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That aromatic scent of fresh baked bread. There’s nothing quite like it. As soon as the weather turns crisp, it seems to be all I can think about. Bread straight from the oven.

Baking your own bread from scratch can actually be a money saver AND terribly therapeutic at the same time. There’s something wonderful and primal about digging your hands into gooey dough and kneading it on a flour board. Like knitting, I find baking bread to be a magical act that connects me to generations of women before like a thin silk ribbon running down my family tree.

Now don’t get me wrong, this is only something I do once or twice a year. Enjoy it or not, we all know just how busy the life of a woman is and it doesn’t often leave 4 hours free to make bread from scratch. The great thing about bread though is that the actual time spent on it is pretty little (as it needs to sit often), which leaves you time to do things WHILE you make it (something I love.)

I was fortunate enough to participate in an herb harvest at the UC Davis Good Life Garden last week, and the first thing that came to my mind to make with all these beautiful herbs was some rustic herb bread. I actually made 4 different flavors of loaves (all with the same base) and each one came out amazing. The recipe I’m sharing here was man cub's favorite.

For the record, I don’t own a bread maker (or a mixer for that matter), so if I can do this… you can too! Happy baking! Your great-grandmother would be so proud.

Basil – Pink Sea Salt Crust Bread

(makes 4  5X9 loaves)

Ingredients:

1 cup lukewarm water

1 cup buttermilk (room temp.)

¼ cup olive oil

5-6 cups bread flower (I like mixing ½ unbleached white, ½ whole wheat bread flour)

½ cup sugar

2 large eggs (beaten)

1 tbsp. white salt

3 tbsp. flake pink sea salt (or other gourmet salt)

1 bunch fresh basil

4 tsp. instant yeast

Need:

5X9 loaf pans (4 of them)

Cutting board (or pastry board)

Measuring cups & spoons

Plastic wrap

Bowel

Oven

1)      Mix together water, buttermilk and oil. Add 1 ½ cups of flour and mix with a wooden spoon till smooth.

2)      Add sugar and eggs, stir together till smooth.

3)      Mix in the white salt and yeast. Allow to sit uncovered for 15min.

4)      Add the flour ½ cup at a time, stirring slowly till the dough becomes hard to mix.

5)      Turn out on a floured board (or put in mixer with bread hook) and kneed for 10 more minutes, adding small amounts of flour if till the dough is no longer sticky.

6)      Pick the leaves off the basil and give a rough chop (or cut them with herb snips.)

7)      Kneed the basil into the dough.

8)      Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let set in a warm spot for 1 hour.

9)      Pour dough out onto a lightly floured board and cut into 4 loaves. Shape dough into greased 5x9 loaf pans. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another 60min.

10)  Preheat oven to 375.

11)  Brush the tops of the loaves with olive oil and sprinkle evenly with pink sea salt.

12)  Bake at 375 for 30min (when you tap on the bottom of the pan it should sound hollow.)

13)  Remove from pans and let cool. Freeze any loafs you won’t be eating right away for later!