Butter and Herb Artisan Bread
Ingredients
3 c warm water
1-1/2 T yeast
1/2 T honey
1 T kosher salt
4 T unsalted butter, melted
1 t garlic powder
3 t Herbs de Provence
6-1/2 c bread flour
Directions
In a large bowl, add the water and yeast. Let the yeast proof 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and stir/knead 9-10 minutes until dough is smooth, wet, and just slightly elastic. I use the dough hook on the mixer to do this, but it can be done the old fashioned way with a wooden spoon.
Cover the bowl with a damp towel and put the dough to rise in a warm place for 2 hours. To do this, I turn on my oven for 2 minutes, turn the oven off, then stick the bowl in there.
Use a rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface. Flour the top of the dough and knead it just a couple times to get it into a nice, smooth mound. Divide and form the dough into 4 loaves. Let them rise 1 hour.
Heat the oven to 450F with a pizza stone in the oven. Cook the bread loaves 30 minutes or until browned and crusty. On my pizza stone, I fit two loaves at a time. Move the cooked bread to a rack to cool. Serve that day or wrap in foil to freeze for later.
Yields 4 loaves.
