. Preheat the oven as high as it will go. Once the oven preheats, wait 10 minutes before putting in the bread.

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