French Bread

My mom was right. There is something so satisfying about making your own bread. I hadn't made homemade bread for about 20 years and yesterday I baked two loaves of French Bread and now I want to make bread every day...well maybe every week! Baking bread was so fun and it really was satisfying. Maybe it spoke to my base instinctual hunger for carbohydrates. Or maybe it fed my natural appreciation how yeast can transform simple flour, water and sugar into something air-filled that is so delicious and yet so filling. Or maybe it's the smell of the house when it's baking. Yes, for me it's all the above and it's the process of making dough, watching it rise, feeling the dough as you shape it into loaves, smelling the aroma filling the house as it bakes, and then of course the best part, eating it. My excitement about making bread has compelled me to share it with you in hopes that it will inspire you to bake some bread too.
So for all you folks out there who have never made bread or were too afraid to attempt it, I'm here to show you how easy it is. First thing you need will be a good bread recipe. This French Bread recipe came from my cooking bible, "Betty Crocker Cookbook, 40th Anniversary Edition, 1991".

A good cookbook will go over the basics of bread making and Betty does a great job describing the types of yeast breads, the important points of the process and why each step is necessary. Baking is not like cooking where you can adjust the amounts of ingredients. There is actual Science involved and if you improvise on the recipe, your bread may not turn out as expected. So that being said, read up on what you can prior to making bread and if you don't have a good "Reference" cookbook, I would suggest getting one.  So here we go with Betty Crocker's French Bread. (Full recipe at the bottom of today's blog)

First assemble your ingredients:

Dissolve yeast with warm water between the temperatures of 105-115 degrees. (Note:You don't want too hot of water or it will kill the yeast or too cold where the yeast won't be activated. In both instances your bread will not rise as it should.) I heated 1 cup of water in the microwave for 45 seconds, stirred water to even out the temperature and then tested temperature with my instant read thermometer. If it reads over 115, let the water sit to cool and re-test until appropriate temperature is reached.

Stir in sugar, salt, 2 cups flour and the oil. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle (dough will be soft)

Turn dough on onto lightly floured surface.

Knead about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add additional flour as needed if too sticky. But it should look like this, smooth and elastic, not sticky.

Place dough in greased medium bowl and turn greased side up.

Cover and let rise in a warm place 1.5 to 2 hours or until doubled.

 

 

Grease large cookie sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal,(I used parchment paper instead). Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a rectangle, 15 x 8 inches, on a lightly floured surface.

Roll up tightly, beginning at the 15-inch side. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal well. Roll gently back and forth to taper ends.

Place both loaves on cookie sheet. Make 1/4-inch deep slashes across loaves at 2" intervals. Brush loaves with cold water. Let rise in warm place about an hour or until doubled.

Heat oven to 375. Mix egg white and water. Brush over loaves. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.

 

And there you'll have the most amazing French Bread! Enjoy!

French Bread
(recipe from Betty Crocker's Cookbook, 40th Anniversary Edition, 1991)

• 1 package regular or quick-acting active dry yeast
• 1 c warm water (105-115 degrees)
• 1 T sugar
• 1 t salt
• 3-3 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 2 T vegetable oil
• Cornmeal
• 1 egg white
• 1 T cold water
• sesame seeds

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl.  Stir in sugar, salt, 2 cups flour and the oil. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle (dough will be soft). Turn dough on onto lightly floured surface. Knead about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in greased medium bowl and turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in a warm place 1.5 to 2 hours or until doubled. (Longer rising gives typical French bread texture.)

Grease large cookie sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a rectangle, 15 x 8 inches, on a lightly floured surface. Roll up tightly, beginning at the 15-inch side. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal well. Roll gently back and forth to taper ends. Place both loaves on cookie sheet. Make 1/4-inch deep slashes across loaves at 2" intervals. Brush loaves with cold water. Let rise in warm place about an hour or until doubled.

Heat oven to 375. Mix egg white and water. Brush over loaves. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.