There is something about freshly baked bread that instantly makes a house feel warmer and more welcoming . Putting these bread knots in the oven is as good as calling your family (and maybe even the neighbours) into your kitchen.

The bread is fluffy, fragrant from the herbs with a distinctive olive flavor. The olive oil adds a nutty flavor to it making these little knots addictive.

I have been looking for a good olive bread recipe for quite some time. All the ones I have tried have been kind of bland and not olive-y enough for me, this time I think I found what I was looking for

The recipe is slightly adapted from my friend Eva who blogs at Kitcheninspirations. If you have never been to Eva’s blog I strongly urge you to. She has been to Morocco recently and shared wonderful pictures and travel experiences. She also shares wonderful recipes with beautiful pictures that will feed your eyes but will make you hungry.

I baked these knots twice so far,the first time I stuck to the recipe but since I like bold flavors, the second time I doubled the salt and added the herbs de province and added 1 more tablespoon of olive oil and the bread hit the spot. It was perfect and my quest for olive bread may have come to an end. The recipe written below is the one with my slight modifications

Moroccan olive bread knots

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of flour (keep extra flour on the side for kneading I used about 1 cup more)
• 3/4 cup of warm water
• 3 oz of black olives cut into small pieces
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoons of thyme
• 1 tablespoon herbs de province
• 1/2 tablespoon of dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt

Directions:

Activate the dry yeast with the sugar and warm water. Let the yeast mixture rest for 5 minutes. The yeast is active if the mixture expands and bubbles up.

Add the olive oil, thyme,herbs and salt to the yeast mixture.

Gradually add the flour to the mixture until the flour is completely absorbed. You will end up with a very sticky dough.

Fold the olives into the dough.

Cover the dough and let it rest in a warm place until it doubles in size.

 Sprinkle your workspace generously with flour and place the dough over it.

Sprinkle the dough with flour and knead for the next 10 minutes using the palm of your hand. Add flour to the dough until you end up with a malleable non-sticky dough. It should just be non-sticky, not shiny like regular bread dough. You will know when the dough stops sticking to your hand.

Cover and let rest in a warm place till it doubles in size again

Preheat your oven to 420° F degrees.

Cut the dough into balls and then roll them to form robes

Cross over one end of the rope over the other forming a loop

Take the end you crossed over and tuck it in the loop

Tadaaaaaaaaaaa

 (I brushed the knots with milk to help  give them a golden brown color after baking but that is optional)

Place your baking pan in the lower third of the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until done

Place under the broiler till the tops are golden brown.

Macy’s is Looking for the perfect holiday dish and is inviting you to help by sharing your family’s favorite recipes  at their Facebook page (http://facebook.com/macys) and voting for the recipes you like (in Macy’s recipe share on Facebook) for a chance to win one of four prizes.

Two Foodie Favorites will be chosen by the editors of foodrepublic.com. Prizes include:

• signed copy of Culinary Council Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s “New American Table” cookbook
• $1,000 Macy’s gift card
• recipe featured on Macy’s Facebook page and foodrepublic.com

Two Fan Favorites will be chosen by Macy’s Facebook fans. Prizes include:

• signed copy of Culinary Council Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s “New American Table” cookbook
• recipe featured on Macy’s Facebook page

Hurry – the kitchen closes on November 30! (That is tomorrow!)

Macy’s is also kindly offering you a chance to win

Martha Stewart Collection Hard Anodized Fry Pans, Set of 3 (8″, 10″ and 12″)

For  a chance to win  Martha Stewart Collection Hard Anodized Fry Pans, Set of 3 (8″, 10″ and 12″), leave a comment saying you did one or more of the following (Remember a separate comment for each entry because each comment is a chance for you to win this awesome giveaway)

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Notes:

Due to shipping costs the giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

Macy’s legal team has mandated the entries can only be earned by leaving a comment on your post.

This giveaway will be open till 6th of Dec. midnight and the winner will be announced on the 7th.

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