First Tuesday of the month and it’s time for another installment of Twelve Loaves, our monthly bread baking party! This month’s theme is Italian Breads and although there are loads of beautiful, traditional Italian breads, I’ve always wanted to try my hand at a shaped loaf. Something like a braided or knotted bread. I knew I’d found exactly the recipe I wanted to make when I was looking around on the King Arthur Flour web site, my number one resource for all things related to baking. This lovely Pane Bianco (Italian for “white bread”) is a soft white bread filled with sundried tomatoes, cheese, fresh basil, and garlic which is shaped into a figure 8. And even though it looks a little complicated, it’s really easy as pie.
I posted a photo of the finished loaf on Instagram right after it came out of the oven and it got more “likes” than any photo I’ve ever posted. Not only is it visually stunning, it’s really delicious and it makes your house smell wonderful while it’s baking!
This pane bianco is a soft while loaf filled with sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, cheese, and… Click To Tweet
Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the post for links to all the bakers who participated in this month’s Twelve Loaves. There are a lot of great recipes there!
Place the first 8 ingredients (water through flour) in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (or large mixing bowl if working by hand). Mix on lowest speed (or stir with a wooden spoon) until a soft dough begins to form. Increase the speed slightly and knead for 5 to 7 minutes or until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. Hand kneading time should be approximately the same and should produce a smooth ball of dough. Grease a large, clean bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, turning so that the top is greased.
Cover and let rise until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
While the dough is rising, thoroughly drain the sundried tomatoes and finely dice them. Chop the fresh basil.
Gently deflate the dough. Roll it into a rectangle about 22” x 8.5”. Evenly distribute the garlic powder, cheese, tomatoes, and basil over the rectangle of dough.
Starting with a long edge, roll the dough into a log as you would do for making cinnamon rolls. Pinch the edge to seal.
Place the rolled dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet with the seam side down. Using kitchen shears or a very sharp knife, start about 1 inch from an end and slice the roll about 1” deep to within 1 inch of the opposite end.
Form the sliced roll into an “S” shape. Bring the two ends together under the roll and pinch them together.
Cover and let rise again until doubled in size for 45 minutes to 1 hour. During the last part of the rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Tent the loaf with foil after 15 minutes of baking if it seems to be browning too quickly. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
Enjoy!
Yields 1
A soft while loaf filled with sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, cheese, and garlic.
20 minPrep Time
40 minCook Time
1 hrTotal Time
Save Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 2 tblsp. sugar
- 2 tsp. (1 pkg.) instant yeast
- 1/2 cup low-fat milk, warmed
- 3 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp. salt
- 3 cups bread flour
- 4 oz. oil-packed sundried tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 3/4 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
Instructions
- Place the first 8 ingredients (water through flour) in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (or large mixing bowl if working by hand). Mix on lowest speed (or stir with a wooden spoon) until a soft dough begins to form. Increase the speed slightly and knead for 5 to 7 minutes or until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. Hand kneading time should be approximately the same and should produce a smooth ball of dough.
- Grease a large, clean bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, turning so that the top is greased. Cover and let rise until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- While the dough is rising, thoroughly drain the sundried tomatoes and finely dice them. Chop the fresh basil.
- Gently deflate the dough. Roll it into a rectangle about 22” x 8.5”. Evenly distribute the garlic powder, cheese, tomatoes, and basil over the rectangle of dough. Starting with a long edge, roll the dough into a log as you would for making cinnamon rolls. Pinch the edge to seal.
- Place the rolled dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet with the seam side down. Using kitchen shears or a very sharp knife, start about 1 inch from an end and slice the roll about 1” deep to within 1 inch of the opposite end (see photos for help). Form the sliced roll into an “S” shape. Bring the two ends together under the roll and pinch them together.
- Cover and let rise again until doubled in size for 45 minutes to 1 hour. During the last part of the rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Tent the loaf with foil after 15 minutes of baking if it seems to be browning too quickly. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
This recipe is from the King Arthur Flour web site.
All text and photographs on Never Enough Thyme are copyright protected. Please do not use any material from this site without obtaining prior permission. If you'd like to post this recipe on your site, please create your own original photographs and either re-write the recipe in your own words or link to this post.
What I was up to…
- One year ago: Cornmeal Scallion Fritters
- Two years ago: Fried Tomatoes with Cream Gravy
- Three years ago: Ham and Cheese Quiche
- Four years ago: Old-Fashioned Southern Teacakes
- Five years ago: Black and White Bean Soup
- Six years ago: Braised Beef Short Ribs with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes
#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess and runs smoothly with the help of Heather of girlichef, and the rest of our fabulous bakers.
Our host this month is Rossella from Ma ch ti sei mangiato, and our theme is Italian Breads. For more bread recipes, visit the #TwelveLoaves Pinterest board, or check out last month’s mouthwatering selection of #TwelveLoaves Olive Breads!
- Calzone from A Baker’s House
- Ciabatta from Ma che ti sei mangiato
- Italian Easter Cheese Bread from Kudos Kitchen By Renee
- Lemon Brasadella Italian Coffee Cake from NinjaBaker.com
- Pane Bianco Filled with Tomato, Basil, and Garlic from Never Enough Thyme
- Pane di Genzano from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Pane di Pasqua (Italian Easter Bread) from Cake Duchess
- Pane Toscano (Tuscan Bread) from girlichef
- Parmesan Garlic Grissini from From My Sweet Heart
- Rosemary Red Onion Beer Bread from Shockingly Delicious
- Quick Focaccia Bread from Basic N Delicious
- Tuscan Lemon Quick Bread with Limoncello Glaze from Rhubarb and Honey
If you’d like to bake along with us this month, share your Italian bread using hashtag #TwelveLoaves!
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