Baking Italian Olive Bread without high quality olive oil is tantamount to driving a 1962 Aston Martin and filling your tank with the cheapest grade gas. It can’t be done. Or rather, it shouldn’t. Luckily, with Mina Single Origin Extra Virgin Olive Oil, you needn’t fret, because the highest quality olive oil is within reach! (Sponsored Post)
We’ve partnered with Mina to give their Single Origin Extra Virgin Olive Oil a test ride in our Italian Olive Bread. And, man, we’re not lying when we say this EVOO has some serious high-octane flavor.
Jump to:
🇮🇹 WHAT IS ITALIAN OLIVE BREAD?
The French and Italians are among the more famous bread bakers in the world. Where the French tend to be pretty rigid when it comes to what constitutes bread—wheat flour, yeast, water, and salt and NO FAT—, the Italians play it a little looser. You could say the French are more classical, and the Italians are more jazz. Italian bread tends to contain a little olive oil or milk—sometimes even a bit of sugar.
Our olive bread is a riff on Pane Toscano. We made it using Mina Single Origin Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which added an extra touch of richness. And since Tuscany is famous for its olives, we thought, “What the heck, why not add half a dozen black and green olives for good measure?” And we’re happy to report, we nailed it! The briny olives pair perfectly the fruity notes of the Mina olive oil.
🫒 MINA SINGLE ORIGIN EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
Fully traceable to the tree, Mina Moroccan olive oil is polyphenol rich and made 100% from olives grown on a family farm. The olives are harvested early and immediately cold extracted for maximum nutrition and quality. The result is an excellent extra virgin olive oil that elevates every dish.
📝 INGREDIENTS
- Flour, Water, Yeast, and Salt: The four ingredients needed for bread. The magic is what happens when you combine the four and bake.
- Organic Granulated Sugar: A sweetener and food for the yeast.
- Mina Extra Virgin Olive Oil: A fat added for a touch of richness.
- Green and Black Olives: For that briny bite in each slice.
🔪 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
- Activate the yeast: Activate yeast by whisking it into warm water, and then let stand it for 10 minutes.
- Knead the dough: Add Mina olive oil, sugar, salt, flour and olives to bowl. Knead until dough is smooth, springs back when you poke it, and meets the windowpane test. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1 hour.
- Shape the loaves:
- Punch down the dough.
- Dust it with flour and divide into two equal portions.
- Pat one portion into a rectangle.
- Roll it out to 8×12 inches.
- Loosely roll the dough lengthwise and seal the seam and ends closed.
- Bake the loaves:
- Place loaves seam-side down on a lined baking sheet, two inches apart.
- Press the top of the loaves lightly to flatten.
- Press sliced olives into the tops of the loaves and dust with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.
- Bake on the center rack for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
❤️ YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE BECAUSE IT’S:
- Savory
- Easy to make
- Fluffy
- Only seven ingredients required
💡RECIPE TIPS
- Use a food scale! Weigh your ingredients out on a food scale for best results. This advice applies to all bread bread baking. If cooking is an art form, baking is more of a science. To give you an example, say you measure out one cup of flour by volume with a measuring cup. The amount of flour you measure out can vary by as much as 25%, depending on how you pack your measuring cup. This can mean the difference between light-as-air bread and dense loaves.
- Stand mixer optional. You can still bake our Italian Olive Bread if you don’t have a stand mixer! Kneading by hand will take a few more minutes, around 12-15 minutes.
- Meet the windowpane test: Whether you knead your dough in a stand mixer or by hand, the windowpane test will determine whether it’s properly kneaded. Grip a small portion of the dough and stretch it into a square. Continue stretching it until it becomes a thin, unbroken film (i.e. a windowpane) in the middle that allows light to pass through. If you can stretch the dough in this manner without it breaking, then the gluten is well developed, your dough is properly kneaded, and it is ready to rise.
DID YOU MAKE OUR ITALIAN OLIVE BREAD?
Did you make this recipe? We’d love to hear about it! Please comment and leave a 5-star🌟 rating below. Share your dish with us on Instagram and tag us @plantbased.passport. We would love to seeing your delicious creations! Still hungry? Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest for more global vegan recipes and travel tips!🍴✈️
💕 MORE BAKING RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE:
👩🏽🍳 RECIPE
ITALIAN OLIVE BREAD
Ingredients
- 9 g dry active yeast 2 ¼ tsp
- 295 mL warm water no hotter than 110° F (1 ¼ cups)
- 19 g organic granulated sugar 1 ½ Tbsp
- 8 g salt ½ Tbsp
- 59 mL Mina olive oil ¼ cup
- 600 g flour 5 cups + additional 60 g (½ cup) set aside for kneading, plus more for dusting.
- 120 g mixed olives preferably Mina olives pitted and roughly chopped (1 cup)
- 80 g mixed olives pitted and sliced (⅔ cup)
Instructions
- Whisk yeast into warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer, and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Add Mina olive oil, sugar, salt, 600 g flour and olives, and mix until dough comes together and pulls away from the bowl. If needed, add reserved 60 g flour, 2 tablespoon at a time. Then knead until dough meets the windowpane test, 7-10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise 1 hour.
- Flour your work surface. Punch down dough, dust it with flour, then divide into two equal portions. Pat one piece into a rectangle, then roll it out to 8×12 inches. Loosely roll the dough lengthwise, pressing to seal the seam and ends closed. Repeat with remaining dough piece.
- Place loaves seam-side down on a lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Press the tops of the loaves lightly to flatten. Press sliced olives into the tops of the loaves, dust with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400° F.
- Bake on the center rack for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
Notes
- Use a food scale! Weigh your ingredients out on a food scale for best results. This advice applies to all bread bread baking. If cooking is an art form, baking is more of a science. To give you an example, say you measure out one cup of flour by volume with a measuring cup. The amount of flour you measure out can vary by as much as 25%, depending on how you pack your measuring cup. This can mean the difference between light-as-air bread and dense loaves.
- Stand mixer optional. You can still bake our Italian Olive Bread if you don’t have a stand mixer! Kneading by hand will take a few more minutes, around 12-15 minutes.
- Meet the windowpane test: Whether you knead your dough in a stand mixer or by hand, the windowpane test will determine whether it’s properly kneaded. Grip a small portion of the dough and stretch it into a square. Continue stretching it until it becomes a thin, unbroken film (i.e. a windowpane) in the middle that allows light to pass through. If you can stretch the dough in this manner without it breaking, then the gluten is well developed, your dough is properly kneaded, and it ready to rise.
This bread was crazy fluffy.