Rosemary Apple Bread

Bread: warm with a crunchy crust and soft, luscious interior, I'm a sucker for you.  Seriously, it's a terrible, terrible addiction.  I won't touch pre-sliced, somewhat hard bread you buy in a bag (needless to say, I'm not a sandwich girl)  but I will devour an entire loaf of the fresh stuff.  An entire loaf, alone, with no help and no butter.  Then I spend the next 2 hours in a blissed out carb coma, loving and loathing my life decision.  It's a serious problem.  It is why I try to not make fresh bread very often.  I have no self control, none!
    So, what's a girl to do with no self control and a love for bread?  Well, try new bread recipes of course and tell herself that this time will be different.  After a day pep talk about not eating an entire loaf at one time in one sitting, I felt brave enough to try this bread recipe.  It's fall here in PA and apples are my true love.  I've had apple rosemary pork before and loved it, so I figured how could apple rosemary bread be bad and guess what, it's not bad at all, not even a little bit.  In fact, it's pretty darn good, so good that my willpower is being tested every moment it sits on my counter.  I'm on day two and still have half a loaf left, I swear it is only because I've been at work these last two days.  It is good, crazy good, and a bit of Stonewall Kitchen apple cider jam makes it even better.  Like dessert quality good.  So without further ado, here is the original recipe. I made a few changes.  I used dried rosemary.  Why you ask?  I'm cheap and I already had it.  Secondly, I coated to top of the bread with melted butter and then liberally coated it with white sugar.  Why?  Because it made an absolutely phenomenal sweet, crunchy crust that is the perfect foil for this savory bread. I urge you, make this recipe!  I made it using my KitchenAid Stand Mixer, but you can make it by hand with very little effort.  This isn't a bread that has to rise for 2 hrs. 40 minutes of rising time and you are ready to bake.  It's a dense bread, but soft and supple, and just sooo good!

Rosemary Apple Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon ground rosemary (1 tsp finely chopped fresh)
1 package quick-rise yeast
1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
1 cup diced peeled Granny Smith apple (about 1 small)
Cooking spray
2 teaspoons butter, melted
2 tbsp of white sugar

Put flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 3/4 cups flour, salt, rosemary, and yeast in mixer bowl with bread attachment.  Add water, stirring until a soft dough forms. Add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, so dough pulls away from the pan sides and begins to come together.  When dough has pulled away from sides cleanly and doesn't stick to you hands, turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 6 minutes); Cover and let rest 10 minutes in a warm, draft free spot.  Best place thing to do is while you're prepping, turn your oven onto warm, when it is pre-heated, turn it off and when you need to proof your bread, cover it with a towel and place it in the oven.  Knead in apple. Place the dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rest 10 minutes in your warm but off oven.

Shape dough into a loaf; place dough in an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Gently press dough into pan; cover. Let rise in a warm place (oven again (85°), free from drafts, 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Then remove dough and preheat oven to 375°.

Right before placing it in the oven, brush with melted butter.  Then liberally sprinkle with about 2 tbsps of white granulated sugar.

Bake at 375° for 45 minutes or until bread is lightly browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Brush top with butter. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.