Mama D's Italian Bread

I really like this bread I gave it 5 stars for taste but I'm giving it 3 stars for the directions. I found I had to find my own way through the directions, it states cook time 1 hour, I found that 30 min. is plenty (I am using a baking stone). Also regarding step 4, when you separate it and place it back in the bowl to rise once again it becomes one round of dough, so why separate it? The second time I made it I skip the separating part but did punch down and let rise again, then separated it into loaves after the second rising. Now in step 6, where it says to turn occasionally, I just skipped that step all together because I found that step too awkward and as far as "done when golden brown" well after 30 minutes of baking the loaves are closer to dark brown, and I'm only baking it in half the designated time. I really like the taste of this bread and after playing with this recipe several times I now have no problems but I did the first few times I made it. It seems others didn’t have any problems but I did, so for what it’s worth these are just some of the problems I encountered.

Good recipe, works well if you add a little italian seasonings in with the ingredients. As a culinary student I've tried and failed with bread many times before getting some decent results. Here's what I've found that may help some previous reviewers: 1) Proof your yeast as directed (mixing water, yeast, & sugar)-- if it doesn't start bubbling or frothing after 10 min, throw it out. Either the yeast is dead (check expiration date) Or you killed it with HOT tap water > 120 degrees F kills yeast. Optimal temp is LUKE warm around 100F. 2) Mist the bread with water every 3 min for the first 10 min. Why? This does 3 things. Prevents the crust from forming too fast thus restricting the rising process. It moisens the crust just enough so it doesn't brown/burn at the end of the baking period - you get a golden brown instead of a dark heavy crust. And it finally makes the crust crispier. This is a very important step. It also helps if you have a bowl of water in the oven to increase the humidity percentage. Professional ovens have adjustable humidity controls which add moisture in. Why only 10 min? You can mist for longer but you'll end up with a thin white crust instead of golden brown. Once the bread has risen to its full potential (within the 1st 10 min or so depending on the size of the loaf), then you want it to start becoming golden brown. UPDATE - Bake until internal temp is 200 F - whatever the shape or size.

This bread is fabulous-o. I make bread a lot. For those of you who have read the other complaints about a sticky bread, this is the deal. The flour for a bread recipe is always a variable. Depending on the humidity in the weather and protien content in your flour, the flour can fluxuate 2-3 cups. I put in 9 cups of flour to get it to be a stiff dough. That is what was meant when she said knead it until it is smooth as a baby's bottom. Italian breads, pizza doughs, and french breads should never be sticky. Stick with this rule and your family will love your bread and your house will smell great. Best of all you will have really super yummy bread for dinner for really cheap!!! I made all three loaves and they were gone in an evening.

Bread gets 5+..directions get a 2. This appears to be written for "bakers", which I am not. Here's some info the non-bakers might find helpful! PROOFING YEAST: put water, sugar in bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top. Let it sit 2-3 mins until it gets bubbly and smells like bread. Then proceed as directed. FIRST RISE: this took 1 Hour in my oven with the light on. PUNCH DOWNS: Gently punch down, remove from bowl onto lightly floured surface. Don't knead it again, just get the air bubbles out. Put back in bowl as directed. Again placed back in turned-off oven with light on. This SECOND RISE took 30 mins. SECOND PUNCH DOWN: same as above, but don't put back in bowl. Form into loaves as directed (I made two). Place cornmeal only under the bread loaves because excess not underneath will burn when you start cooking it. FINAL RISE: loaves covered with towel, again in "off" oven.. this took 30 mins or so. Then I put on counter and heated up oven(s) to 450 for baking. It took 20 mins to cook them. Very delicious, crispy crust (not crisp today but still wonderful). Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!!

This bread was delicious the first time I made it, but novice bread-makers should be warned: this dough is very sticky and hard to work with if you use anything close to the amount of flour listed. You can add more, of course, but then you don't get a truly authentic texture to your bread. For the lucky people out there with bread machines or a food processor with a dough hook to do the kneading, this problem is fairly easily solved. If you do it by hand, like I did...get ready for some sticky dough! I made a half recipe the first time and made into three small loaves, they disappeared FAST with only 2 people eating them!

What did I do wrong? I am not a novice at baking bread, have been making different breads for quite some time,but I had a problem with this recipe. When I shaped into "footballs", and let them raise the third time, they expanded, but not height wise, they got bigger but flat. Help.....C. J.

The taste and texture of this bread is great. I dusted it with a little flour right before putting it in the oven, and put a pan of water in the oven instead of misting it. It came out crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside....just the way I had hoped!

This is the second time I made this bread and I thought I'd try making half the batch into rolls. I pulled off chunks of the dough, lightly rolled it in my palms to make it smooth, let rise as stated and baked for about 20 minutes, misting every 5. After 10 minutes I turned the rolls upside down to finish baking. WOW were these every AWESOME as rolls!!!! I will be making these again and again!! Thanks!

Get out the bread knife! Wow, what a crust! There was a lot of guesswork involved with the rising, but being a virgin bread maker, I think I did alright, because it was tasty! Thanks Christine, we eat Italian weekly & this will definately be included with our meals!

Very easy to make and it did help having a kitchen aid mixer to knead in all that flour. I made 2 loaves and 1 section into rolls. Everything turned out delicious. I will be making this bread again for sure. Thanks.

Excellent Italian style bread! A few things I did differently: I used bread flour for the four cups of flour used in the beginning to make the sponge, and AP flour for the remaining 3cups. Bread flour, because of its high protein content, results in a chewy bread without being solid or dense. It also results in a thin crispy crust. All-purpose flour gives you a thicker crust. I found this combo to produce a perfect crumb and crust. I also placed a dish of water in the oven with the bread to provide a constant source of humidity rather than misting the bread. This changes the texture of the crust and I prefer it this way. Also, for those of you who talk about using 9 cups of flour instead of 7: This will make a very yummy simple bread. BUT to get the dense, chewy texture of a true Italian style loaf, you need a MUCH stickier dough. I ended up using ~6.5 cups. You can't measure whether the kneading is done in traditional ways, it's too sticky. That's why the directions say knead until smooth. When the dough is smooth (no bumps left) and almost taffy like it's ready. If you have a mixer with a dough hook this is best. But if you don't, just take 1/3 of the recipe at a time, place in in a large bowl and use a spatula to knead the bread. Use the spatula to pull the dough from the sides of the bowl and push it into the center. This is an arm buster, to be sure. But kneading by hand with a dough this sticky is just awful (in my opinion).

This is soooooo good!!!! I am a novice at baking bread, so I relied heavily on the suggestions made by RodneyD (thanks!) and misted the bread for the first ten minutes. Also, in order to accelerate the rise (for the first two), I used my crock pot - turned on high to get it warmed and then unplugged it when the dough went in. This made it feasable for me to make this on a week night. Made 2 loaves (halved the recipe) and threw in some Italian seasoning as well. These were awesome - best bread I ever made (I keep saying that with each new recipe I try....but seriously, this is outstanding). Will make this one again for sure! Also, since the recipe is very vague as to the cooking time, once I put it in the oven, the bread was done in about 25 minutes (for those like me and clueless, that might help)!

Man I love this bread!!!! I have made it many times now and agree with Gray who said not to mess with it too much. I always leave it for 90 minutes the first rise, then an hour for the next two rises. But the last time I made it, I didn't knead it very much after either rise. I just mainly punched it down and did the fold thing for about 2 or 3 minutes. What a difference in the flavor!!!!! A little note about the flour, I have tried bleached and unbleached store brands but have found that King Arthur unbleached is by far the best flavor, color and texture. Lastly, I don't turn the bread for fear of losing the rise, and I use a pan full of water and don't mist. When I shape the bread for the last rise, I hold one end, then kind of pull and twist the bread as I lay it down. This gives more of a log shape than the more flattened out shape you otherwise get. I make 2 loaves and bake for 30 minutes. Comes out perfectly every time. By the way, this bread makes the best croutons you will ever eat. Freezes well too. Thank you Christine for a great recipe and to Gray for the advice to leave it alone!

Very good bread. The whole family loved it. For the first rise, I let it rise for an hour at the suggestion of a few bread making websites. I punched it down, divided, and shaped the loaves and then let them rise just once more.

This was a really good bread! I love baking, and I am always eager to try new recipes. I used my Kitchen Aide Mixer and had absolutely no problems...just remember that it IS a really sticky dough...no need to add more flour. This one is going to become a well used recipe in my family. Even my daughter, who tends to shy away from "crusty" bread LOVED this! Wonderful with Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil to dip in!!!!

The first time I made the bread I had a couple of different issues - old yeast and I didn't wait long enough for the loaves to rise. The second time I followed the instructions of some of the other reviewers and got GREAT results! Here's what I did that worked well for me: Heated 3 cups of water until it was 110 degrees with an instant-read thermometer. Dissolved the sugar and yeast thoroughly and waited. the first time I got very little bubbling after 15 minutes, but assumed any bubbling was good so I went with it - which was a mistake. The second time I used new yeast and it was foamy within 5 minutes. For the flour, I used Caputo "00" flour. The 2.2 lb bag was PERFECT as I used exactly that much for the recipe by the end of it. 4 Cups into the KitchenAid stand mixer with the paddle attachment, along with the water. I let it mix on #2 until it looked like pancake batter and then let it sit for 15 minutes. I kept the paddle on and beat in the salt and 2-1/2 cups of flour at #2 until it was all mixed together (scraping the sides of the mixing bowl occasionally). Replaced the paddle for the dough hook and then added in the last 1/2 cup of flour. Locked down the mixer and kneaded on #2 until it looked smooth and wasn't sticking to the sides anymore. I think I let it knead for about 5 - 7 minutes. Etc... etc... Most important tip... WAIT for the loaves to rise! Touch them lightly with finger - if they spring back, not risen enough. If they stay indented - bake!

I give this recipe 4 stars. The bread was very good, however, as others have stated, the directions could have been better! Having only made bread a few times without a bread machine, I was surprised at how long it actually took the dough to rise. Some additional information concerning times would have come in handy. I actually pared down the recipe to 12 servings which made one rather large loaf of bread. It was more than enough to serve with dinner for four adults and a child. Thirty minutes on a pizza stone in a 450 degree oven was perfect. I didn't have a spray bottle to mist with water, so I simply put a pyrex pan with some water on the lower rack to keep the oven moist. Overall, very good bread. I'd love to make another batch and use for sandwiches!

This, quite simply, is the most amazing bread ever. I made it for a party and got rave reviews about this bread from people that never give rave reviews about ANY food, so that's saying a lot. One of my guests ate half a loaf by himself. I baked it on parchment paper (obviously omitting the greasing and cornmeal) and they came out lovely. I will definitely be making this bread again, and again, and again.

This made the perfect rolls to match with some Italian sausage I had made. The crust was crunchy, and the crumb had a good chew to it. But I had to use a LOT more flour than the recipe calls for to get a stiff dough. I can live with that, though, since I thought 7 cups was a little light for 3 cups of liquid. I was going to give it four stars for that, but the result demanded I give it five.

This was okay, but fairly tasteless. You may want to add more salt and/or italian herbs. All in all it didn't have much flavor and was a little too flat.

This recipe is so easy & turned out PERFECT! I made semi hard rolls instead of bread, to go with the Barbecued Beef recipe. The rolls were nice and crusty. You could make both bread & hard rolls....

Good recipe but probably not one for beginners. Since the dough is a little tricky (if making by hand). Very thick crispy crust just perfect for cleaning up any gravy left on your plate! This Italian and her Italian fiance give it two thumbs up!

Oh wow, this bread was fantastic! I too used my KitchenAid and I added only about a half cup more flour. The dough was a little sticky, so I floured my board and hands before I started to knead. By the time I was done, the dough was fine. I also added some sesame seeds to the tops of the loaves. Boy, I know my oven is off, but I didn't realize how much until I read how several reviewers only needed to bake their bread for twenty five minutes. Mine took about an hour! I think this was the best bread I've made so far Christine! My bread lovin' family thanks you too for a great recipe!

Amazing! I followed this recipe EXACTLY up until rolling it into your loaf. I rolled then I covered on my pan and froze overnight. Pulled out mid-afternoon the next day and let rise, and baked, OMG, OMG! I couldnt stop eating it! THEN by the following morning I expected semi-dry bread, but it was still crazy moist, and made perfect toast! ! I will be making this many more times! LOVE this bread!

Good bread. I added a tablespoon of olive oil just cause I like a little fat in my bread.

5 stars for taste, 3 for the directions. delicious bread! but... if you add the sugar and yeast to all three cups of water, it doesn't proof right. that leads to problems with the bread rising. the second time i learned to proof it in 1/4 c of water and add the rest of the water later. turned out much better. also, 'knead until as soft and smooth as a bambino's behind'... that really doesn't help me all that much. i went with kneading for 10 minutes. if anyone has any suggestions for a different kneading time, i'm all ears!

I've never made bread before so I was curious and nervous to try this recipe. I'm glad I did! I never would have done it if I didn't have a KitchenAid though. I can't imagine how long it takes to knead by hand! For other beginners, the yeast is proofed when it looks like a just poured beer.

Excellent Bread. My husband ate an entire loaf in one sitting. I followed the recipe exactly for one batch. But for my second bath, I substitute about 2 cups of the all purpose flour with whole grain wheat four. Still very good, and a little bit more nutritious.

Wonderful! Just made one loaf (divided ingredients by three). Let it rest, did one rising, and then the rising on the baking sheet. Baked at 450 for about 20 minutes and it was great--so easy--a new keeper.

This bread was delicious and fun to make. I bake a bit, but am new to baking breads. The other reviews were right, the dough was definitely sticky! But that just made it more fun to work with. Once I got the stickiness under control, it was smooth sailing. I followed other reviewers' advice and did the pan of water instead of spritzing and baked it for much less time, and it turned out great! I'm so excited I made this as my first home-baked loaf of bread!

This bread had the most AMAZING texture--it was like something you'd find at a good Italian restaurant--crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. The flavor itself was the slightest bit bland, but I was willing to overlook that since I loved the texture so much. I don't have a spray bottle, so I got a pastry brush wet, and flicked the bristles to moisten the bread every 5-10 minutes of cooking time. I think I ended up cooking this for about 20 minutes. I made 4 loaves instead of 3, and froze half of the dough between the second and third risings. This way, I just defrost the dough, set it into shape, allow to rise, and cook. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!

Two unusual things happened while I was making this recipe. 1)I ended up with something like 8 - 81/2 c. white flour and the dough was so sticky it was nearly impossible to knead, and 2) the final result never browned in the oven. In years of breadmaking, I've never had either thing happen. I followed the recipe instructions exactly. Yeast proofed, dough rose each time, but there was no "shaping" going on here. It was basically three blobs on a pan. LOL Still, the taste was absolutely wonderful. Even my white bread hater tried and enjoyed it. It's not a recipe I will likely use again, but it was fun trying and even more fun eating! Thanks!

Have made this bread numerous times and it's always a hit. My only advice is to add a little more salt than called for and don't bother with separating into loaves until the last rise. I put baking sheets with loaves on top of heating pad to facilitate rising

SO SO SO SO GOOD!! I couldn't find sub rolls at the store yesterday, so I made this recipe and cut it into 6 pieces for our italian sausage sandwiches! WONDERFUL! The recipe forgot to say how long to bake, but mine did well in about 25+ minutes.

I scaled the recipe to make one loaf, adding 2T vital wheat gluten and a touch more sugar than the scaled-down quantities indicated. Per reviewer RodneyD's recommendation, I misted the bread with water every 3 minutes for the first 10 minutes, and also placed a pan of water in the oven to increase the humidity. This loaf turned out great; much better than the French Baguettes I've doggedly labored over! The crust is golden brown, the inside is chewy and flavorful. The recipe didn't indicate how long to bake; I baked it for about 20-25 minutes. Thanks so much, Christine (and RodneyD)!

Incredible recipe! I bake bread daily, always looking for new recipes to try, and this one is a keeper. Only thing I did differently is I omit the sugar as I don't like sugar in my bread.

Fabulous! Instead of making this the traditional way, I substituted 1 cup of the water with a chia gel mixture for more nutrition (1 cup of water with 2 tbsp of chia seeds) and it turned out beautiful. I also painted the tops of the bread with the chia gel. Nice crust, great flavor!

Outstanding recipe! First time, halved the recipe and made 8 good sized italian sandwich buns. Out of the oven they are super cruncy on the outside. I put then in a plastic bag overnight and they became wonderfully dense and chewy (think Bagel Texture) Flavor amazing, super easy! Second time I added minced onion that I sweated with soy sauce and butter in the microwave (full recipe, 3 small onions, 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons soy sauce) Had no trouble with rising even though I live at a super high altitude. Congratulations! You have found a great bread recipe!

Used this recipe to make pizza bread. Halved recipe and divided dough into 2 parts. Then rolled it out into rectangles and stuffed each with 1/4lb. pepperoni & 1/2lb. mozzarella cheese, rolled them up & pinched the dough closed. Scored top & baked at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Had pasta sauce on the side for dipping. Made 2-4 servings. Delicious!

I've been making bread of over 40 years. Way too much yeast. Way too little flour. And the divide into 3 several times for no reason whatsoever. The recipe would be closer with 2 cups of warm water rather than 3. There is so much yeast that it works way to fast to allow this mixture of ingredients to rise properly. I read one review that was accurate regarding that issue where the user had dough that was flat and spread out over the pan rather than high like a loaf of bread. If you follow this recipe you will not have bread or anything resembling bread.

The bread itself was good, but directions were confusing - I got hung up on the time. I wasn't sure approximately how long each rising process should take or why I would separate the dough just to put it back together and let it rise again. As a pretty new cook, some of those answer may come with experience but that level of detail is incredibly helpful.

We really liked this bread! I didn't have a spray bottle or what ever, so I just lightly brushed water on it with a pastry brush.

Wonderful! A minor note though is that Scoring your bread really makes a difference. I had never done it (scoring) before, and it was really easy, making my bread look like a master piece.

seemed simple enough, and tasted great, but the appearance was less than desirable and the very center of the loaves didn't get done. perhaps I was too impatient with the final rise and baked them too early, i'm discouraged. :(

Great, simple recipe....

I had problems with my dough not rising enough, then falling when I went to put it into the oven (it stuck to the cloth). Once done it was so hard I could not eat it, my husband joked that it could be used as flat bread. He said it taasted good, but the crust was really to hard to eat.

This was the first time I tried making Italian Bread, what a wonderful recipe. I'm truly amazed at how delicious is was. I too found Rodney's hints helpful, and it really paid off. My family loved it. It really is a keeper!

Haven't had a lot of luck with this as a loaf of bread, but I think that's my problem, not the recipe. What this recipe excels at is pizza crust. Let it sit in the fridge for a day or more and it is the best we've had. And we've tried a LOT!

Well I didn't find this recipe all that great. I have been making home made bread since I was little with my mother. If you are a first time bread maker this is not the recipe for you. I thought it would have been more helpful had it given time frames for rising and cooking. The dough was really gooey the first time around and it didn't rise as much as it should have. I winded up putting it outside in the hot Florida heat, which worked much better than the oven. I also use olive oil while kneading so it's not so sticky. I added some italian herbs to this for more flavor. It came out ok, just not the way you would think.

Outstanding! I am a novice bread maker & I achieved professional results w/ this recipe & Rodney's review. This bread is perfect for dipping in broths. I served it w/ Killer Shrimp Soup & will have it w/ steamed clams the next time I serve them. Thanks for such a wonderful recipe!

This is a very good recipe for Italian bread. I do have a couple of suggestions. I do not break the dough apart until after the second punch down. Rather than misting the tops with water during baking, I spray them with a little mist of cooking spray. It browns the tops nicely. Also, cooking for 1 hour is far too long. The first time I made this bread I naively trusted the cooking time listed, set the timer, and went about doing other things. I only realized there was a problem when the fire alarm went off. 30 minutes at 450º is quite adequate.

I am giving this five stars because I am not a bread maker. I think the bread taste great. However I baked at 450 and found that after 25min smoke was coming out of the oven vent. I looked and found the crust was starting to burn. I took the bread out and found the crust very hard and the internal temp was overn 200 degrees. I want to do this again but I am not sure how to do it with out getting the hard crust. Can anyone help me. Is 450 degrees to hot for this?

there must be some mistake...that's too much water for so little dry yeast

At first I was a little (Squirrelly)about the recipe.However, I was able to get through it. After reading other tips on how to rectify the sticky and tacky dough I was quite impressed!Crunchy artisan style bread.Get ready to spend some time with this bread! If you want authentic Italian bread for your dinner table and do not have the time. Stop by Caputo's in Brooklyn..... Now that's Amore!

I've tired forever to find an easy crusty Italian bread recipe and this is the best. The resting time gave me time to put together an Italian pasta dish to go with it and both turned out perfect! Thanks Mama D.

Fabulous! This was my first time at Italian bread and my husband said it was some of the best bread he's ever had. The texture was great with a crunchy crust and chewy inside. I made a half recipe and still ended up with two full loafs. Next time, we're going to brush with butter and sprinkle the top with large crystal salt.

This bread was really good. I baked the bread so that it only yeilded one loaf. I stuffed it with sausage and mozzarella cheese and rolled it up. I topped it off with olive oil and sprinkled it with garlic powder and Italian seasoning...I received rave reviews, my husband ate almost the entire loaf and that is not usual!! I accidentally put the oven at 350 and baked it up for about 25 minutes but it still came out perfect. Will definetely add this to my collection, next time I will try pepperoni or just bake it up as is and dip it into some homemade sauce!!

Very good bread, although you need an afternoon to make it!

I modified this bread for my bread machine the 2nd time I made this, I just halved the recipe and added everything into my machine (I was careful to keep my yeast away from the salt). The first time I made this I did make it the 'old-fashioned' way. A nice loaf of bread! Thanks for the post! I love a good home-made loaf of Italian bread. Makes me homesick for this little restaurant we just to get their Italian bread in paper bags and dip it in spiced oil olive. Note:Added a little extra flour as dough seemed sticky in the machine. Have made this by adding Italian spices/cheese to the mixture also.

better the next day more dense

Easy recipe, and excellent bread! I probably ended up using about 8 1/2 C flour in all. One reviewer said that this is a sticky bread, but with the right amount of flour and kneading, it should not be, and weather and environment play a big part in bread making, so my advice to all, escpecially new bread-makers is don't be afraid to use extra flour. You will get the proper texture if you work the dough well. Also, during the second rise, why bother separating? It will grow back together in the bowl anyway. This made three small loaves. I think next time I will make two larger ones with it, but I will definitely use this recipe again!

Scrumptious! Great color and texture. Paired with the Toasted Garlic Bread recipe from this site, it made an amazing garlic bread. I also had to use two more cups of flour than called for (9cups total) but I've been making bread a long time and typically just add flour until it looks "right" anyway. Someone mentioned that they prefer two larger loaves and I thought that I would try that. Each loaf was pretty big measuring 3.5"Hx10"Lx8"W. I will definitely divide into three loaves on my next try.

The taste is great but the bread doesn't brown very well. When I make a batch up, I separate it into mini=loaves and refrigerate all but one loaf. Then I have fresh baked bread all week.

I love this recipe as an easy go to Italian bread. I've made it many times. No matter how "wet" or "dry" my flour is or what brand I use, I always need more by usually 1-1/2 cups. As a result I increase the salt accordingly otherwise the bread is very bland. Great recipe for the novice bread baker.

This was my first attempt making a bread and I was glad I chosed this recipe.. I was so excited when it turned out well. A really basic bread for first timer. Check out pic.

Like others, I found that one hour was twice as long as it actually takes. My first attempt the bread was way overdone. I actually removed the hard crusts and used it to make holiday stuffing, so at least I didn't waste it. By reducing the cooking time and ignoring the first suggestion to divide it (WHY?) it came out great. Also, the third time I used bread pans and it worked well too.

absolutely fantastic! i had no experience whatsoever making italian bread, and my very first attempt turned out wonderfully. easy to make, delicious to eat. lovely crust, soft interior. we had italian veggie and mozzarella sandwiches for dinner with it, and it held up very well to all the fixings. i was really stoked to have such success with this, and will definitely make it many more times.

I love this style of bread and the recipe and reviewers notes gave me the confidence to try it myself. I was impressed with the turnout and I've made it over and over again. A friend recently gave me the gift of "artisan bread" she bought at the farmer's market - it was probably quite pricey - it was the same style of bread, but I liked mine MUCH better! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for a wonderful recipe. I made this tonight for some new friends. I selected this bread to complement the Italian pasta dish I served. The bread was definitely a hit. I sent them home with 1 loaf and kept the 3rd for tomorrow. (We want to try it with butter and honey for breakfast.) I am very pleased with this. I had never baked a loaf of Italian bread before. It does remind me of the rustic bread served in one of my favorite restaurants. The only "problem" I had was that it only took about 25 minutes to bake. That is less than 1/2 the time the recipe calls for. I'm thinking that it would have been "toast" if I had baked it that long. This was my first attempt at baking bread and maybe it will be different the next time, but I'm thinking anything baked at 450 degrees for 1 hour would be burned. Also, even after reading some other reviews and adding extra flour, it was still fairly sticky and never did get as smooth as a bambino's bottom. Still, it was REALLY good.

MOMMA MIA ! This is not safe to have around the house if you or anyone else is on a low-carb diet !!! This bread is addictive. I added a couple of tbls. of Olive Oil to the recipe. I've made this bread twice, and both times it came out perfecto. Thank you.

I read most of the reviews before I tried this, and I am glad I did. The oven temp was WAY too high and the time was WAY too long. Lower the temp to 350, and time it for 25 minutes and go from there. The loaves in regular loaf pans is going to take a little longer, closer to 35 minutes, but longer Italian style loaves will be done much sooner. I did put a pan of hot water in the bottom of the oven, but not because I read it here, I bake bread quite often and have used that method for a long long while. I did take some leftover dough, rolled it out in a big circle, filled the middle with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese, folded it back over and baked it for 25 minutes, ugly, but tasty.

A good recipe. I baked mine about 30 min. I will make again.

I've never successfully made a crusty bread before today- this was amazing! I didn't even spritz water in the oven or put a pan of water in the bottom as suggested. It was amazingly soft and chewy with a delightful crust. Will DEFinitely make this again!

MMMM I changed the serving to 12 so it could be just one loaf and Imake it with the recipe from this site called Italian Spaghetti Suace with meatballs. Was a great dinner. I also sliced and toasted it in the toaster oven with butter and garlic powder. MMMMMM thanks!

Incredible. I seriously cannot believe this came out of my kitchen. I made it into large rolls for Italian beef sandwiches, and it was the perfect bread. Super crunchy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside. Mine had an English muffin kind of consistency to it, I think because I didn't want to handle it too much and left some air bubbles in-but we really liked it that way. Instead of misting I used a pan of water underneath as suggested by others. I don't have a bread maker but I used my Kitchenaid mixer. I am so happy with the outcome and will make this over and over again. Thank you a million times for sharing!!

I halved the recipe (all but the sugar) and shaped two smaller loaves. The texture and crust reminded me of the artisan peasant breads I pay three dollars a loaf for at the bakery! I also baked each loaf for 20 minutes at that temp, and misted every two minutes or so. I made this to eat with spaghetti, and ended up dumping my spaghetti noodles back into the pot so I could eat just sauce and bread LOL! This spreads as it rises, so not a mile high loaf. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Ok, I have made this 3 times. First time the bread was to die for. The second time I used all whole wheat flour and it was aweful. The third time I used white flour and it turned out not as good as the first time. Im not sure why. I will make this again some time when I have the time. I dont think I changed anything on the recipe.

OMG!!! This is ridiculously good bread!!! I can't even tell you how good it is! I cut the recipe in half and used 1 packet of yeast and 1 tsp of sugar in the proofing mix. I made one large, round loaf which will be very, very good with our French Onion Soup for supper!

I have made this bread twice now and its been a big hit. I had never made homemade bread before so I followed the directions pretty closely. I didn't use the full 7 cups of flour and the baking time was way off for my oven, 30 minutes was plenty. I didn't turn the loaves while in the oven either because I used loaf pans (stoneware).

Easy 2 make! Luv the humor in the directions:-) Tips: Make a canoe out of foil so dough doesn't spread. In travel section of Wal-mart/Target are spray bottles which is handy to create a crunchy crust.

My fiance loves this bread... He said it tastes like "restaurant" bread... whatever that means!!! It really is good... and easy

This is a great tasting bread, though it does take time to prepare. The next time I try it, I am going to make the dough one day, let it rise overnight, and bake it the follwing day. The taste of this bread is extraordinary, and rivals the Italian Bakeries where I grew up in the Bronx! WELL worth the effort, and fairly easy even for a beginner like me! Mangia!

I just recently purchased a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I am having so much fun making homemade bread because the machine does all the work! I noticed the dough was a little sticky but after adding more flour it came together just fine in the mixer. I actually had nothing to use to mist the loaves with so my bread did not come out quite right but it was still good.

I love the bread. My wife and I love it and it may become our staple bread in our household. I do wish the directions were a little more detailed.

I tried this recipie because I never made bread before ! She's right ... it is easy ...and delicious ! When I try something that had no problems and no left overs .... that's great in My book ! Thank you for sharing !

Easy and delicious. Bread was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Did not have a bottle to mist with, so I lightly sprinkled water before baking and put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven. As stated in other reviews, I needed approx. 2 cups additional flour to stiffen the dough. Loved this bread!!

I divided into 4 loaves before baking. It made a dense loaf with a crisp crust. My family likes this type bread so we were very happy with the outcome.

Awesome and so easy! My husband who is a very picky eater loved it! The only thing I did different was not seperate the dough into three pieces the second time I let it rise. I seperated into three sections after the second rise and put each into a loaf pan where I let them rise a 3rd time. Delicious!

I am new to the art of bread baking and this recipe made me feel like a masterbaker!!! I added an egg wash and sesame seeds HAZZAH!! Great recipe.

This bread is absolutely awesome! I made it this morning exactly as stated and it turned out perfect. I wish I had started a second batch when i set this one to rise. Well worth the time and slight effort. Not sticky if you add enough flour before you start kneading and while kneading if neccesarry. If you knead the dough long enough it does get smooth. Wonderful bread! we're having it with speghetti tonight.

another great bread recipe...i halved the recipe so it would fit in my bread machine and added vital wheat gluten...and followed the rest of the directions...it didn't dissapoint..it was crispy on the outside and perfect on the inside...lite and airy...i will definitely make this again...thanks for the recipe

This was so good, and much cheaper to make than buying an actual Italian loaf from the nearest bakery. Instructions were a little hard for me to follow at points, being a beginner chef, but this turned out quite well in the end! Next time I will try baking some cheese in there, if possible.

It turned out rather well even though I subbed a third of the flour with rustic bread flour. The proofing was phenomenal. Made sure to have the dough quite soft, and brushed/spritzed with water every 3 or 4 minutes three times at the beginning of baking. I halved the recipe, so it took the three joined rounds on 32 minutes to be done. I laid it on a baking-paper-lined, semolina-sprinkled big round cake tin. The temperature I set was between 220 and 210 degrees Celsius, watching to make sure the top didn't get too dark. It turned out a lovely medium brown. Thanks for all the tips, fellow ARers. ^_^

I made 1 loaf and it turned out great...well except for setting off the smoke detector in my apartment :0 Sesame seeds added to the top add a nice flavout.

Ok I have made this twice now and I don't know what I'm doing wrong I followed it to a T and still not happy with it it comes out to dense HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love this recipe. Easy, and delicious. A must try!!

This is soooo good. I was really surprised at how quickly it rose. I made 2 loaves and wished I would have made more. Great bread recipe!

excellent recipe and very easy to make. turned out great!!!!

THIS IS THE BEST. We live in the south now and have missed NY Bread...This is it. I scaled down the recipe to make 1 loaf since it was my first try. Came out excellent!!!! I have made a loaf every night for the past week.