After several months of making the same bread over and over, I remembered that switching things up once in a while isn’t an awful idea. After looking at two cool rise bread recipes, I messed with them a fair amount and came up with a really nice, super soft, lightly olive oil flavored bread.

Ingredients:

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for spreading
• 2 packets of yeast
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water

Pour the water in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it. Stir, then let sit 5 minutes. Add the butter, olive oil, salt, sugar, and about 4 1/2 cups of the flour. Pour the other half a cup of flour out on your work surface. Stir the ingredients in the bowl together until mainly held together, then turn out onto the floured surface.

Knead together until it reaches about the texture of Blu-Tack – tacky, without being sticky – about 5 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes.

In that ten minutes, line a sheet with parchment. Pour a bit of olive oil on the sheet and spread it with a brush or paper towel to cover the parchment.

Shape the dough into a long loaf or several smaller rolls and place it on the greased parchment.

Grease another sheet of parchment or wax paper and press it on top. (You can use wax paper on top, as you’ll take it off before baking, but use parchment underneath, as you shouldn’t bake wax paper.) Place the loaf in the fridge for at least 2 hours, up to 24. I chilled mine 5 1/2 hours.

When ready to bake, remove the loaf from the fridge and place it on the counter/stove over the oven while the oven heats to 375. Toss the top parchment. Bake 20-24 minutes or until golden brown.

Aim for sliiightly browner than this, mine was a touch undercooked in the very middle.

Cool on a wire rack, and enjoy. Kyle liked this, said there was just the right amount (very little) of crunch to the crust. It’s soft enough that, in slicing it to be sandwich bread, you have to be careful not to squish the whole loaf. I’ll definitely be making it again, probably trying it as dinner rolls next time?

I made this again a week or two later as smaller rolls. They baked…for a longish time (I forgot them in the oven, so I really can’t tell you how long) and were crunchier. I haven’t been to Bertucci’s in years, but I think this is what their rolls smell like?

I’ll be submitting this recipe to yeastspotting!

Cool Rise Bread

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for spreading
• 2 packets of yeast
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water

Stir together the water and yeast, then let sit 5 minutes. Add the butter, olive oil, salt, sugar, and 4 1/2 cups of the flour. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of flour out on your work surface. Stir the ingredients in the bowl together until mainly held together, then turn out onto the floured surface.

Knead together until the dough reaches about the texture of Blu-Tack – tacky, without being sticky – about 5 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Line a sheet with parchment. Pour a bit of olive oil on the sheet and spread it with a brush or paper towel to cover the parchment. Shape the dough into a long loaf and place it on the greased parchment.

Grease another sheet of parchment or wax paper and press it on top. Place the loaf in the fridge for at least 2 hours, up to 24.

When ready to bake, remove the loaf from the fridge and place it on the counter/stove over the oven while the oven heats to 375. Remove the top parchment and bake 20-24 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack until ready to eat.