Rosemary Olive Oil Bread: The Recipe and the Oil That Makes It
Rosemary olive oil bread is one of the few loaves where the oil is not a background ingredient but half of the flavour: the rosemary gives the aroma, and the olive oil decides how soft the crumb is, how the crust browns and how long the loaf stays good. Below is our own rosemary olive oil bread recipe, written from scratch for this article, in grams, US cups and baker's percentages so you can scale it. It uses one small idea most recipes skip: warming the chopped rosemary gently in the dough's olive oil first, so the aroma reaches every slice. After the recipe, we cover what the oil actually does to the dough, which olive oil to choose, fresh versus dried rosemary, and no-knead, Dutch oven, bread machine, tin loaf, focaccia and sourdough versions.
For our own oil, see our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml).
The Short Answer
- Our rosemary olive oil bread uses 500g strong bread flour, 340g water, 40g extra virgin olive oil, 5g fresh rosemary, 10g salt and 5g instant yeast: 100%, 68%, 8%, 1%, 2% and 1% in baker's percentages. It makes one round loaf of about 800g once baked.
- The rosemary is warmed gently in the olive oil for a few minutes before it goes into the dough, which carries its aroma through the whole crumb rather than leaving it in green flecks.
- At 8% of the flour weight, the oil gives a softer, more tender crumb and a thinner, more golden crust than a lean loaf, and slows the bread from going stale.
- Baked in a preheated cast-iron pot at 230°C / 210°C fan / 450°F, the loaf takes about 40–45 minutes and is done when the centre reads at least 93°C (200°F).
- Choose a robust or medium-fruity extra virgin olive oil: rosemary is an assertive herb, and a peppery oil stands up to it; a final brush of raw oil on the hot crust is where you taste the oil most.
- The loaf is dairy-free and egg-free as written: flour, water, olive oil, rosemary, salt and yeast.
- Sidr & Stone's olive oil is a single-estate, cold-pressed, unfiltered extra virgin olive oil from our own farm on the plains outside Marrakech, Morocco, sold in 500ml dark glass.
Rosemary Olive Oil Bread Recipe: Ingredients and Baker's Percentages
This makes about 900g of dough and one round loaf (a boule) of roughly 20cm (8in). Weighing is far more reliable than cups for bread, so grams come first; if you use cups, spoon the flour into the cup and level it rather than scooping.
| Ingredient | Metric | US | Baker's % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strong white bread flour | 500g | 4 cups | 100% |
| Lukewarm water (about 30°C / 85°F) | 340g (340ml) | 1⅓ cups + 2 tbsp | 68% |
| Extra virgin olive oil, for the dough | 40g | 3 tbsp | 8% |
| Fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped | 5g | 2 tbsp (from 3–4 sprigs) | 1% |
| Fine salt | 10g | 1¾ tsp | 2% |
| Instant (fast-action) yeast | 5g | 1½ tsp | 1% |
| To finish: extra virgin olive oil, flaky sea salt and a few rosemary leaves | 1 tbsp oil, a pinch of salt | 1 tbsp oil, a pinch of salt | not counted |
What the percentages mean: in baker's percentages every ingredient is written as a share of the flour weight, which always counts as 100%. So 68% water means 68g of water for every 100g of flour, and 8% oil means 8g of oil per 100g of flour. The percentages define the bread; the grams are just one batch size.
How to scale it: the percentages add up to 180%. Divide the dough weight you want by 1.8 and the answer is your flour weight. For two smaller loaves totalling 1,350g of dough: 1,350 ÷ 1.8 = 750g flour, then 510g water, 60g oil, 7.5g rosemary, 15g salt and 7.5g yeast.
Flour, salt and yeast notes: strong bread flour (about 12–13% protein) gives a loaf that rises well and holds its shape; plain or all-purpose flour works but makes a slacker dough, so hold back 15–20g of the water. Coarse kosher salt is lighter by volume than fine salt, so weigh it, or use about 3½ tsp of Diamond Crystal. If you use active dry yeast instead of instant, use 6g (2 tsp) and stir it into the water first.
Method: How to Make Rosemary Olive Oil Bread, Step by Step
- Warm the rosemary in the oil. Put the 40g of olive oil and the chopped rosemary in a small pan over the lowest heat for 4–5 minutes, until the kitchen smells of rosemary and the leaves turn a shade darker. It should never sizzle or bubble. Take it off the heat and let it cool to lukewarm.
- Mix flour, yeast and water. In a large bowl, stir the flour and yeast together, add the water and mix with a spoon or your hand until no dry flour remains. Cover and rest for 15 minutes; the flour hydrates and the dough becomes easier to knead.
- Add the salt, then the rosemary oil. Scatter the salt over the dough and squeeze it in. Pour in the cooled rosemary oil, leaves and all, and fold and squeeze until it is absorbed. The dough will look slippery and torn for a minute or two before it comes back together.
- Knead. Knead on an unfloured worktop for 8–10 minutes, or 6 minutes on low to medium speed with a dough hook, until the dough is smooth, soft and springs back slowly when pressed. A small piece should stretch thin enough to let light through without tearing.
- First rise. Shape the dough into a rough ball, put it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave at warm room temperature (around 22–25°C / 72–77°F) for 1½–2 hours, until roughly doubled.
- Shape. Turn the dough onto the worktop, press out the largest bubbles, then fold the edges into the centre all the way round and flip it seam side down. Drag it towards you a few times on the unfloured surface to tighten the outside into a smooth, taut round.
- Second rise. Set the loaf on a square of baking paper inside a bowl or banneton, seam side down, cover and leave for 45–60 minutes, until puffy. It is ready when a floured fingertip leaves a dent that springs back slowly and only partly.
- Heat the oven and the pot. About 30 minutes into the second rise, put a lidded cast-iron casserole (Dutch oven) of about 4–5 litres in the oven and heat it to 230°C conventional, 210°C fan, 450°F or gas mark 8.
- Score and bake. Lift the loaf on its paper, cut one confident slash or a cross about 1cm (½in) deep across the top with a sharp knife, and lower it, paper and all, into the hot pot. Cover and bake for 25 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 15–20 minutes, until the crust is a deep golden brown.
- Test. The bottom should sound hollow when tapped, and a probe thermometer in the centre should read at least 93°C (200°F), the internal temperature King Arthur Baking gives for its own rosemary olive oil loaf. A degree or two higher gives a slightly drier, firmer crumb.
- Finish and cool. Brush the hot crust with the tablespoon of raw olive oil and scatter over a pinch of flaky salt and a few rosemary leaves. Cool on a rack for at least an hour before slicing; the crumb is still setting as the steam escapes.
Oil-enriched dough browns faster than a lean one, which is the point here, but it means the crust can go from golden to dark in the last five minutes. If your oven runs hot, check at 12 minutes after the lid comes off. The same dough, worked to slightly different percentages, is the basis of our olive oil pizza dough; the method of adding the oil after the flour and water have come together is shared for the same reason.
Why Warm the Rosemary in the Oil First?
Most rosemary bread recipes knead chopped rosemary straight into the dough. That works, and the bread will taste of rosemary where you bite a leaf. Warming it in the olive oil first does something different: rosemary's aroma sits in resinous oils inside a tough, waxy needle, and those aromatic compounds dissolve readily in fat. A few minutes of gentle heat draws them out into the oil, and the oil then coats every strand of the dough as you knead. The result is a loaf that smells and tastes of rosemary all the way through, with the leaves themselves softer and less likely to taste woody.
Two cautions. The heat must stay low: if the oil sizzles, the rosemary fries, turns bitter and darkens, and the oil loses its fresh character. And this warmed rosemary oil is made to be used straight away, in the dough, not bottled and kept. Herb-in-oil mixtures stored at room temperature carry a food-safety risk because fresh plant material brings water into an airless environment; our guide to garlic infused olive oil sets out the storage rules, which apply to rosemary too.
Does rosemary taste good in bread? It is one of the oldest pairings in Mediterranean baking because its piney, slightly camphor-like aroma holds up to the heat of the oven far better than soft herbs such as basil, which fade and darken. The one way to spoil it is quantity: past about 1.5% of the flour weight, fresh rosemary starts to taste medicinal rather than savoury.
Fresh or dried rosemary?
Fresh rosemary gives a brighter, greener flavour and is our first choice for this loaf. Dried works well, and is better than its reputation, because rosemary is a woody herb that keeps much of its aroma when dried; our article on rosemary olive oil explains why. Dried rosemary is more concentrated by weight, so use roughly a third as much: about 2g, or 2 teaspoons crumbled between your fingers, in place of the 5g of fresh. Warm it in the oil in exactly the same way; it softens the hard, splintery needles as well as releasing their aroma.
What Olive Oil Does to Bread Dough
Olive oil in bread dough works as a tenderiser and a lubricant. The fat coats the gluten strands that form as you knead and some of the flour proteins before they bond, so the dough is softer and more extensible, rises into a finer, more even crumb, and bakes with a thinner, more tender and more golden crust. Because fat slows the loss of moisture from the crumb, an oil-enriched loaf also stays soft for a day or two longer than a lean one.
How much oil you use changes the bread in a fairly predictable way:
| Oil (% of flour) | Per 500g flour | Typical style | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | None | Lean country loaf, baguette | Crisp, crackly, thick crust; chewy, open crumb; stale by the next day |
| 2–5% | 10–25g (2 tsp–2 tbsp) | Rustic loaf with a little oil | Slightly softer crumb and easier handling; crust still crisp |
| 6–10% | 30–50g (2–4 tbsp) | Rosemary olive oil bread (our recipe, 8%) | Soft, tender, finer crumb; thin golden crust; keeps for 2–3 days |
| 10–15% in the dough, plus oil in the tin | 50–75g in the dough | Focaccia and rich soft rolls | Very soft, rich, almost cake-like crumb; base fried crisp by the oil in the tin |
One practical point follows from all this: add the oil after the flour and water have had a few minutes together, not at the very start. Oil poured onto dry flour coats it before the gluten can begin forming, and the dough takes noticeably longer to come together. For how olive oil behaves in cakes, quick breads and pastry, where it replaces butter rather than enriching a lean dough, see our guide to baking with olive oil.
The objection: "Doesn't extra virgin olive oil burn at 230°C?"
Not in a loaf. The oven is set to 230°C (450°F), but the water in the dough holds the inside of the bread below boiling point, and the centre finishes at around 93–98°C (200–208°F). Only the outer crust gets properly hot, and that is where the oil helps it brown. A good extra virgin olive oil copes comfortably with this, as our article on olive oil at high heat explains. What baking does do is mellow the oil's fresh, peppery notes, which is exactly why this recipe finishes with a brush of raw oil on the hot crust.
Which Olive Oil Is Best for Rosemary Bread?
Rosemary is a strong, resinous herb, so this is one bake where a robust olive oil is an asset rather than a risk. In a banana bread or a lemon cake, a very peppery oil can sit on top of the other flavours; in a rosemary loaf, its green, bitter and pungent notes meet the herb on equal terms.
| Oil | In the dough | As the finishing brush and for dipping |
|---|---|---|
| Robust, peppery extra virgin olive oil | Excellent; mellows in the oven and supports the rosemary | Excellent; you taste the pepper and grassiness on the crust |
| Mild or medium-fruity extra virgin olive oil | Very good; a rounder, gentler loaf | Good; softer and more buttery |
| Refined or "light" olive oil | Same texture, almost no olive flavour | Not worth it; there is nothing to taste |
| Shop-bought rosemary-flavoured oil | Works, but many are refined oil with flavouring; check the label | Fine if the base is extra virgin |
| Sunflower, rapeseed (canola) or vegetable oil | Same texture, neutral flavour | Not a substitute for olive oil here |
Texture is much the same whichever liquid oil you use, because they are all liquid fat; flavour is what changes, and it changes most in the finishing oil. Whatever you choose, it should be fresh. Rancid olive oil smells of crayons, putty or old nuts, and the oven does not hide it. Our guide to choosing a quality olive oil covers what to check on the bottle: the grade, a harvest or best-before date, dark glass or a tin, and a named origin.
The objection: "Isn't it a waste of good extra virgin oil?"
It is a fair question, and the honest answer is that it depends where the oil goes. In the dough, the oven softens a fine oil's character, so a good everyday extra virgin does the job. On the crust and in the dipping bowl, you taste every difference, and that is where the bottle you are proudest of earns its place. The whole loaf uses about 55g of oil, roughly a tenth of a 500ml bottle.
Variations: No-Knead, Dutch Oven, Bread Machine, Tin Loaf, Focaccia and Sourdough
The base recipe adapts easily. These are starting points, so watch the dough rather than the clock and adjust the times to your kitchen.
- No-knead rosemary olive oil bread: cut the yeast to 1g (¼ tsp, 0.2%) and raise the water to 360g (72%). Stir everything together, including the cooled rosemary oil, cover and leave at room temperature for 12–18 hours, until bubbly and more than doubled. Fold it into a round on a floured surface, rest for 30–45 minutes on baking paper, and bake in the preheated pot exactly as above. The crumb is more open and the flavour a little deeper; the dough is too wet to knead, which is the point.
- Dutch oven: the main recipe already uses one. The heavy lid traps the dough's own steam for the first 25 minutes, which keeps the crust soft long enough for the loaf to rise fully before it sets. Without a lidded pot, bake on a preheated tray or stone and put a roasting tin of boiling water on the shelf below for the first 20 minutes.
- Bread machine: put the water and the cooled rosemary oil in the pan first, then the flour, with the salt in one corner and the yeast in a small well in the centre, away from the liquid. Choose the basic or French cycle with a 2lb (900g) loaf size and a medium crust, or use the dough cycle, then shape and bake in the oven as above for a better crust. Follow your machine's own order of ingredients if it differs.
- Tin loaf for sandwiches: after the first rise, roll the dough into a tight log and put it in an oiled 900g (2lb) loaf tin, about 23 × 13cm (9 × 5in). Rise until it domes just above the rim, about 45 minutes, then bake at 200°C / 180°C fan / 400°F for 35–40 minutes, until the base sounds hollow when turned out.
- Rosemary olive oil focaccia: raise the water to 400g (80%) and keep the 40g of rosemary oil in the dough. Give the wet dough four sets of stretch-and-folds in the bowl, 15 minutes apart, then rise for an hour. Pour 40g (3 tbsp) more olive oil into a 23 × 33cm (9 × 13in) tin, press the dough into it, leave until puffy, dimple deeply with oiled fingers, scatter with rosemary and flaky salt, and bake at 220°C / 200°C fan / 425°F for 20–25 minutes. The pan pizza section of our pizza dough recipe uses the same oiled-tin technique.
- Sourdough: replace the yeast with 100g of active, bubbly starter at 100% hydration, and reduce the flour to 450g and the water to 290g to keep the same overall proportions. Expect a bulk rise of 4–6 hours at warm room temperature, or shape and leave the loaf in the fridge overnight for a slower, tangier bread.
- Olives, garlic or sea salt: fold in 75g of pitted, roughly chopped olives (patted dry, and cut the salt to 8g) at the end of kneading. For garlic, warm one finely chopped clove with the rosemary in the oil. A heavier scatter of flaky salt on the oiled crust gives the bakery-style finish.
Day-old rosemary olive oil bread makes very good garlic bread, sliced and toasted; our garlic bread with olive oil recipe works with it as well as with a baguette.
Serving, Storing and Freezing
Serve rosemary olive oil bread warm, never hot, with a saucer of good extra virgin olive oil and a little flaky salt, or alongside soups, roast vegetables and lamb. If you want to build a proper dipping oil around it, with herbs, balsamic or za'atar, our guide to dipping oil covers proportions and what is worth adding.
Once cool, keep the loaf cut side down on a board for the first day, then wrapped in a clean tea towel or a bread bag at room temperature. It stays soft for two to three days, longer than a lean loaf, thanks to the oil. Avoid the fridge, which makes bread go stale faster. For longer keeping, slice and freeze it, and toast the slices straight from frozen. A loaf that has firmed up comes back well with ten minutes in a hot oven, brushed with a little more oil.
On health, the honest framing is short. This is an everyday bread made with a little more fat than a plain loaf, and that fat is mostly monounsaturated oleic acid rather than the largely saturated fat of butter, which is a reasonable choice within a balanced diet. It does not make rosemary bread a health food, and neither the oil nor the herb is a treatment for anything.
Why Sidr & Stone
In a rosemary olive oil loaf, the oil does two jobs: it shapes the crumb inside the dough, and it is tasted almost raw on the crust and in the dipping bowl. The second job is where an oil's freshness and origin show, and the oil is the part of this recipe we can speak for. Sidr & Stone's extra virgin olive oil comes from one place, our own farm on the plains outside Marrakech, and we control every step from tree to bottle.
- Single-estate: Sidr & Stone's olive oil comes from our own family-owned farm near Marrakech, Morocco, with no blending across origins.
- Rain-fed: the trees are not irrigated; they take what the season gives.
- Organically grown: no synthetic fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides are used (not yet certified; certification is in progress).
- Single harvest: each batch is small and limited, picked when the fruit is ready; once it is gone, it is gone until the next harvest.
- Cold-pressed within hours of harvest: to protect flavour, aroma and polyphenols.
- Unfiltered extra virgin: minimally processed, so a little natural sediment at the bottom of the bottle is normal.
- 100% natural: a single ingredient, olive oil, with nothing added.
- Dark glass with a gold label: 500ml bottles that protect the oil from light.
- 10% of profits to charity: a Sidr & Stone commitment across every product.
- Fulfilment in the UK, EU and US.
We will not tell you ours is the best olive oil for rosemary bread; your own oven and your own taste are the judges of that. What we will say is that it is single-estate Moroccan, rain-fed, organically grown and cold-pressed within hours of harvest, and that the product page carries the details of the current batch, so you can judge its freshness for yourself. Bake with it, then taste it properly on the warm crust.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you make rosemary olive oil bread?
Warm finely chopped fresh rosemary gently in extra virgin olive oil, then mix it into a yeast dough of strong bread flour, water, salt and instant yeast. Knead, let it double, shape it into a round, let it rise again and bake it in a preheated lidded pot at 230°C (450°F) for 40–45 minutes.
What happens if I add olive oil to my bread dough?
The oil coats and lubricates the gluten, so the dough is softer and easier to handle and the bread has a more tender crumb, a thinner golden crust and a longer soft life. Around 6–10% of the flour weight gives the soft rustic loaf in this recipe; more than that heads towards focaccia.
How much rosemary should I put in bread?
About 1% of the flour weight in fresh rosemary: 5g, or 2 tablespoons finely chopped, for 500g of flour. If you use dried, use roughly a third as much, about 2 teaspoons crumbled. Much more than 1.5% can taste medicinal.
Can I just put rosemary in olive oil?
For the bread or for dipping on the day, yes: warm it gently or let it steep, then use it. If you make extra, keep it in the fridge and use it within 4 days, whether the rosemary is fresh or dried, because herbs left in oil at room temperature carry a food-safety risk.
Is Sidr & Stone's olive oil good for rosemary bread?
Yes. It is a single-estate, cold-pressed, unfiltered extra virgin olive oil, so it suits both the dough and the finishing brush on the crust, where its fresh character shows most. Taste it on a spoon first and decide how much of it you want to taste in the loaf.
Can I make rosemary olive oil bread without kneading, or in a bread machine?
Yes to both. For no-knead, cut the yeast to ¼ teaspoon, raise the water to 360g and leave the dough for 12–18 hours before shaping and baking. In a bread machine, add the liquids and rosemary oil first, then the flour, salt and yeast, and use the basic or French cycle.
Where can I buy single-estate extra virgin olive oil?
Our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml) is available directly from the Sidr & Stone website, with fulfilment in the UK, EU and US.
Is olive oil a medicine?
No. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine. It has a long traditional history — including being honoured in the Prophetic Sunnah — and a substantial body of modern research, particularly around polyphenols, cardiovascular health, and the Mediterranean diet pattern. It can be a worthwhile part of a healthy routine, but it does not cure diseases and is not a substitute for medical care. Be cautious of any olive oil marketed with specific disease-cure claims.
Final Thoughts
Rosemary olive oil bread rewards two small decisions more than any amount of technique. The first is to put the rosemary into the oil before the oil goes into the dough, so the herb perfumes the whole loaf instead of a few bites. The second is to treat the olive oil as two ingredients: a good everyday extra virgin in the dough, where it shapes a soft, tender crumb and a golden crust, and your best bottle on the hot crust and in the dipping bowl, where you actually taste it. Weigh the ingredients, think in baker's percentages, and the same formula becomes a no-knead loaf, a sandwich tin, a focaccia or a sourdough by changing two or three numbers.
If you want an oil with a clear origin for the finishing brush and the dipping bowl, our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml), single-estate, rain-fed and cold-pressed within hours of harvest, is available to pre-order now, with fulfilment in the UK, EU and US.
Our extra virgin olive oil is grown organically on our own single-estate farm on the plains outside Marrakech: we control every step from tree to bottle, and no synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers are used. It is not yet certified organic — certification is in progress, and we will publish it as soon as it comes through.
Disclaimer: This article shares a home-baking recipe and general cooking information at the time of writing; ovens, flours and ingredients vary, so treat times, temperatures and water amounts as starting points. Take normal care with very hot ovens, cast-iron pots and warm oil. The recipe contains wheat (gluten). References to King Arthur Baking describe its published recipe and imply no affiliation or endorsement. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine, and is not a substitute for medical treatment of any condition. For any health concern, consult a qualified medical professional.