Italian Bread Machine Recipe from The Bread Machine Cookbook

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This Italian bread recipe from “The Bread Machine Cookbook” by Donna Rathmell German is a go-to in my cookbook collection. Bread baking smells homey, cozy, and good. Did I mention that whole irresistible factor it’s got goin’ on?

Breakups, work stress, papercuts — it doesn’t matter. I bake bread in my automatic bread machine, and I feel a tiny bit better. Let me show you the cookbook, then we will get to the recipe. Or skip my gibber-gabber and use the Table of Contents to pop on down.

Table of Contents

• Nitty Gritty Productions Bread Machine Cookbook Series
• “The Bread Machine Cookbook” by Donna Rathmell German Titles
• Other Bread Machine Cookbooks by Donna Rathmell German
• Baking Italian Bread in Your Bread Machine
• How To Make Great Italian Bread in the Bread Machine
• Recipe for Italian Bread Machine Bread
• Bread Machine Cookbooks from the Nitty Gritty Series
• Related Recipes

Nitty Gritty Productions Bread Machine Cookbook Series

You already know I have a sizeable cookbook collection. The Nitty Gritty Cookbooks series from Bristol Publishing Enterprises, Inc. make their way to the top of the stack often.

Why do I love Nitty Gritty cookbooks?

For the most part, they are easy, breezy recipes with pantry staples and typical on-hand ingredients with uncomplicated procedures. Although they lack images, the content is what matters in these rectangular books.

These books deliver recipes you can trust.

I don’t think an image-free cookbook is a deal-breaker. I mean, you’re baking loaves of bread here or the usual bread kind of items. But, it is worth noting, just in case you have an issue with bare bones cookbooks. New bakers can easily handle this one.

Trust me, though, if you want a basic loaf of bread, you won’t go wrong with “The Bread Machine Cookbook” by Donna Rathmell German. The majority of the recipes are simple “put the ingredients in the bread basket.” It doesn’t get any easier.

“The Bread Machine Cookbook” by Donna Rathmell German Titles

“The Bread Machine Cookbook” is a 171-page, 8.25 x 0.5 x 5.25-inch cookbook. Only two pages are devoted to bread machine use and then a few more to ingredients, and a bit about troubleshooting. Some of the information remains relevant. Otherwise, this book is mostly recipes.

Each recipe appears on its own page. Without any images or illustrations, it is bare bones. But it’s also easy on the eyes. The font is clear, the formatting makes sense, and if you choose a recipe that requires more than knowing the order of what ingredients you put in the bread machine, it’s still easy to follow.

Chapters inside “The Bread Machine Cookbook” include the following:

• Introduction
• About Bread Machines
• Bread Ingredients
• Hints and Trouble Shooting
• White and Cheese Breads
• Whole Wheat, Grain, and Cereal Breads
• Sourdough Breads
• Fruit and Vegetable Breads
• Spice and Herb Breads
• Dough Cycle
• Sources of Ingredients
• Nutritional Comparisons
• Bibliography
• Index

My favorite bread recipes in my 1991 edition (these recipes are in the later edition, so don’t worry) include:

• Sally Lunn, a butter and egg loaf
• Portuguese White Bread, a lighter crust
• Portuguese Sweet Bread, a milk and egg bread
• Peasant Bread, light yet crisped crust
• Crusty Cuban Bread, a low rising loaf
• French Honey Bread, subtly sweet
• Buttermilk Bread, a fluffy bread
• Cheddar Cheese Bread, a nice soup accompaniment

Those recipes are only from the White and Cheese Breads chapter. But I seem to make them on repeat. My cookbook flips right open to all those pages.

Other recipes I’d like to try include:

• Whole Wheat 1 (from the Whole Wheat, Grain, and Cereal Breads chapter)
• Swedish Rye Bread (from the Whole Wheat, Grain, and Cereal Breads chapter)
• Light Pumpernickel (from the Whole Wheat, Grain, and Cereal Breads chapter)
• Coconut Pineapple Bread (from the Fruit and Vegetable chapter)
• Orange Cinnamon Bread (from the Fruit and Vegetable Breads chapter)
• Coffee Spice Bread (from the Spice and Herb Breads chapter)
• Almond Butter Crescents (from the Dough Cycle chapter)

All of The Bread Machine Cookbooks by Donna Rathmell German

I suggest you begin with the first (revised) book for automatic bread machines, “The Bread Machine Cookbook” (2005). There is an earlier edition, too. Either version will earn a permanent home on your kitchen bookshelf.

• The Bread Machine Cookbook I (2005 Revised Edition) by Donna Rathmell German
• The Bread Machine Cookbook II (1991) by Donna Rathmell German
• The Bread Machine Cookbook III (1992) by Donna Rathmell German
• The Bread Machine Cookbook IV: Whole Grains & Natural Sugars (1992) by Donna Rathmell German
• The Bread Machine Cookbook V: Favorite Recipes from 100 Kitchens (1994) by Donna Rathmell German
• Worldwide Sourdoughs from Your Bread Machine (1994) by Donna Rathmell German
• The Bread Machine Cookbook VI: Hand-Shaped Breads from the Dough Cycle (1995) by Donna Rathmell German

Yes, the same woman, Donna Rathmell German, wrote those bread machine cookbooks. Wouldn’t you like to have been her neighbor during that whole cookbook writing and recipe testing process?

I wish I could tell you all about the author, as I have done with other cookbook authors, such as Chuck Williams, Irma S. Rombauer, and Marion Cunningham.

Read about these and other cookbook authors here.

But, unfortunately, I can’t find an author page for Donna. My books lack an author bio, too. The back of my “The Best Bread Machine Cookbook” includes this snippet:

There have been more of Donna German’s Bread Machine Cookbooks sold than any other books on this subject. She has tested more breads, in more machines, and produced more recipes (more than 1000!) than any other author.

“The Bread Machine Cookbook (1991), Back Cover.

That’s all I can find. If I come across information about Donna, I will update this page.

Baking Italian Bread in Your Bread Machine

There are a million recipes for Italian Bread. Every bread machine cookbook has one. I should know. I went through a heap of automatic bread machine books for my Bread Machine Cookbook list.

I love this recipe. It always turns out — even back when I had a cruddy machine. I’m eating a slice of Italian bread while trying to type.

What’s even better, is that this bread machine recipe contains simple ingredients (as Italian bread should), but I enjoy this mix of bread flour, yeast, salt, water, and a tiny amount of sugar. It works. It’s reliable and trustworthy.

Although I prefer to use bread flour, it isn’t mandatory. The difference is in the gluten. You’ll have a better loaf if you use bread flour. But all-purpose flour still makes a loaf you’ll love.

How To Make Great Italian Bread in the Bread Machine

While a bread machine can be super hands-off (unless you are making dough or using another specialty function), that doesn’t mean you can neglect it completely.

Pay attention to your bread machine for the best results (weather conditions affect flour).

• Do you hear signs of struggling? Add a Tablespoon of water to avoid damaging the motor, Rathmell German shared (The Bread Machine Cookbook, Page 4)
• Does the dough look too wet? Add a Tablespoon of flour.
• Does the dough look lopsided? Fix it by hand before it hits the rising cycle.

Do not skip adding salt to your bread machine recipe. Salt plays an important role in successful bread baking. Salt does much more than add flavor.

A growth-inhibitor of the yeast, salt provides a counterbalance for the sugar. It also brings out the flavor of the bread.

If breads are not rising, the amount of salt may be cut.

Donna Rathmell German, The Bread Machine Cookbook (1991), Page 10.

If you have other questions about using your bread machine, check out The Ultimate Guide to Baking Bread with a Bread Machine.

Recipe for Italian Bread Machine Bread

Print

Bread Machine Cookbooks from the Nitty Gritty Series

If you browsed through the Nitty Gritty Cookbooks titles, then you’ll see the books below on there, too. I wanted to highlight the bread machine cookbooks so you could better see what you might be missing.

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