Mom’s Italian Bread

Name: Mom's Italian Bread
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each).
Ingredients: 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast; 2 cups warm water (110° to 115°); 1 teaspoon sugar; 2 teaspoons salt; 5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

I think Mom used to bake at least four of these tender loaves at once, and they never lasted long. She served the bread with every Italian meal. I love it toasted, too. —Linda Harrington, Windham, New Hampshire

Ingredients

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110° to 115°)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the sugar, salt and 3 cups flour. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Stir in remaining flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; divide in half. Shape each portion into a loaf. Place each loaf seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°. With a sharp knife, make four shallow slashes across top of each loaf. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Test Kitchen Tip; To ensure a light texture be sure to take the time to knead well. After kneading the first few minutes, press your thumb into the dough. If the indent stays, you're done. If not, knead a few more minutes.

Nutrition Facts

1 slice: 106 calories, 0 fat (0 saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 197mg sodium, 22g carbohydrate (1g sugars, 1g fiber), 3g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 starch.

Originally published as Mom's Italian Bread in Taste of Home December/January 2010

Reviews

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Average Rating:

Priscilla

Jul 17, 2019

I love this recipe. My husband compared this bread to the Italian bread from our favorite bakery. (That is a huge compliment!) I do have one question. Although my bread was very tasty, it felt heavy, not light and airy. (When I say "heavy" I mean that literally, not heavy in my stomach) Is there anything I can do for that?
Victoria

Jul 9, 2019

My husband and I really like this recipe. It's easy to follow and the bread comes out great. Only thing I do different (besides not using a machine to mix) is that I don't measure the flour. I just add enough to get the right consistency for dough. The exact amount of flour needed for any bread varied based on factors such as humidity, ambient temp, and flour quality.
Jenifer

Jun 1, 2019

This is the best recipe and by far the best explanation I’ve found to date!! I have adapted it slightly over time now and wanted to share what I find to be small tweaks to really take this bread to the next level! First, I try to use bread flour if possible. Days like today I’m almost out so I’m using mostly bread flour with a little all purpose to finish. Second change is something I did. Y accident that in my opinion makes it better. Switch the sugar to 2 tsp and salt to 1-1.5 tsp. Third, when mixing the last 2.5 cups in and it’s inevitably too dry add a little olive oil and mix it in. My fourth and final change to get the perfect crisp crust is brush with olive oil before slitting tops. This makes the loaves come out a beautiful golden brown and just gives them the most delicious crisp crust while allowing the middle to be light and fluffy.
Bay

May 4, 2019

Though I did some small changes, I should still give this 5 stars based on the clarity of the recipe and the best result I've had yet with a loaf of white bread. Based on past experience, I use bread flour, instead of All-Purpose. Like the other reviewers said, use a little less flour, too. I used 5 cups and that didn't even all combine in the stirring, so I used the excess for handling the dough. Heed the note about when bread dough is well-kneaded. This does make a great dough you can sense is right. Like another reviewer said, use an egg wash. You can even use a paper napkin if you don't have a brush, just be gentle. Then make the cuts in the top and bake for the full 25 minutes. In my (limited) experience, it looks done when it's still a little undercooked in the center, so use the full cooking time. This made an enticing bread (inside and out) that almost spoiled our dinner because we kept picking bites to eat. Making bread takes some practice, but this is a good template and I bet you will love it.
stacy

Mar 25, 2019

Delicious! I did an egg white wash before cooking! I was trying to duplicate a recipe a italian neighbor used to make. I did it! Its the same! Sooo wonderful.
Maureen

Mar 17, 2019

Great bread recipe! If you want the brown crust, brush with an egg wash of right before baking - 1 egg wished with a teaspoon of water. I found the bottom darkened so I'd recommend it be in the top third of the over if you're using electric. Mine took just the 20 minutes to bake thoroughly. Made 2 big loafs.
Laura Stefania

Mar 10, 2019

There are a few significant issue with this recipe. First of all, the list of the ingredients needs to be changed... To have 5-1/2 cups written is very confusing as you can see, majority of your commenters have had the same experience as us. 5-1/2 cups of flour is way too much flour, it lacks flavour and takes AT LEAST 45 minutes to start to brown, along with not taking any type of shape and cracking apart in the oven. This ended up turning into ciambelle.
Marti

Mar 8, 2019

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome!
nightskystar

Feb 22, 2019

made this today for my mom's birthday along with my special spaghetti sauce and angel hair pasta. Its easy and yields a lovely loaf..and its done pretty quickly, also!!
GUY

Feb 3, 2019

Great, easy recipe. The bread is delicious, and it browned very nicely. Nice crisp crust and soft chewy interior. The only change I did was to bake it in a pre-heated covered cast iron dutch oven. I baked it for 20 minutes at 450 degrees with cover on, then uncovered and baked an additional ten minutes. Internal temperature of the loaf was 195 degrees when removed from the oven.