This is a really good bread but the recipe is VERY vague. For example it says to shape the dough into loaves placing the seam side down...what seam? See now if I didn't know any better I wouldn't have rolled the dough into a rectangle & then rolled it (like a jelly roll) into a "loaf" making a seam...to put "seamside" down. BUT I just assumed that rolling was the way to go & the bread turned out great. I don't have a bread machine so I made it using my kitchen aid w/ the dough hook. I also took it out of the oven after 15 minutes & brushed it again with egg white & that also gave it a very nice crust. I liked the addition of brown sugar in this recipe compared to my normal recipe. Thanks for the tip Verla!
This was an excellent Italian bread recipe but it's a good thing I checked it after a few minutes of kneading in the machine; it was like batter instead of dough! I ended up adding about 3/4 C. more flour just so it would knead into a ball. It was still rather hard to handle but I did manage to get it into loaves. Thankfully the end result was super! I strongly urge that 5 minutes in the oven before serving; it was the finishing touch for a nice crusty loaf! Will make again.
THIS BREAD IS AWESOME!!!!!! THE BEST ITALIAN BREAD I HAVE EVER MADE! My family loves this bread. I have made it 3 times already and it has turned out great every time. The only change I have made was that one time I put sesame seeds one time I put poppy seeds and once I made it plain. Thanks for this recipe I will be making this bread for a long time.
We loved this bread--had a nice crust and soft interior and was so delicious! The recipe is very adaptable to a manual process--I kneaded it for about 5 minutes after mixing. I made one big loaf, used a little less salt than specified, and did not use the egg wash or sesame seeds. I'll definitely make this again.
This recipe is my family's favorite bread recipe. I am constantly asked to make it. I use it to make homemade hamburger buns (just divide dough into 8 balls you'll never want those wimpy soft buns at the store again) or when guests are expected I braid it. Yummy...there is never any left after a dinner! Thank you Verla
I like a chewier less sweet bread so I used bread flour and reduced the sugar by half. Also a 3:1 ratio of flour to water generally works best for me so I used just one cup of water. Sandwich-style loaves are most practical for us so I baked this in a glass loaf dish at 350 degrees about 35 minutes. I greased the pan and used the egg wash but skipped the cornmeal and sesame seeds. Very pleased - good basic home-style white bread.
Great bread recipe. It was a little sticky once I removed it from the bread machine so I just left it all in one large loaf and it baked just perfectly. I did add 1/2 tsp-1 tsp of each garlic powder,italian seasoning,onion & herb seasoning by Mrs.Dash. It was heavenly and had the perfect amount of flavor. It is without a doubt a 5 star recipe I did leave out the seeds as well. We had this with Lasagna.
This was a very easy and delicious recipe. The original recipe doesn't tell you what to do with the egg but I combined the egg & water and washed the bread with it which gave the bread a lovely shiny crust. I definitely recommend reheating the bread before serving and spritzing it with water to make the crust crispier. My neighbors begged me to make this again but hey they have a bread maker too!
This recipe is good but not great. It is a bit vague and although I used the full amount of salt it tasted bland. It does have a nice crust and soft interior which is the reason for the 4 stars. I didn't care much for the sesame seeds so if I make it again I'll leave them out and try to add other seasoning like the previous reviewer mentioned.
Really salty---might cut the salt to 1 tsp. next time. Also mine took longer to bake (35-40 min.)
