Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread

For those of you who haven't been to Macaroni Grill and had the bread they serve before dinner, I highly recommend it. My husband & I will go there, share a dish, and just eat bread until we are full, and it makes for a delicious meal. The bread is seasoned inside and out with rosemary, and sprinkled with sea salt, lightly crusty on the outside and soft within. Delicious!

Not so long ago, Amy posted that she found a recipe for this tasty bread, and tried it- even though she had never eaten the Real Thing at the restaurant. I couldn't pass it up, and since baking it on Saturday, my husband has repeatedly requested it, claiming it's better than the Macaroni Grill version. I don't know about that, but its a good substitution at home, for sure. I modified the Recipezaar recipe a tad to match what I had on hand, and it worked beautifully.

Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread

1 scant tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tsp dried rosemary (plus more to sprinkle)
2 tablespoons butter, divided, melted

1. Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl and allow mixture to become bubbly.
2. Mix in 1 T butter, salt, and 2 cups of flour.
3. Add the rosemary.
4. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand until smooth and elastic.
5. Add more flour if necessary. (This was necessary. It was pretty sticky.)
6. Oil a bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel.
7. Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour or so until doubled.
8. Punch down dough and divide in half.
9. Let dough rest about 5 minutes.
10. Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray. (I used an ungreased pizza stone)
11. Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves.
12. Sprinkle rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface.
13. Preheat oven to 375° F.
14. Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.
15. Bake for about 20 minutes, until lightly browned.
16. Carefully remove from oven, brush with remaining butter and salt if desired.(IMO, salt is necessary here for authenticity. I used ground sea salt.)

This is definitely getting cooked again very soon. Probably the next time I have 2 1/2 hours+ to get dinner ready- which I suppose might not be very soon...

Oh, and something I didn't mention: This bread is used for dipping into oil and herbs. We happen to have splurged a while back at Meijer on a bread-dipping oil that was the perfect compliment.