Tuscan bread is perfect to go with any saucy meal. It’s meant to accompany a dish, and this simple version makes it easy to have at home.
Jump to RecipeI love having bread with my meals. Especially the saucy ones because I can use the bread to mop up all the sauce at the end. Good manners? Maybe not. Do I care? Not really! That’s the beauty of cooking and eating at home.
When I was in Italy over a decade ago, I remember being excited about all of the different types of bread we could try. We were only in Rome, but I tried as many types of bread as I could. One of those was the distinct and unique Tuscan bread. It’s made without salt, so it’s honestly rather bland. But, that makes it the perfect bread to go with just about any saucy meal.
I recently saw something about Tuscan bread that reminded me of my Italy trip. When I started searching how to make it, I found a lot of complicated recipes. Make a sponge the night before. Let it refrigerate. Add things in the morning. It reminded me a lot of making the dough for homemade kolaches, which was a lot of work.
Instead of all that, I set out to make a simple recipe. Is it authentic? No. But it’s much easier and manageable at home. This is a simple version of Tuscan bread with added herbs for a bit of flavor. I also used the stand mixer which some may say is cheating, I say it’s using my resources.
Tuscan Bread Step by Step
Ingredients
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 4 cups bread flour
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in the stand mixer bowl and attach the dough hook. Mix on 2 for 30 seconds-1 minutes, until it forms a dough.
Grease a medium mixing bowl and move the dough into the bowl. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.
Punch down the dough and form into the shape you want your loaf – round, oblong, or braided. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375F. Use a sharp knife to make slashes in your bread in any pattern you wish. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown. Let the bread cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Leftovers
Keep leftover Tuscan bread in an airtight container or bread container at room temperature. It will last up to about 3-4 days, depending on the humidity in your house. Since there are no preservatives, it won’t last as long as a store-bought loaf of bread.
Recipe
Originally Published On: August 9, 2021
Tuscan Bread
Ingredients
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 4 cups bread flour
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in the stand mixer bowl and attach the dough hook
- Mix on 2 for 30 seconds-1 minutes, until it forms a dough
- Grease a medium mixing bowl and move the dough into the bowl
- Cover and let rise for 1 hour
- Punch down the dough and form into the shape you want your loaf – round, oblong, or braided
- Place on a lightly greased baking sheet
- Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour
- Preheat the oven to 375F
- Use a sharp knife to make slashes in your bread in any pattern you wish
- Bake for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown
- Let the bread cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Simple Herbed Tuscan Bread FAQs
While most loaves of bread have salt, it’s believed that Tuscan bread doesn’t have salt because of the high taxes on salt in the Middle Ages. They had to do without and continued the tradition.
Src: https://www.walksinsideflorence.it/the-debate-on-florentine-bread.html
Bread flour is made from different wheat than all-purpose flour, giving it a higher protein content. This also helps the bread rise more than all-purpose flour.
Src: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2016/07/21/substitute-bread-flour-all-purpose-flour
Instant yeast is slightly different than active dry yeast. They both help the bread rise. The difference is in how they activate. Active dry yeast needs to dissolve in water before activating. Instant yeast can be mixed straight in with the remainder of your ingredients.
Src: https://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-active-dry-yeast-and-instant-yeast-54252
More Bread Sides to try
- Easy Corn Bread Muffins (Dairy-Free)
- Pizza Breadsticks
- Pineapple Bread Casserole
- Simple Herbed Tuscan Bread
- Homemade Stuffing or Dressing Recipe with Fresh Bread
- Breadsticks with Garlic and Parmesan
- Cheesy Garlic Bread
- Homemade Fluffy Dinner Rolls
- Sesame Pull-Apart Rolls
- Buttermilk Biscuits in Under an Hour
Oh I love this! We got a bread maker this year and are loving doing different recipes. I will have to try this!
I love my bread maker! I haven’t used it much lately but it’s about time to pull it out to make fresh bread to go with all the soups of the fall season 🙂
I have to see if I can make it like your recipe. Japan only has one kind of yeast in the stores and I think it is just dry yeast. I would love to make bread for soup season!
Since this is mixed with water, you should be able to use either type of yeast.
You know me, I love trying out fast, easy-to-cook recipes😜! This simple Tuscan bread looks so good, I have gotta try it soon 😍 Also, thanks for sharing the details about bread flour. I thought it’s similar to all-purpose flour!
There isn’t much of a difference, but it can still change the outcome of the recipe.
I love the simplicity of this Tuscan bread! Having a bread maker this year was a great purchase. Definitely going to have to try this!
Simple is always good 🙂 And the bread maker is awesome!
thank you for this. we are at the point of our life that we make our own bread, and definitely we will try this recipe.
I love having homemade bread in the house. It’s so fresh and makes the house smell wonderful.
Aww, this is good. Thanks for generously sharing with us your herbed Tuscan bread recipe. My family would enjoy this!
You’re welcome! We love fresh bread here, so happy to share with others 🙂
We are making soup this weekend and this bread would go perfectly with it, it seems like an easy recipe too
I love love love to try new bread…I can’t wait to make this one, looks delicious.
Nothing beats homemade bread. I love how easy this one is to make. The Italian seasoning is great idea…so delicious with butter…Mmm!
Nothing like the smell and taste of freshly made bread, this recipe looks amazing and I can’t wait to try making it
I can’t believe how simple it is to bake bread, I really thought it would be a lot more difficult to do so. I am trying it on Sat, can’t wait.