Rosemary Grissini #TwelveLoaves
Oh, this has been a doozy of a week weather-wise. It has been pouring! And I mean POURING! I never thought I’d get to baking my rosemary grissini. I kept saying, “Tomorrow I’ll bake them!”
That tomorrow never came. The weather was awful and when there was a break from the rain and the sun peaked out, I didn’t have the dough ready. So I finally just made the dough and I figured that, rain or shine, these grissini would be baked!
Did it rain the day I baked them (which was yesterday…boy, did I procrastinate!). YES! For goodness sake, it was a deluge. I even went outside in vain at one point to try to get a photo in “natural” light and the drops were dripping on my baking pan. But somehow, I managed to get a few shots.
So I really wanted these to be sassy and sophisticated grissini. YOU know…those really thin and pretty ones that look so elegant sitting next to a plate of prosciutto di Parma and some really great cheese. Obviously, that didn’t happen!
And, my husband even reminded me…
They’re really good, he told me. Then he said, “They’re supposed to be tinner.” Hey, he has a heavy Italian accent so thin is tin most of the times.
No, they weren’t ‘tin’ grissini. They were on the thicker side and they were just LOVELY! Really, so good! I made cauliflower soup, because as I mentioned, it was raining buckets! And because I honestly had no clue what to make for dinner besides these grissini. It was also because I didn’t happen to have any prosciutto di Parma to go along with them! We had soup and we had grissini (the “ticker” kind) and it was raining and it was not even chilly and it was all so wonderful!
This baking adventure of bread and summer herbs is for our #TwelveLoaves August challenge!
Here’s how you can join us:
#TwelveLoaves August: Summer Herbs. The month of July was all about breads and Summer Fun! We have chosen Summer Herbs for our August theme. Let’s share flat breads, rolls, buns, grilled breads-whatever sweet or savory version you’d like and whatever you feel reflects summer flavors! Whatever you bake, (yeasted, quick bread, crackers, muffins, braids, flatbreads, etc) have fun and let’s have a delicious month of bread for SUMMER HERBS! Let’s get baking! This month our hostess is Sherron from Simply Gourmet.
#TwelveLoaves August: Summer Herbs
If you’d like to add your bread to the collection with the Linky Tool this month, here’s what you need to do!
1. When you post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, make sure that you mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post; this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone’s posts. Please make sure that your bread is inspired by the theme!
2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of my blog. It must be a bread baked to the Twelve Loaves theme.
3. Have your Twelve Loaves bread that you baked this August 2014, and posted on your blog by August 31, 2014.
#TwelveLoaves is a bread baking group I started over 2 years ago!
#TwelveLoaves runs smoothly with the help of our friends. A huge thanks to our hostess Sherron from Simply Gourmet!
Here is what the amazing #TwelveLoaves bakers created this month with Summer Herbs!
- Basil Buns by Rise of The Sourdough Preacher
- Gluten Free Basil Parmesan Popovers by Simply Gourmet
- Herbed Buttermilk Biscuits by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Herbed Skillet Cornbread by Magnolia Days
- Keema Naan by Food Lust People Love
- Pesto Bread by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Pesto Quick Bread by Rhubarb and Honey
- Pull-Apart Bread w/ Cheese, Herbs, & Seeds by girlichef
- Rosemary Grissini by Cake Duchess
- Rosemary Parmesan Flatbread Crisps by A Shaggy Dough Story
- Thyme for Beer Bread by Kudos Kitchen by Renee
I followed this recipe from The Kitchn
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 package (1 scant tablespoon) active-dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons good extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- Oil for the bowl
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the whole wheat flour, water, honey and yeast. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine and let sit for 10 minutes. The mixture will be foamy when it's ready.
- Add the remaining ingredients. Add the all-purpose flour, olive oil, and salt. Mix on low speed with the dough hook attachment until combined, and then on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes until the dough is smooth and shiny.
- Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and transfer it to a small bowl. Drizzle a tiny amount of olive oil over the dough and roll it around until it has been coated. Cover with a tea towel and let it rest in a warm place for one hour or until doubled in bulk.
- Preheat the oven and prep the baking sheets. When the dough is ready, preheat your oven to 425°F and line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Divide dough (optional). If you would like to make several different varieties of grissini from a single batch, punch the dough down and divide into portions. For this post, I made plain, rosemary and black sesame seed grissini, so I divided the dough into three pieces.
- For plain grissini, shape the dough into a rough, flat rectangle. Slice a finger-sized piece from the long length of the rectangle with a sharp knife or a bench scrapper. Roll it into a long, irregularly shaped long strip and place on the baking sheet. Continue with the remaining dough, placing the dough strips about 1/2" apart. Note: The dough contains enough olive oil that you shouldn't need flour to roll it out. If, for some reason, it is sticky, sprinkle a small amount of four on your surface before rolling.
- Knead about 1 teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary into the dough and roll into snakes. Place the strips on the baking sheet. If you want to twist them, pick it up and twist into a swirl.
- Let the grissini rest for a few minutes before baking, so they puff up a bit, about 15 minutes.
- Place the baking sheets with grissini into the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. At 5 minutes, rotate the pans and check their progress. The grissini are quite thin, so they will burn easily! Keep an eye on them and take them out when they are golden brown.
- Carefully move the grissini to a cooling rack to cool. Once they are cool, store them in an airtight container (for up to 2 to 3 days) until ready to serve.
