Rosemary and Garlic Bread

It's Fall now and there is nothing I love more than a fresh loaf of bread fresh out of the oven.  It is my ultimate comfort food.  I usually love just plain old bread, nothing fancy, but I guess the older I get the more adventurous I feel.  You can't live forever right!  So I am starting to experiment more with baking bread. 

One of my favorite sandwiches I LOVE to DEVOUR, as does my family, requires a special bread.  So, I came up with this.  Somehow it makes the sandwich even more heavenly - I will post this recipe sometime in the future!  But for now, here is a savory bread for sandwiches, to go along with your Fall soups or just something comforting to snack on right from the oven. 

Just a note, I use my bread maker for this recipe as with pretty much every bread recipe I make.  It cuts out a lot of work for me.  I just put it on the dough cycle and then take it out and put it in a bread pan and cook it in the oven.  You can easily adapt this recipe without the use of a bread maker, I just don't have a lot of experience so you are on your own.

Rosemary and Garlic Bread
(makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients
1 tsp salt
1 cup warm water (70-85 degrees)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp agave nectar
1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced
3 cups whole wheat white flour
1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten
1 tsp dried rosemary, finely chopped
2 tsp yeast

Directions
Add the  ingredients to your bread maker in the order recommended by your manufacturer's instructions.  Set on dough cycle.

When dough is ready, punch down and roll out on a floured surface into a 9x18 inch rectangle.  Roll dough up tightly, beginning at 9 inch side, to form a loaf.  (Press with thumbs to seal after each turn.)  Pinch the edge of the dough into roll to seal.  Press the ends of the loaf with the sides of your hands to seal; fold the ends under the loaf.  Place seam side down into a greased loaf pan (around 9x5 inches).  You can brush the loaf with melted butter if you'd like at this point, but I don't.  Cover with towel and let rise in a warm place for about 30-50 minutes until doubled in size.  (I like to warm my oven to 200 degrees then turn it off and place my loaf in the oven to rise - it shortens the time in half.)

Once the dough is doubled in size, heat the oven to 375 degrees.  (Make sure you take your loaf out of the oven at this point if you left it in there to rise!)  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it.  Remove from pan to a wire rack and brush with melted butter, then let it cool.