A vegan rosemary garlic rye bread, simply braided for a beautiful twist and holiday flair. With whole grain rye flour, olive oil, and plenty of rosemary.
This surprisingly easy rosemary garlic rye bread is simply braided in three or four (or more!) strand braids, resulting in loaves pretty enough for the holidays. Fresh rosemary combines beautifully with zesty garlic and hearty rye flour for a flavourful homemade bread. Make these for a holiday get together, or just to have as a side for soups, stews, and everything in between.
Baking bread together was always a holiday tradition with my mom and sister growing up. We always made some kind of sweet bread, something like a saffron wreath, cardamom babka, or sourdough cinnamon rolls, and something savoury like this rosemary garlic rye bread or an easy focaccia. While sweeter loaves are beautiful for Christmas morning, a salted bread makes a beautiful addition to a big meal or to round out a leftovers lunch.
If you’re going to have family or friends around for the holidays, or have your own little family at home, bring them in to the bread making process. If your family is your cat, include them too. Kids love to squeeze bread dough and trying to make their own little braids or buns, and since this is made with whole grain rye flour, it’s not going to look perfect in the end anyway.
There’s a big glug of olive oil in this recipe to round things out and add richness to the dough. Rosemary, garlic, and olive oil are a classic combo, and they pair perfectly with the rye and spelt flours.
It is a bit of an adult-oriented bread, as it is quite aromatic and wholesome – not squishy white bread by any means. Not that we have anything against some beautiful white breads around here – we love a good brioche! But this isn’t your granny’s dinner buns, I’ll tell you that much.
Braided bread might seem complicated, but it’s not any harder than braiding hair, barbie or human. You can find piles of tutorials on youtube if my very clear & concise picture tutorial here doesn’t quite cut it. If you want the flavour of this rosemary garlic bread without the bother of braiding, it makes excellent buns too.
So if you’re looking for a fun bread to add to your holiday table, try this one!
Braided Rosemary Garlic Rye Bread
Description
Equipment
- 2 Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Wooden spoon
- baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 2 ¼ teaspoon dry yeast
- 1 cup room temperature water
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup whole-grain rye flour
- 1 ½ - 2 cups light spelt flour
Instructions
- Add the ¼ cup of warm water and maple syrup to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle to yeast over the water and let the yeast activate for 15 minutes, until foaming.
- Stir the 1 cup of water, olive oil, salt, rosemary, garlic, and rye flour into the large bowl.
- Add the spelt flour ½ cup at a time, stirring between each addition, until the dough becomes too difficult to stir. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and knead, adding flour as kneaded, for about 8-10 minutes or until a soft dough forms.
- Add a teaspoon of oil to a large bowl and place the dough into the bowl, turning a few times to coat it in oil. Cover the bowl with a plate and set in a warm (not hot) place to proof for an hour, or until doubled in size.
- Once the dough has risen, gently punch it down. Separate into two approximately equal pieces, and then separate each piece into 3, 4, or more to make two braided loaves in whichever form you prefer.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place the braided loaves into the sheet. Cover lightly with a tea towel and set into a warm place to rise again for 30 minutes.
- While the dough is proofing the second time, preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Once the oven is hot, bake the bread for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool the loaves for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing and cooling on a wire rack. Serve warm if possible.
Mackenzie says
I’m not the most experienced baker, but I’ve baked quite a bit with all-purpose flour. I struggled with this recipe because rye and spelt behave differently than AP, and I wasn’t really sure how to handle the differences. I wasn’t sure if my dough was turning into the soft texture the recipe calls for. It was sticky and didn’t come together into a ball even after adding an extra half cup of flour. The pictures of the braided loaf were really lovely, but if there had been more pictures of what the dough looked like throughout the process, that would have been really helpful!