I have made this twice now and although I really like the flavour of it I can't seem to get it to rise very well. I followed the recipe to a tee and it rises really well at first and then when I form it into loaves it doesn't do as well... Makes for a very heavy loaf. Tasty, just not the best texture.

This makes an excellent (and moist) bread. I doubled the recipe to make two loaves and used all white whole wheat flour (no bread flour) and coarse salt. The recipe is very forgiving too - I missed the bit about kneading after mixing all of the ingredients together so I mixed and let rise for an hour. The dough rose nicely and I kneaded a bit before the second rise in the pans. Baked up perfectly at 375 for 35 min. When I make this again (and I will!) I'll leave out the anise. It was a nice flavor, but I'd like to try it without for a little more versatility in pairing. I'm sure other herb additions would work well too.