Easy Italian White Bread

Easy Italian White Bread: Baking your own bread is not only easier than you think, but it’s also fun and satisfying. Warm and toasty bread is the perfect comfort food for any time of the year!

If you love bread recipes then you’re also going to love this focaccia bread!

Why you’ll love this recipe

There’s nothing better than filling your home with the smell of warm fresh, delicious bread in the wintertime. (Especially when it’s these soft pretzels!)

There’s something about the smell, taste, and texture of homemade bread that’s just so comforting! Now, of course you can get the popular Italian bread at the grocery store, but there’s just something about homemade.

My favorite things to do with this traditional Italian bread is dip it in chicken noodle soup, serve tuna salad on it, use it for bruschetta or serve it alongside a delicious main dish, like crab legs (you know, for that dripping butter to soak up)!! You can also use this bread for a perfect sandwich (like Subway bread) like this caprese grilled cheese or use it to make french toast!

Jump to:

• Why you’ll love this recipe
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• How do you keep homemade bread fresh?
• Is Italian bread the same as French Bread?
• What is the best flour for making homemade bread?
• How to serve
• Easy Italian White Bread

Ingredients

• active dry yeast
• warm water, divided (If the water is too warm, it can lead to your bread not rising properly. If the water is too cool, it can lead to a chance of your bread not rising)
• granulated sugar (a bit of sugar gives it just a little sweetness but this is not a dessert bread)
• olive oil (or any vegetable oil)
• salt
• unbleached all purpose flour

Egg wash (optional)

• egg
• sesame seeds

*see recipe card toward the bottom of this post for quantities

Instructions

DIRECTIONS:

1. In the bowl of your stand up mixer with a dough hook, add ½ cup of warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar.
2. Once the yeast has bloomed (or foamed), add the remaining water, oil, and salt. Mix slightly 30 seconds.
3. Add the flour. I like adding the flour in increments, about a 1/3 at a time, and slightly mix in between each on low speed. Add the next 1/3 of the flour once you don’t have much loose flour in the bowl.

4. Once you added all the flour and all ingredients are incorporated, increase the speed of your mixer to medium and mix for 5 minutes. At one point, the dough will form a ball and separate from the wall of the bowl. Once touching the dough, it is sticky but does not leave your hands covered in dough.

*NOTE* If you are doing this bread without a stand up mixer, knead the dough on a floured surface for 5 to 8 minutes until it is no more sticky and uniform.

5. Transfer the dough to a light flour surface (about 1 tablespoon of flour) and knead the dough into a ball.

6. Transfer the dough into a greased bowl. Cover with a plastic film and let it rise for 1 hour or until it doubles. In a warm, draft-free place. I like putting mine in the microwave
7. Grease (I like using butter) a cookie sheet. You can also line with a parchment paper or silicone mat. Set aside

8. Once the dough has doubled, punch the dough and place it on a working surface , I like to use my pastry mat.

9. Separate the dough into 2 halves.

10. Take one half and flatten it out into a rectangle and roll the rectangle into a log.
11. Once the dough is a log, roll it to have a 12-inch-long rope.

12. Place on the prepared cookie sheet
13. Do the same for the second bread.
14. Cover and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for 30 minutes

*NOTE* At the 10 minutes mark, make 3 to 4 slashes in the bread and cover with egg wash, and sprinkles some sesame seeds.

**NOTE** Put the bread back into warm, draft-free for 20 minutes

15. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
16. Baked in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F. The bread will be golden brown. 

Hint: Adding sesame seeds changes the look and the taste of the bread. When your bread is baking, the sesame seeds will be roasting. So every bite of this loaf of Italian bread will have a moist inside with roasted sesame seeds!

How do you keep homemade bread fresh?

It’s best to store this loaf of Italian bread in an airtight container or plastic bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. Storing homemade bread in the refrigerator causes it to go stale too quickly and heat and/or humidity causes it to mold too quickly.

Is Italian bread the same as French Bread?

French bread tends to be more narrow and longer while Italian bread is shorter and thicker. Italian bread is normally denser and has a harder crust than french bread. Either way, both taste amazing dipped in Italian spices and olive oil!

What is the best flour for making homemade bread?

Unbleached all-purpose flour is the best type of flour for white bread and other Italian breads. Bread flour is another type of flour that’s used in other bread recipes. Bread flower has a higher amount of protein than unbleached flour which yields a higher rising bread. This recipe calls for unbleached flour and not bread flour!

How to serve

This easy Italian white bread is the kind of bread that can be served as an appetizer with dipping oil, it’s also a great side dish for those Italian meals or other easy dinner recipes!

You can also serve this bread, fresh and warm with a slab of butter. Or, top with butter, and cheeses such as Monterey jack cheese and even make a garlic cheese toast out of it!