A soft, white, crusty loaf that toasts to perfection either in pan or a regular toaster. This bread contains no butter but loves it nevertheless. Butter it liberally before eating.

I followed the recipe pretty closely but added a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten as I do with all my breads being one of the fortunate who can enjoy wheat in all forms. I also adapted it to the Zojirushi bread machine by using its long 3:45 cycle with a longer kneading and rising time. I upped the yeast to 2 1/4 teaspoons -- just a little extra. And, as always with the Zo, I looked in during kneading and added a couple of tablespoons of water to make the dough thick enough to hold up in rising. You may find you need more flour one time, more water the next depending on the humidity and the accuracy of your measurements. This is a great loaf. Enjoy

Excellent crumb texture and flavor, we make this almost weekly

A perfect basic loaf, wonderfully crusty.

Delicious! Love that you can make this on delay mode and enjoyed it for breakfast with butter and jelly... Mmmmm

While I agree it is an excellent recipe it is for a 2 lb. loaf. Would have preferred to have the breakdown for a 1 or 1.5 pound loaf instead.

This an excellent bread. I improvised and added more salt and Rosemary.

The only reason I give this four stars is because it is too large for a typical bread machine. It overflowed the pan and was squished up against the lid of the machine. Other than that though, it is wonderful! It turned out perfectly light and moist on the inside with just the right crustiness on the outside. YUM!

Hi, mine didn't turn out at all. I did use plain flour as i couldn't find the other. Could this be why it still looked the same as when i put it in?

It's a really good recipe for a bread machine recipe. Really dense and I used bread flour - that's how all mine in this machine turn out though. Thanks for sharing!!!!

A great loaf of bread! Nice and light, not heavy like other recipes. I'm going to use it for french toast in the morning!

OMG! This bread is GREAT! I used a Betty Crocker bread machine bread recipe and it was incredibly dry so I looked on-line again and found this one. I just got done cutting it and trying a nice warm piece and want to keep eating more! I personally like a soft crust so I brushed melted butter on the top of the loaves when they came out of the oven. It is so soft, warm and flavorful... Absolutely THE BEST I've ever made, and I've made a lot of bread from scratch, the old fashioned way. I did bake the bread in my own oven, rather than using the machine if that's helpful to anyone.

I joined to rave about this bread! Have problem with top falling a little but still great !

This bread is fab! I just followed the recipe and added pesto powder to the flour mix. The texture, aroma, and taste are really good.

i ended up baking it outside of the bread machine and in my oven. Great recipe!

Nice, crusty loaf. Only thing is, it rises so high in my bread machine, it smooshes against the lid of the machine. This results in a small square on the top of the loaf not 'crustifying' correctly.

This needed more water - I added 3 tablespoons water during initial knead. Otherwise very good!

This makes a wonderful, crusty french bread. It was so easy and so delicious!

[I made edits to this recipe.]

Who says you can't make decent bread in a bread machine? This is probably my favorite French Bread recipe for the bread machine. Nice and crusty. Fabulous slathered with softened or whipped butter. Let it stand 10 minutes before you slice it with a sharp bread knife.

Who says you can't make decent bread in a bread machine? This is probably my favorite French Bread recipe for the bread machine. Nice and crusty. Fabulous slathered with softened or whipped butter. Let it stand 10 minutes before you slice it with a sharp bread knife.