Greek Olive Bread with Rosemary and Oregano

This hearty loaf is our take on eliopsomo, a traditional Greek olive bread. Bolstered by whole-wheat flour and honey, the dough is soft and subtly sweet—a nice contrast to the savoriness of Kalamata olives. Kneading chopped olives directly into the dough interferes with gluten development, resulting in a weaker crumb structure, so instead we flatten the dough into a rectangle, sprinkle on a filling of chopped Kalamatas mixed with rosemary and garlic, then roll it up into a log. After baking, slicing the loaf reveals a salty, herbaceous spiral that runs through it. For making this dough, we also employ a brief autolyse, or resting time after combining the flours and liquids. This step allows the whole-wheat flour to hydrate and jumpstarts gluten development.