Our Favorite Italian Bread

Five ingredients. No butter, no oil, no eggs, no milk. This bread machine Italian bread is as lean as it gets, and that’s exactly why it works. Bread flour, water, yeast, salt, and a touch of sugar produce a loaf with a chewy crumb and a crust that actually crunches.

Lean doughs like this develop more gluten because there’s no fat coating the flour proteins. The result is bread with real structure and chew, closer to what you’d find at an Italian bakery than a soft sandwich loaf. The small amount of sugar feeds the yeast and encourages browning, nothing more.

This is bread in its simplest, most honest form. Load the machine and let it do its thing.

Kitchen Tips

• Use bread flour, not all-purpose. The higher protein content is what gives this lean loaf its chew and structure.
• A little extra yeast (2 ½ teaspoons) ensures a good rise despite the absence of enrichments like eggs and butter that normally help dough rise.
• For a crispier crust, remove the loaf from the pan immediately after the cycle ends and cool on a wire rack. Leaving it in the pan steams the crust soft.

Variations

• Add a tablespoon of olive oil for a slightly softer crumb that’s still authentically Italian.
• Mix in a teaspoon each of dried rosemary and garlic powder for a focaccia-inspired flavor.
• Sprinkle sesame seeds on top before baking (if your machine allows it) for a semolina bakery look.