Italian Bread Recipe
This Italian bread recipe has a fluffy, soft, tender crumb on the inside with a chewy crust on the outside. Warm, fresh homemade Italian bread just cannot be beaten!
I don’t remember my mother or aunts baking homemade Italian bread.
But I do vaguely remember our Great Aunt Mary always showing up with her fresh-from-the-oven homemade bread and crocheted socks! Haha
Yes, crocheted booties, and we loved them.
Why You’ll Love This
Slathered in European butter, dipped in seasoned olive oil, or just plain it doesn’t get any better.
It’s perfect served along with any of your favorite Italian dishes.
This Italian bread recipe is super easy to make and done in about 2 hours.
So you can make this bread any day of the week.
Ingredients
- Active dry yeast – If using instant, there is no need to reactivate the yeast in warm water.
- Water – You’ll use warm water to activate the yeast and the hot water (not boiling) in the recipe.
- Granulated sugar, olive oil, and kosher salt
- Bread flour – We find that bread flour yields a more tender crumb, but you can use all-purpose flour.
- Egg – For the egg wash.
Tips
- Measure the flour correctly. Aerate, spoon, and swoop level.
- Warm water in bread recipes needs to be around 110 degrees F. If the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast, if it’s too cool, it slows the rising process.
- Use the paddle attachment of your stand mixer. The dough hook doesn’t mix this dough well enough.
- Resist adding more flour it will make the bread too dense.
- We like to use our oven light when rising dough. Just turn the oven light on while mixing the dough and it’s warm enough but not too hot to help the dough rise.
How to Make Italian Bread Recipe
We start by proofing the active dry yeast with warm water. The warm water should be around 105 degrees F to 110 degrees F when making yeast bread and using active dry yeast.
Dissolve the active dry yeast and 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar in 1/4 cup of warm water (110 degrees F).
Let it stand to proof for about 5 minutes. It should be foaming on the top.
In a large bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1 cup of hot water, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, kosher salt, and olive oil.
Add 1 1/2 cups of bread flour and mix on low with the paddle attachment.
Add the yeast mixture and mix on low to combine.
We found that the dough hook for the stand mixer didn’t mix the dough well enough.
Using the paddle attachment was the best way. You can also mix this by hand if desired.
note
You will be using hot tap water, not boiling water. Don’t worry when added to the bowl with the other ingredients, it cools down and won’t kill the yeast.
Add the remaining 1 3/4 cups of flour and mix on low until well combined.
The dough will be very sticky at this point. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.
This bread dough is very soft but should be easy to handle. Resist adding more flour.
Prepare a cookie sheet or baking sheet with parchment paper.
After the one-hour rise, scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface or large cutting board.
Gently flatten the dough into a rectangle.
Start rolling the dough toward you, jellyroll style. Gently seal, and fold in the two corners after each roll.
Seal the seam and tuck the ends under.
Place seam side down on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise another 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk a large egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
After the 30-minute rise, brush the loaf with the egg wash, and using a bread lame or sharp knife, make three or four cuts diagonally across the top of the loaf.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.
Allow the bread to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. (if you can)
When baking the bread, we found it didn’t make any difference in the outcome of using a pan of water in the oven or even spraying the oven with water.
This is a great recipe because it’s pretty darn simple and is ready in a couple of hours. Fresh Italian bread every day!
Slice and enjoy warm, pillowy soft homemade Italian bread!
When refrigerating the dough it will continue to rise slowly. If you want to refrigerate only do so for up to 24 hours.
You can freeze the dough, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and store in freezer-safe bags for up to 3 months. When ready to bake thaw at room temperature for about 4 hours, then bake as instructed.
Store any leftover homemade Italian bread in an air-tight container or bag at room temperature for about 4 days. For longer shelf life, refrigerate the bread for up to 7 days.
Freeze in a freezer-safe bag or container for about 1 month for best quality.
Other Great Bread Recipes
Italian Bread Recipe
Ingredients
To Proof the Yeast
- 1 packet Active dry yeast 2 1/4 tsp
- 1/4 cup Warm water
- 1/4 tsp Granulated sugar
For the Dough
- 1 cup Hot water Hot tap water, not boiling
- 1 tbsp Granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/4 cup Olive oil
- 3 1/4 cups Bread flour divided
Instructions
- Dissolve the active dry yeast and 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar in 1/4 cup of warm water (110 degrees F). Let it stand to proof for about 5 minutes. It should be foaming on the top.
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer combine 1 cup of hot water, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, kosher salt, and olive oil. Add 1 1/2 cups of bread flour mix on low with the paddle attachment. Add the yeast mixture and mix on low to combine.
- Add the remaining 1 3/4 cup of bread flour and mix on low until well combined. The dough will be very sticky at this point. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour. (This bread dough is very soft but should be easy to handle. Resist adding more flour.)
- Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- After the one-hour rise time, scrape the dough out onto a well-floured work surface or large cutting board. Gently flatten the dough into a rectangle. Start rolling the dough toward you jellyroll style, gently seal, fold in the two corners after each roll. Seal the seam and tuck the ends under.
- Place seam side down on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise another 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk a large egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
- After the 30 minute rise brush the loaf with the egg wash and using a bread lame or sharp knife make three or four cuts diagonally across the top of the loaf.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Allow the bread to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing.
Can I use butter instead of olive oil?
Yes, you can. There will be some very subtle differences in flavor and texture. Butter will give you a softer crumb and slightly more sweet flavor, whereas the olive oil gives you a more earthy flavor with a denser, chewier texture. These are very subtle differences, though.
Hi. I’m looking forward to making this bread!
What size should the rectangle be and do you roll from the short side or the long side.
Hey Nikki, figure on roughly a 8×12 inch rectangle. If you look at the pics the rectangle should be basically vertical from your body. Then, just roll and seal towards yourself. Hope that helps!
How many times should it be rolled and tucked? Isn’t this kneading?
No, this would not be considered kneading, it’s shaping. And you roll it tight, there is no set times to roll it. I would say 4 to 5 times would be about average. Just rolled up a loaf last night and ran it through my head 🙂
I think I needed to mix the ingredients a little bit more to develop more gluten. I say this because my loaf seemed a little dense, but other than that it’s a great recipe! I also cut into it before it was cool so that could be a factor too I’m sure. Salt profile comes out well and still got a decent rise and bake! I’ll definitely be making this again!
I have a gorgeous loaf ready for guests. I used 00 flour and made a 1/4 cup of water mistake but added more flour until the dough pulled from the sides of my food processor.
I guess I should just give up on trying to make loaf bread. This recipe didn’t work for me either. I can make a heck of a Parker house roll but every time I try an Italian or French bread it’s a disaster. This recipe left me with an un manageable dough that was too wet to work after the first rise. I followed the directions to a tee, using my scale and thermometer to ensure precision. Even after adding what seemed like several cups of additional flour, it still only formed a flat loaf for the second rise. My white flag is raised.
Ok so if we use instant we can put it into flour without having to proof it – so the total water would be 1 1/4 cups total? 1/4 c + 1 tbsp sugar. I made it but it doesn’t have the flavor of Italian bread like the one I buy from the store, could there be something else to add to give it the flavor & fragrance of Italian bread? Maybe Italian dry herbs?
Yes, you can use instant yeast as you described. Store bought breads have added chemicals to keep them fresh longer. You can certainly add dry herbs for flavor.
I stumbled upon your recipe while I was looking for a bread to accompany my Italian dinner that I was making with my homegrown Roma tomatoes. You are not kidding when you say this is a quick and easy recipe. This bread is fabulous! I won’t buy store bread again. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, Christy! We love to hear from our readers and how they enjoy our recipes.
Hi, Can this be made in a regular bread pan?
I have never tried this recipe in a bread pan.
That is what I do if I want it for sandwich bread , it works great. Then if I want it for a side/dipping bread I do it freeform. Remember to grease the loaf pan and do the same stretching out and rolling up for the shaping. Also for the last proofing, I usually let it rise about an inch above my loaf pan that’s a 9 x 5 Wilton.
I divide in two loaf pans and works wonderfully
Great bread!!
This is my go to Italian bread recipe! My family loves it! It turns out soft and delicious every time. I usually make 2 smaller loaves from this recipe so that the 2nd loaf stays fresher longer because it’s not cut. Thanks for sharing!
Is it ok if I hand knead it? If so, is it ok to add all the flour at the same time, then knead to the right consistency?
You can certainly hand knead, but still only had the flour in increments to prevent adding too much flour and it becoming a dense and heavy bread.
Ok thank you, one more question. Is it ok to use all purpose if I’m out of bread flour?
Yes. But, the final product might not have as much chew or rise as high as bread flour. All-purpose flour can result in a more open texture and tender bread. Bread flour has more protein, which helps it develop more gluten and create a tighter crumb and taller, airier loaf.
Hello, is it okay to leave the bread resting overnight ?
I don’t recommend it. It would likely overproof.
Can you use Instant dry yeast?
Yes, if using instant, there is no need to reactivate the yeast in warm water.