Rosemary Bread

Behold: Deliciousness.

Thankfully, the summer weather is still hanging around here in New England, but I know just from looking at the trees in my neighborhood that fall's inevitably on its way.

Some part of my sun-loving self always kinda dies inside when the cool weather kicks in, but once fall hits, I do find that I'm spending a lot more of my time in the kitchen, which seems to offer some level of comfort. And I'm the first to admit that I need some serious comforting once I realize summer's over.

Anyway, do I have any bread fans out there? I'm a huge lover of bread - well, carbs in general, really. And my favorite bread recipe, passed along to me from a friend and fabulous cook, is rosemary bread. It is so.damn.good. It offers the comfort factor of bread, with a kind of unexpected spice from the rosemary. I make it for just about every holiday feast, and often for dinner parties. It's great to bring along - maybe with a bit of honey butter, mmmm - to a potluck, too.

Not only does it take no time whatsoever to make, the ingredients are probably stuff you have on hand. Perhaps the wildest of the ingredients is the actual rosemary, but I'd think that most people have that floating around their spice rack somewhere.

Here's the recipe, courtesy of the lovely and genius Tammi:

Rosemary Bread
1. In a bowl, mix 2 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 4 teaspoons dried rosemary, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the zest from a lemon.
2. In another bowl, mix 2 eggs, 3/4 cup of apple juice, and 1/2 cup of olive oil (extra virgin).
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix.
4. Pour into a lightly greased 9x9 square pan and baked at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes until golden.

Voila. Cut it up and stack it on a plate with some fresh rosemary garnish to make yourself look super fancy. Oh, and if you like nuts (for me, meh), try some chopped up walnuts in there. It's seriously fantastic.