Quick Herbed Olive Dinner Bread

This fluffy, herbed dinner bread is bursting with Mediterranean flavors of Kalamata olives and basil. Prepare in a pinch with minimal time for risings.

If there’s anything I like more than bread, it’s bread with a bunch of stuff baked into it. Ohhhhhh yeah, baby.

This Mediterranean-inspired loaf is speckled with Kalamata olives and dried basil, and it’s got a little garlic flavor goin’ on too.

But best of all, this is a dinner loaf you can whip up in no time. You only need to plan for two half-hour risings before it goes into the oven to bake. Start this a couple of hours before dinner is served and you should be good to go.

A slice of this bread is right at home with a side of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or maybe some prosciutto and a sharp cheese such as Asiago.

Get a closer look at this beaut…

Ingredients

• Kalamata olives
• Dried basil
• Garlic powder
• Water
• Flour (ideally bread flour)
• Quick-rising dry yeast
• Sugar
• Olive oil
• Salt

Directions

First you’ll combine yeast, sugar and warm water, then let the ingredients sit for five minutes as the yeast starts to wake up and get frothy. Next, toss in olive oil, basil, garlic powder and salt, and let the bread in a bowl, under a piece of plastic wrap or a wet dish towel.

Note: If your yeast looks like it’s sunk to the bottom and isn’t getting frothy, your water was probably too hot and you killed the yeast. RIP. Make sure the temperature is right by checking to see if the water feels warm, but comfortable to your touch.

While the bread rises, chop up your Kalamata olives. After the rising is complete, fold the olive bits into the dough gently and incrementally, ensuring they’re distributed throughout the dough as evenly as possible.

Let the bread rise for another 30 minutes before forming into a loaf, cutting three notches into the top and baking for about 35 minutes. Give the loaf a chance to sit for a while and release some steam. It’s too hot to eat right out of the oven.

And that’s it, you’re done!

If you’re still in the bread-baking spirit, be sure to check out one of my favorites, my roasted garlic-rosemary dinner bread. Just like this recipe, it’s easy and quick to pull together.

Read: Roasted Garlic-Rosemary Dinner Bread

Herbed Olive Bread

This fluffy, herbed dinner bread is bursting with Mediterranean flavors of kalamata olives and basil. Quick to prepare in a pinch, with minimal time for risings.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 17 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Rising Time 1 hour hr

Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Servings 1 loaf

Equipment

• Tinfoil
• plastic wrap
• pan/baking stone
• mixing bowl/stand mixer with dough hook

Ingredients

  

• 1 ¼ c. warm water microwaved about a minute
• 3-3 ½ c. flour ideally bread flour which has a higher protein content that makes it preferable for bread-baking
• 1/4 c. Kalamata olives chopped
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 2 ¼ tbsp. quick-rising dry yeast
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tbsp. Olive oil
• 1 tbsp. salt

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Add yeast and sugar to mixing bowl, then add warm water. Let sit for five minutes until mixture foams, then add olive oil, basil, garlic powder and salt.
• Mix in three cups of flour, one cup at a time. Either mix thoroughly by hand or use stand mixer with dough hook attachment, adding 1 tbsp. of flour at a time if dough is not coming together and sticking to the sides of the bowl.
• Oil another bowl. Flour your hands, form dough into a ball, then place into bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.

  TIP: In the interest of saving dishes, you can use the same bowl — just be sure to remove all of the dough, or your dough ball will cling to those bits.
• On a floured surface, knead olives into the ball of dough, ensuring they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. Flour your hands and form into a ball, covering in fine layer of flour. Place back into oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another 30 minutes.
• Flour your hands, then gently form into a ball or oval, depending on what shape you’d like the bread to take. Transfer to a floured pan or baking stone, then slice a few slashes in the top of the loaf. Bake for 35 minutes, allow bread to cool for several minutes, and serve while warm!

Keyword bread, dinner bread, herbed bread, kalamata olives, olive, yeast bread

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Courtney · Feed the Soul

Honolulu girl obsessed with farmers markets, eating, seasonal ingredients, eating, writing and eating. Read more about me here and get new recipes from me every week @feedthesoulblog.