It’s amazing what can be done with just a little yeast, flour and a few other simple ingredients that almost everyone would have in their pantry. This is why I love making bread some much.
I can make so many different kinds of breads just by adjusting the amounts of the ingredients that I use for each recipe.
As I’ve said before, the hardest part of making bread is learning what the dough should look like and feel like. Once you have that down, it gives you a sense of confidence to branch out and try different types of breads.
It’s been awhile now since I have bought bread from the store. Although I do love my sandwich bread recipe, I also enjoy the artistic experience that other breads give me. Mostly because I love using my bread lame to slice the dough. It’s fun, if you haven’t tried that yet, you definitely should!
In case you don’t know. A bread lame is a razor blade that you use to score/slice the top of your dough. If you know what you are doing, you can really add beautiful designs to the dough. I however, just slice away in no particular pattern. I may not make the prettiest bread, but it’s fun and it sure taste deliciously and that’s what really matters.
This French bread recipe is a very beginner friendly recipe that will make you feel like an experienced bread maker.
You can find the original recipe here.
Let’s go ahead and jump into it.
Here’s what you need:
Water
Sugar
Yeast- you can use active dry yeast or instant yeast. This recipe uses active dry yeast. If you have instant yeast, you can add it to the dry ingredients and skip the step of adding it to the water
Salt
Butter- softened
All purpose flour
Egg
Stand mixer or a bowl and a wooden spoon will also work just fine
First thing to do is preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
In a large bowl or your stand mixer, add the warm water, sugar, yeast and salt. You want the water to be warm. Test it on your wrist, it should feel warm but not scalding. Let this stand for a minute or two.
Add the softened butter and one cup of flour and mix together. I have a bad habit of throwing all the flour in at once. I am a very impatient person.
The amount of flour you use will depend on a lot of factors, a lot of them being out of your control. Humidity, temperature, elevation all play an important factor in how the dough comes together.
Just keep adding about a half of the flour at a time until the dough comes together in a ball. It will be sticky but it should be pulling away from the sides of your bowl.
Keep kneading for about six to seven minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Transfer the dough onto a floured surface.
You can cut the dough in half for a long skinny bread or leave it as one large loaf. I usually cut mine in half.
To shape, use your hands to smooth out the dough into a rectangle shape. Then bring in the ends slightly and roll the dough into a cylinder. Keep working it and rolling it until you have the long shape you desire for your French bread.
Transfer dough to a baking pan. You can use parchment paper or spray your pan with olive oil. The parchment paper is easier to move the dough around but it will really crisp up the bottom of the dough. If you love extra crispy bread, though, this is perfect.
Using a sharp knife or bread lame, make slits in the top about an inch apart.
I veered from the directions here and decided to add the egg wash before letting it rise because I wanted to try adding seasoning. I added garlic and Italian seasoning to each loaf.
Cover with a towel and let rise for twenty minutes.
Once the loaves have doubled in size, give them a egg wash.
Bake in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.
Your bread should be golden when it is done and the bottom will be browned. The longer you leave the bread int he oven, the crispier it will be.
For some reason I did not get a picture of the bread when I took it out of the oven, sorry about that.
There are lots of ways you can use this bread. I usually half it and make deli style sandwiches. I also like to slice it up and use for dips / spreads.
I hope you give this recipe a try. Enjoy!
How To Make French Bread Recipe
Course: Appetizers u0026amp; Snacks, Breads, In The Farmhouse, Recipes, Uncategorized30
minutes20
minutes1
hourIngredients
1 1/2 cups of warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1 1/2 Tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp butter, softened
3-4 cups of all purpose flour
1 egg- for egg wash
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer combine the warm water, sugar, yeast, and salt. Let sit for 2-5 minutes.
- To the mixture add the softened butter and one cup of the flour. Using the dough hook of your mixer or continue stiring with the wooden spoon add in a cup of flour at a time until the dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
- Knead for 6-7 minutes.
- Transfer dough to a well floured surface and either cut in half for two small loaves or leave the dough as is for a large loaf.
- Shape the dough into a long cylinder shape by using your hands to form the dough into a rectangle, then bring the ends in slightly and roll the doll into a cylinder shape. Rolling the dough until you get the length and width you want.
- Use a sharp knife or bread lame to make slits on the top about an inch apart.
- Cover with a towel and let the dough rise for twenty minutes.
- When the dough has doubled in size, remove the towel and brush with an egg wash.
- Bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes. The bread should be golden and the bottom will be browned.
- Let it cool before slicing.