I have taken in a stray toddler recently, Nick's niece Natalie :) A couple nights a week I pick her up from school and watch her for a few hours. You know what this little princess says to me every time I pick her up? "I am hungry Gabby, can I have some olives?" Olives??! A 4 year old that is addicted to olives, no kidding on the addiction, she eats like 15 a day. She almost breaks out into a song as she is about to put the olive in her mouth, sucking all the salty brine out before eating them.
I have always despised olives, my entire life. That salty bitter taste when you bite into one would make me cringe! I purchased many varieties of olives, just to ensure I don't run out when she is in my presence, the world could potentially end if Aunt Gabby didn't have any olives. I have never seen that side of the sweet little princess but I believe it could be there if the olives are not. After several weeks of making little snack plates with olives, carrots and crackers for Natalie, I started sampling the olives myself, just to ensure they were still as terrible as I remember. Slowly, the more I ate them, the more I started to actually enjoy eating them. This little toddler was turning her ways on me! Then I started buying even more olives, because now I had to feed both of us! I found myself sneaking them in the middle of the night, craving just a salty bitter bite. Her favorite, the black olives kalamata style, are now my favorite too.
One day, by chance, I happened to see a recipe for Olive Bread. I thought to myself, perfect! She will love this! I researched through a few recipes and found two different ones I really liked. I took pieces of each and combined them into my own. I liked the addition of Rosemary in this one and the addition of sugar in this one. I omitted ingredients like molasses and cornmeal that I felt I didn't need nor have on hand. I also added some sauteed onions and garlic which were a great compliment to the bread. The bread was a hit - crispy outside and soft and moist inside. Great flavor!
Prep Time: 20 Min
Cook Time: 30 Min
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups of warm water
- 2 tablespoons of active dry yeast (your bread flour should come with one packet)
- 1/4 cup of onions, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tbs of olive oil
- 1 tbs of evaporated cane sugar (or white sugar)
- 7 1/2 cups of bread flour (I used Pamela's Gluten Free, but you will need 2 bags for this much)
- 2 tbs of Rosemary
- 1 1/2 cups of pitted olives (I used 1 can of low sodium organic black olives and then 1/4 a cup of briny kalamata style black olives.)
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine water and dry yeast. Allow to stand for a few minutes until milky.
- Meanwhile, sautee onions and garlic with a little olive oil until tender. Add to yeast mix.
- Add olive oil and sugar too
- Add flour, 1 cup at a time until dough is stiffened
- Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes until well mixed
- Coat a large bowl with olive oil or cooking spray
- Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Allow to sit and rise in a warm spot for about 45 minutes. I placed it in the oven, turned off, to keep it slightly warmer than room temperature.
- Form each piece into a round loaf.
- Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray
- Place the loaves on the sheet and allow to rise for another 25 minutes
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes until golden and hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes, then slice. Eat warm or toast and top with a little butter and chopped olives. Enjoy!
*NOTE* I used the low sodium olives that came in a can because I was worried that the briny ones from a jar might add to much salt to the bread. I had about 1 cup of low sodium olives and than about 8-10 briny kalamata style ones and the bread was perfect. I recommend using a mixture of both.
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