I've just made this bread and I must say that I too had to use at least 1 1/2 cups additional flour as it was much to sticky to work with. Also I used the damp cloth as instructed and when I went to punch down the dough it had stuck to my dough. I thought possibly I hadn't dampened the cloth enough but when I went to remove it from the raised dough a second time again it stuck to the dough. It has risen beautifully and is baking as we speak, it looks beautiful. The critics of the family will scarf it I'm sure!

Using all purpose flour I used at least 2 extra cups, if not more. Eh, that's fine but a recipe is supposed to give exact amounts. I think you can reduce the amount of yeast (makes it cheaper) without bad results. I used molasses instead of sugar. Right now I am trying this with 1/3 rye flour....

This bread was tasteless. It smelled great baking so I had my hopes up for a nice slice of homemade bread. Nothing can help this bread. The over powering taste of nothing kills out anything to put on it to make it taste good. WILL NOT MAKE AGAIN

I used this for a stromboli crust with the Exquisite Pizza Sauce from this site. Came out really good.

GREAT RECIPE! Highly reccommend!

I've tried many different bread recipes and most of them don't provide a nice product like this recipe. I use this one all the time as my regular bread recipe and even as the "basis" for fancy breads like hot-cross buns. This is an easy idiot-proof recipe that works all the time (except if your yeast is old... lol) The only two things I do a little differently is that (1) I do all the mixing/kneading with a machine because my wrists don't have the strength, and (2) I use 1 Tablespoon of Egg-Beaters (regular eggs slightly beaten are fine as well) instead of water to baste the tops when they are ready for the oven - but be very gentle when applying the egg-wash so as to not deflate your loaf and spoil the batch. I use a very light touch with my fingers instead of a brush because I can control the touch better. The eggs will give the bread tops a nice glossy brown which is very eye-appealing. I sometimes will sprinkle some dried green herbs (like parsley) on top or even Parmesan cheese while the egg-wash is still wet just for a change.

My husband had wanted a bread "just like Grandma's." After many tries and getting "it's good but it's not as... (crispy, fluffy, tasty, etc.) I finally found it! Thank you from the whole family!

I was very impressed with this recipe, I mean yes you do need to add a little more flour to the recipe but it is wonderful my husband loves it.

perfect. thank you for sharing this is a very easy and tasty bread

Delish!

For a first-timer, this bread was very easy and fun to make. It tasted amazing right out of the oven. Like almost everyone else said, I did have to add about 2 cups more flour to the dough because it was VERY sticky. Once that was taken care of, the dough turned out perfect! I'll definitely be making this again!

Ok, as with other reviewers, I had to add additional flour, about 1.5 cups, but that's nothing on the recipe. Flour is very persnickety, and what was a perfect 6 cups for her one day may not have been, even the next! I really like this recipe- it reminds me of my grandmother's recipe, in taste, but somewhat of French Bread in texture. It doesn't have a pronounced flavor, but I've come to expect that of white bread, and this one has much, much more flavor than anything you buy in the store! I made this to use 2 slices in Ricotta Gnocci, but was just informed by my 7-year-old that this is a repeat recipe. Thank you! It's lovely!

MY FAMILY ATE THE 2 LOAVES IN ONE DAY!

My family and I love this bread. I also brush mine with melted butter, delicious.

The bread comes out looking and smelling great but that is where your expectations should end. It is very heavy and dense and not at all like the light crusty artisan bread that we all have in mind when making this recipe. If you can get past the texture then you have to contend with the taste, or lack there of. It REALLY needs salt. We had to put salt on after we buttered it just to eat it. Normally I would throw something like this away, but come on, after spending all the time kneading and rising and waiting, we were eating this dang bread! I give it 2 starts just because it did come out looking pretty. This is something I wouldn't even bother modifying.

I made this bread for Thanksgiving this year and it was a total hit! I usually don't measure my ingredients to anything because I think it turns out better. I went by the recipe on how to knead it and to add the last 2 cups 1/2 cup at a time. That seemed to really help the consistancy. I really liked the oil based part of it. It really does make it crispy. It was sooooo good!

I read the reviews on this bread and decided to try it. I make homemade bread at least once a week. This bread was totally goopy and not like any bread dough I've made before. I added well over 1 cup of flour to the dough to even get it to a consistency I could kneed. I did see other reviews that had to add flour but why would someone rate a recipe 5 stars if it wasn't quite right as written? I weigh my flour so I'm sure I added exactly the correct amount. This one seems WAY off.