Garlic Butter Crusty Bubble Bread

Master Bread Dough Recipe:

Mix water, yeast and salt together in the bowl of a large stand mixer or in a 10 quart food-safe container. Add flour and stir until the mixture is uniform. You don’t have to knead, but you want everything uniformly moist, without dry patches. The dough will be wet and will conform to the shape of its container.

Cover with a lid that fits well, but is not airtight and allow to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours or until the dough collapses back in on itself. You can now refrigerate the dough for up to two weeks, using the dough whenever you need it, or you may use it immediately.

To assemble the Garlic Butter Crusty Bubble Bread:

Unwrap butter and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave until the butter is fully melted. Stir olive oil, garlic, Italian seasoning, granulated garlic, the 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper into the melted butter. Set next to you on the countertop and turn your attention to the dough.

Dust the refrigerated dough in the bucket with a generous amount of flour. Pull dough up from the center and use a sharp knife to cut off a portion that is between the size of a golf ball and plum. Pull the sides down and under while rotating the dough to form a smooth ball.

On a clean counter, place the dough ball, seam side down, and gently cup the dough with your hand. Rotate it in one direction on the counter while providing gentle and steady downward pressure. This will smooth the surface of the dough ball and make it tight.

Carefully deposit the dough ball into the butter mixture and turn to coat completely. Use a fork to transfer the dough to a 9″ x 13″ pan. Repeat until you have at least four rows of three dough balls. If you want very crusty bubbles of bread, stop here. If you prefer crusty tops with softer sides, cut off and roll six more dough balls and place them in the open spaces between rows. Do not crowd the pan to the point where you have to shove or mash the dough balls. Drizzle any remaining garlic butter mixture over the top of the balls and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt.

Allow the dough to rest while preheating the oven to 450°F (230°C or 8 Gas Mark). When oven is hot, place the pan on a center rack and bake for 25 minutes, or until the top of the bread is deep brown. There will still be quite a bit of bubbling butter around the edges of the bread. This is a good thing. Allow the pan to stand on the stovetop until the remaining butter is absorbed.

Serve warm, as-is, or topped with a generous amount of freshly grated hard Italian cheese and a bowl of warm marinara sauce for dipping.