classic italian bread
This classic Italian bread recipe is soft and tender on the inside with a chewy crust on the outside. Homemade bread doesn’t get much better — or simpler — than this!
(NOTE: This post was originally published in 2014 (!). We’ve since then updated it with new photos, but it’s the same recipe you know and love.)
How to Make Italian Bread from Scratch
Sometimes I wish I had one of those potions from Alice in Wonderland so I can make myself small enough to lay on a slice of this Italian bread like a pillow. A heavenly soft, carbolicious pillow.
But seriously, how wonderful would that be? Because not only are you totally comfy-cozy, you also have a snack right there to munch on as needed. And then when you want to eat the bread as a sandwich or make it into a yummy baked French toast or strata or something, you can take the potion that makes you big again. It’s perfect.
Aaaaaand I’ve lost you. But homemade, soft-on-the-inside-crusty-on-the-outside classic Italian bread, remember? Yes, let’s focus more on that.
Watch How to Make Homemade Italian Bread
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Ingredients You’ll Need
I am fairly certain that whenever I went to my grandma and grandpa’s house as a kid, my snack diet consisted of snap peas from the garden, kohlrabi stalks (no, really, so good) and sliced Italian bread from the bakery plain or with my grandmother’s plum jam on it (that is truly one of the best things about life ever, and I hope I can get the recipe one day to share it with you). So when Red Star Yeast asked me to make a loaf of Italian bread using their yeast, I was happy to take it on because nostalgia. And homemade bread. It was a no-brainer.
I was a little nervous that my recipe wouldn’t taste quite the same as what I remembered eating as a youth — that soft, aforementioned pillowy center with a perfectly chewy, flaky crust — but my friends, this recipe is just that and it is a glorious thing. It really doesn’t take much time, effort or ingredients to get there, either. Just a little:
- Flour (bread flour or all-purpose flour works for this recipe!)
- Yeast (Active dry yeast or instant yeast — see Recipe Notes for conversions!)
- Water
- Olive oil
- And a little know-how on shaping it into a batard/torpedo loaf (which I show in the video above!)
And just like that, you’re well on your way to homemade bread blissdom.
How to Enjoy Italian Bread
So in conclusion, I’ll be making a loaf of this bread on the regular this fall and the Season That Shall Not Be Named. And it will be taking any and all of the following forms: Sandwich, strata, bread pudding, French toast, baked French toast casserole, croutons, grilled cheese, toast. Surely I am missing more options, but that’s just for starters.
Of course, just eating slice after slice plain (as I may or may not have done once this loaf was cool enough to cut into) is going to happen a lot, too.
If this crisp-cool weather (or in my great state of Minnesota, the weird summer-after-fall weather we’ll be having) has got you bit by the baking bug as it has me, then put this easy homemade Italian bread on your list. You can thank me for it later, with a sandwich. For dessert, keep the Italian thing going with this olive oil cake, ricotta blueberry cake or an Italian panna cotta!
More Delicious Bread Recipes
- rosemary-garlic no-knead bread
- no knead ciabatta bread
- classic brioche loaf bread
- cinnamon raisin sourdough bread
- whole wheat bread
- potato bread
- nostalgic banana bread
Italian Bread
Description
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast 1 packet
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 ½ cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, combine yeast, sugar and warm water (about 110°F)
- Let stand 5 to 10 minutes or until yeast is foamy.
- Add 2 cups flour, olive oil and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon or with a dough hook on low speed until a shaggy dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand 10 minutes, adding just enough of the remaining flour until a soft, smooth and elastic dough forms; OR, increase dough hook speed to medium and knead dough in stand mixer 5 minutes, adding just enough of the remaining flour until a soft, smooth and elastic dough forms.
- Shape dough into a ball; place in an oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise 1 hour until doubled.
- Heat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, a silicone mat or lightly grease the surface with oil or cooking spray. On a lightly floured surface, punch down dough, then carefully shape into a batard/torpedo about 12 inches long. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Cover with a tea towel and let rise another 20 to 30 minutes until puffy.
- Use bread lame, razor blade or serrated knife to make a few 1/4-inch deep slits in the surface of the loaf. Bake loaf 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing.
Notes
- Yield: 1 large loaf
- *If you only have instant yeast on hand, use 1 3/4 teaspoons of instant yeast in place of the active dry yeast.
- Use the highest quality olive oil you have on hand, if possible.
- How to store homemade Italian bread: Leave unsliced bread uncovered (or covered with a tea towel) at room temperature 1-2 days. If sliced, store bread cut side-down on a cutting board at room temperature 1-2 days. Beyond 2 days, store bread in a paper or plastic bag, sealed, at room temperature another 1-2 days. You can also freeze homemade Italian bread in a sealed plastic bag for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Disclosure: I received compensation from Red Star Yeast for recipe development purposes. All opinions are my own.
I can actually SEE the fluffiness of that bread in your photos. GORGEOUS.
Alice — The smell of fresh-baked bread should be a candle, I love it so much. 🙂 And yeah, the whole Adrian Peterson thing is crazy… it’s all over the news!
Please let me know if you get a recipe for that magic potion of Alice’s. I also want to lay my head on this fluffy bread.
That plum jam sounds fantastic though – aren’t grandmas the best?
Sune — Oh, I’ll be sure to let you know, as I want everyone to share in the pillowy goodness. 😉 And the plum jam IS the best — I’ll have to have my grandma share the recipe with me soon!
Napping on bread? YES for pillowy soft!
Looks perfect. Never thought of bread as a pillow but thanks for analogy I know love bread even more. (If that’s even possible).
Bread is one of the highlights of my life. 🙂
So, my husband is the only one in our house who has made Italian bread. How have I let that happen?! I need to change that with this bread!
This bread looks amazing! I’ve never made Italian bread before, but I think that needs to change because it looks really good!
You can never, never, never go wrong with homemade bread!
You know I am going to make this bread! LOVE it!
Halloooo, i just try your recipe and succesful.. The recipe so simple so i can follow easily.. Thanks stephanie.. Greeting from Indonesia ; )
You rule the breads, my lovekins. You certainly do. I want to smear every single spread, both sweet and savory, on that bread. Possibly at the same time. 😉
This is one beautiful loaf!!
Homemade bread (that doesn’t use a bread maker) has always seemed a bit daunting to me, but the thought of pulling a fresh loaf out of the oven that I made with my own two hands sounds so appealing to me! Not to mention all of the wonderful things I would make with it, if only to stop me from eating the entire loaf slice by slice, smeared with butter. Yum!
Well I have a breadmaker that has only ever baked one loaf of bread in 4 years. I use it for dough only. First knead and rise, then remove dough, second punch down/knead and rise then bake. Saves a little time and the dough is nearly always just right.
I made this bread to go with an olive oil and herb dip. The bread was a cinch to make and I love the simplicity of the ingredients. Thanks for sharing! This recipe is a keeper!