The Boyfriend recently told me that he had never had Olive Bread… what the what?!? How can a man who has lived on this earth for 43 years never had a fluffy, salty, Olive Bread?? And trust me, this man loves him some bread. I felt like it was my place… no it was my duty… to change that. This Bread Maker Spicy Olive Bread was just the ticket!  Spicy?  Garlicky? Salty?  Yep – pretty much hits all of my requirements for deliciousness.

 

Once again, I went to my tried and true Bread Illustrated: A Step-By-Step Guide to Achieving Bakery-Quality Results At Home cookbook for this recipe, and although the recipe was not meant for a Bread Maker – it worked out beautifully! 

Want to learn how to use your Bread Maker like a Boss???  Read How to use your Bread Maker Like a Boss… or a Baker!

To get this Olive Bread started I dumped my wet ingredients, then dry, and then yeast into my tried and true Cuisinart Bread Maker.  The original recipe called for 2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes.  That seemed like a lot to me, red pepper flakes are potent.  I’ve made this a couple of times now, and I found between 1 and 1 1/2 teaspoons was more than enough.  2 teaspoons was way too much, even for me and I love spicy food.  Also, when you hit middle age, heartburn is a real thing and no joke.  So I do try to keep it mild around here.

I turned the Bread Maker onto the dough setting, and let it do it’s job. Once it had started coming together, I put in my olives and minced garlic.  I used pitted Kalamata Olives for this loaf. They are the perfect everyday olive to me; meaty and briny, but not overly salty like a regular black olive. You could honestly use any kind of olive in this bread. I’ve since made it with a variety, but let me stress to you…. please, for the love of your sanity, use pitted olives. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to pit an olive, let alone almost a cup of them, but it’s a real pain in the ass. This was a lesson I had to learn the hard way.

I put in the olives during the first knead cycle rather than waiting for the “mix in” alarm.  I did this because I don’t find the last knead to be sufficient to evenly distribute big pieces of … well… anything.  Then you end up with all of your goodies in only part of the loaf.  That’s no good.

This Olive Bread dough required a little more effort than I usually put into a dough.  Since I was adding a cup of wet ingredients to an almost formed dough, I babysat it and kept adding a dusting of flour to it as it started to come together.  Otherwise the dough would be too wet.  So keep adding a pinch of bread flour at a time and scraping down the sides of the pan, until the dough is mixed and pulls away from the sides of the pan, making a lovely dough ball.  This only required about five minutes of my time.

 
Once the dough was done, I deflated it and turned it out onto a lightly floured surface.  I got it into a nice round ball again and then placed it in the center of a piece of parchment baking paper, that I sprayed with some olive oil spray.  

Then I took the parchment baking paper and gently placed it in my Le Creuset Dutch Oven!  I love this little Dutch Oven.  It’s so cute and pretty.  It was a generous gift from a good friend that owned a kitchen store in town.  It makes me happy every time I use it!  Thanks, Shannon!!  I covered it with a cloth napkin and let it rise again.  

Once the olive bread dough was done rising, I made two cuts on to the top of the dough to make a little X.  In Irish culture, you see cut this on soda bread a lot.  When I was in Ireland, as a young lass, I was told told by a local baker that the cross was to let fairies out of the bread.  I was also told my another baker that it kept the devil away.  Either way – I don’t want fairies or the devil near my bread… it’s MINE!

Then I put the lid on the pot and shoved it in the oven.  It did occur to me that the bread dough had risen appropriately, but it was a little big for my pot.  My little Dutch Ovenis smaller than the average, and this loaf was a 2 lb loaf.  As it baked in the oven, I saw a major problem rising (pun totally intended).  My dough out grew my little pot and the lid was gonna be stuck to it.  Damn it to hell and back!  Maybe the devil was in my bread…

Now after 30 minutes, I was supposed to remove the lid, lower the temperature, and then bake it for another 25 minutes.  Unfortunately, that lid was not going to come off without taking half a loaf with it.  Hmm… Ok… After some light problem solving, I just decided to do absolutely nothing.  I put it right back in the oven, lid and all, and just hoped for the best!

Once the timer went off, I used my handy dandy meat thermometer to make sure the bread was done, as there was no other way I was going to be able to tell.  It registered at 205 – perfect!  I decided to lift the lid first and this is what happened….

Ok – well at least it didn’t rip the top of the loaf off.  I slid a knife under the lid and very carefully pried it apart.  Ha!  Success!  And not only did the Spicy Olive Bread survive, the crust was super crisp and awesome!  It only had one little tear – not bad if you ask me!  

This Spicy Olive Bread was so freaking good that we almost ate the entire loaf in 24 hours.  We couldn’t stop sneaking a slice here and there.  I’m quite sure both of our pant sizes went up that day.  

It made a great bread to serve with dinner and it made the BEST grilled cheese sandwich ever especially dipped in some tomato soup.  Also, I have had several friends request it now when I come over for dinner and ask if I can “bring something.”  Yes – it is a hit!  

And the best part is… this was the first Olive Bread my man had ever eaten and I know for a fact that I have ruined every other Olive Bread for him because this was one of the best I’ve ever eaten – and I’ve eaten some olive bread!

Bread Maker Spicy Olive Bread

2017-04-20 11:54:28

Yields 1

Prep Time

10 min

Total Time

4 hr

Prep Time

10 min

Total Time

4 hr

Ingredients

1. 1 1/3 cups Water
2. 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
3. 2 tsp Salt
4. 2 Tbsp Sugar
5. 1 - 2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
6. 3 cups Bread Flour
7. 3/4 Olives, pitted and coarsely chopped, rinsed and patted dry
8. 2 Garlic cloves, minced
9. 2 tsp instant or rapid rise Yeast

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Instructions

1. Mix olives and garlic together in a small bowl, and set aside.
2. Put remaining ingredients in your Bread Maker per your manufacture's instructions.
3. Set Bread Maker to dough cycle. Half way through the first knead, add olives and garlic.
4. While the dough is mixing, add pinches of bread flour until the dough pulls away from the sides. Scrape down the sides as the Bread Maker is mixing to make sure the dough forms a ball.
5. When the Bread Maker beeps to indicate that it is done rising, deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead into a tight ball.
6. Place the dough in the center of a sheet of lightly greased parchment baking paper. Gently place the parchment baking paper and dough into a Cast-Iron Dutch Oven. Cover with a tea towel or greased plastic wrap and allow it to rise for another 30 minutes to an hour, until the dough increases by half.
7. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. With a pairing knife, cut two slashes in the dough to create an X. Place the lid on the Cast-Iron Dutch Oven, and bake for 30 minutes.
8. Remove the Cast-Iron Dutch Oven lid, reduce heat to 375, and bake for an additional 20 - 25 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 205 - 210 degrees.
9. Remove from pot and parchment baking paper, and allow to cool for about 3 hours or until you can't stand to wait any more!

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Adapted from Bread Illustrated: A Step-By-Step Guide to Achieving Bakery-Quality Results At Home

Adapted from Bread Illustrated: A Step-By-Step Guide to Achieving Bakery-Quality Results At Home

Nicole Is https://nicoleis.com/

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