This Rosemary Garlic Bread recipe yields a wonderfully golden brown crust on the outside and a soft texture on the inside. It’s just as good as (if not better) than restaurant bread. Taste and see for yourself…
Rosemary Garlic Bread from your own oven is the best
Recently, I felt compelled to obey that bread-making compulsion that comes calling now and then. Everyone knows the fall season is synonymous with a sudden onset of baking activity. For me, that includes bread.
Armed with a craving for rustic bread, an addiction to garlic, and a fondness for the heady aroma of rosemary, I decided to bake the Best Rosemary Garlic Bread ever. If such a thing can be decided 🙂
I was super thrilled that this actually resulted in the Best Rosemary Garlic Bread we’ve ever had. It’s most definitely a family favorite now. The mouth watering aroma from the oven is one big ridiculous temptation. Seriously, we all sooo wanted to tear into this loaf the minute it emerged.
Golden chewy crust and soft fluffy center
Needless to say, once the dinner bell was officially rung, the bread lasted maybe seconds. Oh-So-Good. The exterior has that artisan, rustic texture – a gorgeous golden crisp crust.
The inside? Everything I’d want in a hearty dinner bread… it’s chewy, soft, yet robust… delicious. The roasted garlic and rosemary are absolutely meant for one another. The seasoning flavors this bread perfectly.
No need for special equipment
I always make homemade bread by hand, only because I’ve never purchased a bread maker. I’ve thought about getting one, but so far it’s been fine without and I actually like the cathartic kneading of dough. You can absolutely make this magical bread at home with no special equipment at all.
Plan ahead to allow time for rising. Depending on the temperature of your room, it could take a couple of hours for the dough to double. I like to put mine in an oven that has been slightly warmed up, which helps the rise time go a bit faster. No doubt, this bread is so worth it. You’ll be one popular baker at the dinner table. Enjoy!
Try these luscious blueberry pie bars:
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This fabulously hearty and chewy bread sends out delicious aromas of rosemary and garlic as it bakes. It’s much tastier than many restaurant versions. We think you’ll love this!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water, 110-115F
- 2 tsp white sugar
- 2 tsp fine salt
- 3 TB extra virgin olive oil
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 TB dried rosemary
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 head of roasted garlic
- extra olive oil for brushing on top and serving
- coarse sea salt for sprinkling on top
- balsamic vinegar for serving
- clean water in spray bottle
Instructions
- In large bowl, Sprinkle yeast into 1 cup warm water. Mix in the sugar and salt. Let sit for about 10 minutes or until it foams. Add in olive oil. Add flour and knead (by hand or stand mixer) for about 10 minutes. Add rosemary, black pepper, and oregano. Knead another 5 minutes. Finally, gently knead in roasted garlic by hand, about 1 minute. Dough should come together well at this point; slightly sticky is fine.
- Place dough ball in well oiled bowl, turning dough a few times so that dough surfaces are protected by oil. Tightly cover bowl with cling wrap. Place in warm, draft-free area to rise until dough is doubled, approx. 1 hour, depending on room temp (if your room is cooler, it could take 2 hours.)
- After dough is doubled, punch it down and shape into a rounded loaf. Using sharp knife, make a criss-cross design on top. Place rounded loaf on greased baking sheet. Cover up loaf with large mixing bowl inverted over it. Make sure bowl is large enough that it gives your loaf room to rise. Let rise until doubled again, approx 1 hour.
- After dough has doubled again, gently brush with olive oil, sprinkle with coarse sea salt and a bit more rosemary. Bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes, spraying loaf with water once during the middle of baking. Bump oven up to 425F and spray loaf with water again. Watch carefully – bake just until top is a nice golden brown, taking care not to over bake.
- Serve bread fresh and warm, with your favorite blend of good olive oil, freshly ground black pepper, and balsamic vinegar!
Notes
Tip: You can roast several heads of garlic ahead of time and keep them airtight in fridge to use for recipes like this. Roasted garlic can last nicely for up to a week.
Keywords: Rosemary Garlic Bread
adapted from Jo’s Rosemary Bread
This looks so good. I’ve got the baking itch too, as soon as fall rolls around it hits me!
I just made this today, it was absolutely delicious. I actually bought bread like this a few months ago, and fell in love with it. This bread I made today is actually better than the one from the bakery. It actually came out looking like the picture.
This looks delicious!!
Looks delicious! I love homemade bread, and rosemary and garlic are a perfect combo. We just made rosemary, garlic, and chive foccacia last week and the whole family loved it!
That is a beautiful loaf of bread! Rosemary and garlic is my favourite flavour combo for home-made bread. I can almost smell it baking up in my apartment. Wish I had a hunk of this to dip into olive oil right now!
Rosemary is my FAVORITE herb! I’m always looking for an excuse to use it. I used to have some growing in the back yard, but it died off. Which reminds me, I have to replant that!
This look great ive some rosemary in the fridge that needs using up so going to make it tomorrow once i buy more bread flower. YUM
This looks SO amazing! Bread making is an art, one I don’t really have – *sigh* Thanks for the inspiration in knowing it CAN be done!
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! Thank you!
Awesome, Suzi! 🙂
Hi, at 29 years age I’m not a very good cook and leave it all up to the man of the house who is excellent. Recently I’ve felt an urge to have a go at making bread. I stumbled across your recipe yesterday and couldn’t wait to start making it. I had a great afternoon making this and the result was absolutely amazing. The taste of this bread is devine and the house filled with a beautiful aroma. My family have all raved about it! Would love to send a picture if there’s a way? Thanks for this recipe. It is the first I’ve ever baked and will be made over and over again. I’m making another dough today to freeze for Sunday 🙂
Debi
Great work, Debi! Congrats on baking up your first fabulous bread! 🙂
Can i double the recipe to make two loaves?
Vanessa, I don’t see why not 🙂
Also, when is a good time to freeze this dough? At what stage? Would I need to use double the amount of yeast if freezing it?
Would it be okay to use fresh rosemary?
yes, absolutely, Laura! 🙂
I did double it and it worked great. This is a great recipe. I made it last night but I didn’t have any garlic roasted so I skipped that and served it on the side to smear on the bread. I was yummy, tender, and love the pepper addition.
I made this today, it was absolutely delicious! My 4-year old son even helped knead 🙂 I didn’t have bread flour, but I did use AP unbleached flour and added 1 tsp/cup of wheat gluten. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thank you for taking the time to let us know how you liked it!
So glad you enjoyed!
Possibly the first recipe I have ever used that ended up looking exactly like the photograph. I have made this twice now; it is my new snow day tradition! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome job, Amy! So glad to hear it. And love your name, too 🙂
I have a package of rapid rise instant yeast (1/4 oz)…. How do I use this with this recipe?
Hi, Ida! You can most likely use it one-for-one, in place of the active yeast. Here’s an article I found for you that will hopefully be helpful. http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-active-dry-yeast-and-instant-yeast-54252
Today is the second time for baking this bread, I’ve doubled the recipe both times…I have 4 married daughters and they love it too….thanks for the recipe, I will use it often…
So happy to hear that, Ida – YAY! 🙂 Thanks for coming over to let us know 🙂
No mention in the recipe of how to prep garlic. Is it crushed, chopped, etc?
Hi, James! The garlic is a whole entire one, roasted. In the post, there is a link that brings you to specific directions on how to roast your own whole garlic :). It is deeelicious, and can be used for so many things besides this bread :). Click on the link, and let me know if you still need info. Happy bread making! 🙂
How do you add the garlic after it’s roasted? Do you chop it up before you add it?
Rebecca, after the whole garlic is roasted (https://www.chewoutloud.com/2012/07/30/the-great-garlic-how-to-roast-it/) it is quite tender and smushy, so you just knead it right into the dough 🙂 Enjoy!
Hi, Great site, Your Rustic Rosemary Garlic Bread looks so scrumptious, flaky, appetizing and great comfort food. Bread is too die for. I am a great bread lover can make a meal out of bread. Garlic bread is my favorite Awesome
I wish I didn’t love bread as much as do! 🙂
Me too…lol.
This is a fabulous recipe and I changed a few things that your readers may be interested in… little tricks that I used to make this bread into what I wanted it to be. First it could be helpful if you amend the page and give a recipe for roasted garlic just so its one stop shopping. that being said roasted garlic recipes are easy to come by.
You just cut off the top of the garlic making sure to slice the top off every clove, and sprinkle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil wrap completely in foil bake in oven on a cookie sheet for 40 minutes at 400 degrees.
I recommend that you DON’T do that for this bread!
IF INSTEAD you lessen the time to 30 minutes the cloves will still be roasted but will retain some of their firmness and they will be able to withstand the necessary kneading WITHOUT turning to roasted garlic PASTE! But that’s a choice sort of thing. I wanted whole cloves retained in my bread. I also patted out the dough a little bit into an oval that was about 4 inches by 8 inches, dotted the dough with the cloves and then rolled it like a swiss roll, which helped to distribute them and not mash them to nothing.
Also when I went to brush the Extra Virgin Olive Oil on the boule I found my pastry brush was too stiff for the dough and it was collapsing the boule… which is a fail of epic proportions of course because the yeast may or may not have the moxie to go for another rise…
What I did and i hope this helps others who ran into the same problem. I took a sheet of plastic wrap (saran wrap, plastic film etc) and I instead used the pastry brush to paint Olive oil on the plastic. Then I gently covered the ball of dough with it and gently WITH A LIGHT AS A FEATHER TOUCH I used my fingers to make sure the wrap was against the dough, just looking and paying attention and it was way easier and the dough wasn’t in danger of deflating because of contact with the brush.
Also also also… I don’t spray bread with a spray bottle.
I put a cookie sheet on the bottom rack during the preheat put the loaf in on a middle rack and toss a couple of ounces of cold water on the bottom sheet. It creates steam nicely which is the preferred method. The steam has positive effects on the crust. Steam is very good for bread, however directly spraying water on a loaf of bread… I’m sorry I think its questionable at best. With my method you can get moisture into the oven in the first few minutes of baking which I have always heard is the usual and recommended method. You should try these methods and see how they work for you and see if they make the bread agreeable to you personally. For me these methods added to the fine recipe made a perfect loaf.
It was a gift for a long time customer/friend of my husbands who I have visited many times.
She said it was the best bread she had ever had! I’d post the picture of the boule I made if there was a way to do it. It looked substantially like the one you made. I think mine had a bit more loft, which could merely be because we used different flour or a variety of things. Oh yeah I don’t add salt to the yeast and water mixture. Salts and oils can retard the yeast. Salt gets mixed in with the flour. That could also be a part of it. But in every respect otherwise my boule looked like yours except for the substandard photography on my end of things. I have this weird thing about taking pictures of my thumbs for some odd reason….
Nice recipe Chewoutloud. You are commended!
Wow, Michelle! Thanks for your nice thoughts…so glad you guys loved it! 🙂 YAY! Thanks for coming over and taking the time to tell us you liked!
This bread was good but a bit too salty for my taste – I would cut the salt down to 1tsp at most.
Thanks for coming over and so glad you tried the bread! 🙂
I just made this, filled the house with a fantastic aroma! Can’t wait to have this with dinner, thanks for the recipe!
Yay, Kelsey! The bread really does smell amazing. And tastes every bit as good as it smells 🙂 Thanks for coming over and letting us know!
Would fresh rosemary work as well, do you think?
Yes, that would work fine 🙂
This is, without a doubt, my favorite bread recipe. The only thing I do differently is I use fresh rosemary instead of dried, but that was only because the first time I made it I happened to have fresh rosemary in the house. I’m actually waiting for my dough to rise right now. I think I might be addicted! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
You’re so welcome, Anneke! 🙂 Glad you’re happy with it!
When do you bump up the temp to 425? Half way through?
After the specified bake time (around 25-30 min) you can bump up the temp and start watching carefully til you get your perfect color 🙂
Do I bake it for the 25 or so minutes, then bump up temp or do I bump up temp in the middle of the 25 or so minutes? And if I spray it with water in the middle, when do I spray it again?
Just a little confused by that part.
Hi, Julie! 🙂 Bake it for the 25 or so minutes, spraying midway through that bake time. Then bump up the temp after that bake time, watching carefully just to get your prefect browning. The bumped up temp is for browning. Hope that helps! Enjoy 🙂
Thank you for clearing that up.
You’re so welcome, Julie 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! Really enjoyed it 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to let us know, Madeline! Yay, so glad you liked it 🙂
In a warm oven rising right now. I have an enormous Rosemary plant out front and I am constantly searching for good recipes to use it. I didn’t want to take the time to roast a head of garlic, so I sautéed some fresh in a bit of olive oil. Smells great and the garlic olive oil was perfect for adding to the bread and using to oil my dough for rising. Thanks for the great recipe!
I made this to go with some Beef and Veggie soup. It was delicious! I made a couple of changes because I didn’t have enough garlic and I wanted to use my new food processor.
1) I only used 3 cloves of garlic but microwaved them in the olive oil before chopping them and adding them to the rest of the ingredients.
2) I processed the flour & salt together then added the yeast and processed 30 sec. Finally I added the oil and herbs.
Thanks for the recipe! I will be making this many more times!
You’re so welcome, Yolanda! And thanks for coming over to let us know you liked the recipe! 🙂 Hope you continue finding things you love here at COL 🙂
Made this a few days ago and it was AMAZING. I’m about to quadruple the recipe and bring some in to my coworkers
I am about as beginner as it gets, I just made this and it was absolutely amazing! Thank you
Yay, so happy to hear you liked it so much 🙂 Thanks for coming over to let us know! Hope you keep finding recipes you love here at COL 🙂
Oh my god! This was amazing! My husband and I loved it and will definitely make it again! And it’s do easy to make!
Yay, Autumn! So happy to hear you guys loved it 🙂 Thanks for coming over and letting us know. Hope you keep finding recipes you enjoy here at COL 🙂
I just made this rustic rosemary bread this morning and it’s 1:30pm and gone! My family loved it! I also gave some to a friend who isn’t feeling well along with some homemade tomato basil soup. What a perfect combo. I am never buying rosemary bread again! Thanks for the recipe!
YAY, so glad to hear you guys loved it, Jaye! 🙂 Thanks for letting us know; happy fall! 🙂
This is the 2nd time I’ve made this bread and the flavor is delicious but it will never rise for a 2nd time. This time I used more yeast and flour and rose better the first 2 hours but would not rise again under the bowl. Any ideas why?
This was absolutely delicious, I made it for my brother’s birthday dinner on Sunday and I can’t wait to make it again! Easy and soooooooo tasty! Everyone devoured it. 🙂 Transferred the recipe to my little cookbook so I never lose it!
My Mom bought me a bread machine thinking it would make bread making easier (not that I thought it was hard to do by hand). I used it twice and stuck it in the closet until giving it away years later. The machine takes all the fun out of it, and leaves you with a loaf the looks like a milk carton.
I’m going to try yours tomorrow if it’s not too warm, but I’m going to try it with fresh rosemary from my little herb garden.
I found this recipe today. It was too hot to cook inside, so I cooked it on the BBQ on a cast iron griddle. Put a cast iron pan of water on the grill and the bread on the top rack. Took it to a backyard party and served it with homemade garlic aoli. Everyone loved it! Will definitely make it again! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
This recipe sounds absolutely amazing, I am going to try it tonight when I get home. I have found I do a pretty good job making bread and have been looking for great ideas. I think I am going to chop the rosemary leaves so they are a bit smaller for my 8 year old boy. He would live off of bread if he could.
Also, wondering if anyone has tried this in like a french bread style loaf? I was thinking of making open faced sandwiches with this bread.
This has been my go to recipe for years and so easy to change up, never had a fail. Sometimes I let it rise once and then punch it down and make more of a focaccia bread with cheese, sometimes I change up the flour, or might add olives instead of garlic, or omit the garlic if I’m lazy etc. I do find I prefer it a bit more with a canola or vegetable oil, the crust seems a bit tastier.
The flavor of this bread is OUT OF THIS WORLD GOOD. I followed the recipe to a T, and it just wasn’t working out so great. The bread was dense and flat. I even made sure my yeast was alive before using it. The texture was a huge disappointment but the flavor of the bread my fat made up for the texture. I think next time I’ll use my tried and true French bread recipe and incorporate the seasonings and garlic from this recipe. P.S…..you HAVE to roast the garlic. It’s delicious. Don’t skip that step! And too simple to skip!
Kelly, so glad you still enjoyed the bread 🙂 Did you get a good rising of the dough before baking? And yes! Roasted garlic is key 🙂 🙂 Happy continued baking!
Already made this bread and it was fantastic! Could I bake this in my dutch oven?
YAY, Victoria! Awesome that you loved it 🙂 Yes, you can always place in an oiled Dutch oven as well. Happy spring!
If I’m using fresh rosemary, do I need to adjust the amount?
Abby, you don’t really need to adjust amount; enjoy! 🙂
Made this for the first time tonight to go with an etoufee. My boyfriend’s family said it was the best bread they have ever had. They weren’t wrong. It was so delicious!
★★★★★
Oh, that is amazing, Amy! So happy they all liked this! Thanks for coming over today and happy continued baking 🙂
I love Making bread and this was no doubt one of the best spreads I’ve ever made. The roasted garlic and rosemary were delicious. I added a third a cup of chopped black olives and sprinkled the top of the bread with some seeds and coarse salt and it was fantastic. This will become my go to recipe.
★★★★★
So so happy you enjoyed this, Terri 🙂 Thanks for coming back to rate the recipe!
I love bread like that. That crusty, chewy deliciousness just needs a big pad of butter and then to go directly into my mouth. Om nom nom.
★★★★★
Yes!! My feelings exactly 🙂
oh yummm!!! I will try it for sure! I’ve recently started to back sourdough bread, so good! Will try your recipe.
Sourdough is so good, too!
That is the prettiest rustic loaf of bread I have ever seen. I cannot wait to give it a try. I have a similar recipe, but no rosemary/garlic.
Thank you, Terri!
This looks and sounds absolutely wonderful! Nothing compares to a fresh homemade loaf…I have to try this!
★★★★★
Agreed! Nothing is better than homemade fresh bread 🙂
I can live with bread alone. I would love to pair this with cream cheese or any dairy spread with a cup of coffee for breakfast. My day would be perfect!
I’m the same… I pretty much can live on breads 🙂
I also love the focaccia made in this way, a simple and exquisite pairing!
★★★★★
Focaccia is delish with rosemary and garlic! Sounds amazing, Cristina!
Ive never tried make my own garlic bread but I do love it! This recipe sounds so good I am gonna have to try it one day! yum! so delicious
I haven’t ever made my own bread but it doesn’t seem too hard. Would go well with a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs!
★★★★★
It’s super delicious with any meal for sure! Thank you, Ashley!
I would totally invest in a bread maker, I love bread!
This is great to make as a quick appetizer dish with cheese and some wine. I love the garlic part because garlic is always tasty and delicious.!
★★★★★
So good as an appetizer or side. Like the cheese/wine idea! 😉
I love the smell of freshly baked bread and nothing beats the taste! This rustic rosemary and garlic bread has such great flavours, would love to try baking it
★★★★★
I love a good garlic bread. This recipe is perfect as an appetizer for a small gathering. I have a small party coming up in a couple of weeks and i am thinking of making this.
★★★★★
OMG, I would love a breadmaker! Bread is an addiction for me! I would save so much time making quick appetizers. The garlic part sounds cool.
At this point, I doubt I’ll ever get a breadmaker 😉 Bread is easier by hand (plus stand mixer for those lazier days) than I ever imagined! Enjoy, Myrah!
I think I’m going to try this when I have company over for the holidays!
ohhhhh bread, how I love the….
This looks amazing! And add some homemade butter!
Wow your bread turned out amazing! I would love to try this bread sometime.
I’m so amazed by how simple this recipe feels. What a gorgeous addition to our holiday table!
We adore garlic bread but never through to make it with Rosemary too! It looks very wholesome and perfect for the winter season x
★★★★
Omg can we say yum!!?! Definitely need to ry this bread recipe! I bet it would be a hit with the family!
Yum! This looks absolutely amazing! I love baking in the colder months. I will hopefully get to try something like this!
I bet this smells amazing when it is cooking and tastes increduble
I’m on the second proof and can’t wait to get this in the oven. It’s our coldest evening so far and I’ve got a pot of Homemade Split Pea Soup w/ham just waiting for this bread to bake:)
So happy you’re baking this, Debra 🙂 Enjoy the cozy indoors!
This bread is a hit with the family! Been told to make it again for Christmas! Just wondering if I can make it the day before and refrigerate till next day? Do I let it rise twice before refrigerating?
Rachel, I would do first rise before refrigeration and then second rise after, if you are able. You can try it both ways (2x rise before fridge) and see if there is a huge difference. I’m so happy your family loves this bread 🙂