Italian herb bread is a delicious, flavorful, and aromatic bread. It is easy to make and can be used for your morning toast, making sandwiches, and grilled cheese for school lunches. It is a great alternative to basic white bread. It also goes well with soups.
This is an easy herb bread recipe made in the bread machine using all-purpose flour. It does all the tasks of mixing, kneading, rising, and finally baking the bread. If you prefer, you can bake the bread in the oven as well.
Ingredients
This Italian herb bread recipe requires only a few basic ingredients, easily available in the pantry. All-purpose flour or bread flour, sugar, salt, yeast, Italian seasoning, and extra virgin olive oil are what you will need.
The main ingredient is Italian seasoning which gives a delicious flavor and mesmerizing aroma when the bread is baked. Your house will smell so good!
Instant yeast or bread machine yeast will work well for this recipe.
Instructions
Once you have all the ingredients, it is very easy to make this herbed bread recipe in the bread machine. It is best to weigh the flour using a digital food scale for consistent results. Measuring flour using a measuring cup is inconsistent and can add more flour than needed resulting in very dense bread.
Depending on your bread machine, put the wet and dry ingredients in the bread pan based on the manufacturer's instructions. I have added water, olive oil, sugar, salt, Italian seasoning, all-purpose flour, and instant yeast.
Select the basic bread cycle and the medium crust setting. Select the loaf size to 1.5 lb and start the cycle. The bread machine will do the rest of the job of mixing, kneading, rising, and finally baking.
I usually remove the paddle after the final kneading is done and then allow the final rise followed by the baking phase. This makes only a tiny hole at the bottom of the bread instead of a larger hole created by the paddle.
Once the bread is baked, take the pan out from the bread machine and remove the bread. It might need a little shaking and persuasion, so be careful, as the pan would be very hot.
Once out, allow the bread to cool down completely on a cooling rack before slicing it with an electric knife or a serrated bread knife.
Substitutions
This bread machine herb bread is very easy to make and uses only 7 ingredients. There are a few substitutions that can work well in case you do not have all the ingredients.
- All-purpose flour - instead of bread flour, you can use all-purpose flour.
- Yeast - Instant yeast or bread machine yeast works fine in the bread machine. You can read more on which yeast to use in a bread machine.
- Herbs - Instead of dried Italian seasoning, fresh herbs like rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley, and thyme can be used.
Variations
You can easily adapt this recipe to your liking and make it to your family's liking.
- Dinner rolls - this recipe can easily be adapted to make dinner rolls. Make the dough using the dough cycle and then roll them into dough balls and bake them after a final rise.
- Bake in the oven - You can use the dough cycle and make the dough and then bake it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes at 350°F.
Equipment
I have made this Italian herb bread in the 2 lb. Hamilton Beach Artisan bread maker using the basic white bread cycle. This recipe should work well in any bread machine which can make a 1.5 lb loaf.
Once you remove the bread from the bread machine pan, allow it to cool down completely on a cooling rack, and then slice it with an electric knife or a serrated bread knife.
Storage
Herb bread can be stored at room temperature for 4-5 days. It is best to keep it in a bread box or in an air-tight container. It is not recommended to store the bread in the fridge as it loses its moisture and becomes dry.
If you want to store the bread for a longer time, it is best to slice the bread and store it in the freezer in ziploc bags. When you need them, just take out the required number of slices and toast them in a toaster.
Top tip
- Measuring the flour with a measuring cup can give inconsistent results as the cup can be tightly packed while scooping the flour. So it is best to weigh the flour for a consistent result.
- Allow the bread loaf to cool down completely before slicing
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📖 Recipe
Bread Machine Herb Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- 1 cup Water (microwave 30 seconds)
- 4 tablespoon Olive oil
Dry ingredients
- 420 grams All-purpose flour 3 ½ cup(or bread flour)
- 2 tablespoon Organic cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 7 grams Bread Machine yeast 2 ¼ tsp(or instant yeast)
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
Bake in bread machine
- Place the wet and dry ingredients in the order required by your bread machine with yeast added last.
- Close the lid and select the "Basic" cycle, 1.5 lb size and the preferred crust setting.
- The bread will be ready once the cycle completes.
- Remove the loaf by inverting the pan and shaking it.
- Place the bread on a cooling rack and allow it to cool down.
- Once the bread is cooled down completely, slice it with a serrated bread knife or an electric knife.
Bake in the oven
- Place the wet and dry ingredients in the order required by your bread machine with yeast added last.
- Close the lid and select the "dough" cycle.
- Once the cycle completes, remove the dough from the pan and shape it into a log of 8 inches in length.
- Place it in the bread baking pan (9 by 5 inches) and allow it to rise for about 45-50 minutes until it doubles in volume.
- Cover with a food wrap or a kitchen towel so that it does not dry up.
- Once it has doubled in volume, preheat the oven to 350 °F.
- Remove the food wrap gently and then place the pan in the oven.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown in color.
- Transfer it to a cooling rack and allow it to cool down completely before slicing.
Watch Video
Notes
- Sifting and weighing the flour helps make the bread soft. Sifting is optional, however, weighing the flour gives consistent results.
- Once the bread is baked, remove it from the container and place it on a rack to cool down. Leaving the bread in the container to cool down can make it moist.
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