I’ve been wanting to make a rosemary bread for some time. And, I’ve wanted to use egg in a bread recipe for some time. This turned out to be the perfect combination. This bread tastes great with just butter on it, or as a side to over easy eggs, or for dipping in homemade red sauce on pasta. Mmmm!

I’ll admit I’m not one for following recipes exactly. That is, I like to “wing it” more often than not. I modified this from the rosemary breadsticks recipe in this month’s Mary Janes Farm magazine. I used organic ingredients whenever possible and I used local (Hatcher’s Pass) honey.

Here is the reicipe I used:

1 c warm water
3 T melted butter
1/2-1 t honey
1 T active dry yeast
2-3 c white flour
1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary
sprinkling of salt
1 farm fresh egg
sprinkling of course salt

In a small bowl, whisk together the water, butter, honey and yeast. Let it sit. In a larger bowl, mix together 2 c flour, rosemary and salt. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture, and mix well. Add more flour until the dough chases the spoon around the bowl.

Turn out on a floured surface and knead, adding flour as needed (I used whole wheat flour here). Form dough into ball and place in a lightly buttered bowl. Turn ball of dough over (so butter is on top of dough). Cover with plastic and set in a warm place for 45 min to let dough rise.

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Turn dough out on floured surface, knead, then separate into six balls of dough. Roll each ball into a long piece of rope. Take three “ropes” and attach at one end, then braid, and pinch end under. Do same with remaining three ropes.

Whisk egg. Lightly brush egg on each braid and sprinkle course salt on top. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 min. (Remember they will rise, so give each loaf enough room.)

Cool on rack, and try not to eat it all before it cools. Good luck!

Next time, I’m going to add more rosemary, and maybe some sage and thyme. Braiding in a circle would be fun. Oh, the possibilities are endless!