Ok, this bread recipe is to die for! Did ya hear? To Die For! I love this French bread! Haven't had another loaf of French bread that is equal to this. What's great is that it is so fast and easy! I have a friend who is an excellent cook. She makes pretty much everything from scratch. She shared this with me and it has become a family favorite. I make it ALL the time.
Mix and set aside:
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 TBSP yeast
Mix the following together in a mixer:
1 TBSP Olive oil
3 TBSP Sugar
2 tsp Salt
2 cups HOT tap water
Add yeast mixture to above ingredients mix well. Add 2 cups unbleached white flour. (this will be lumpy.) Add 3-4 cups more flour until you have a soft dough. It should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff. ( I add 3 cups of flour then a little at a time with the last cup)
Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl and let rise for one hour.
Punch down and divide the dough in half. Roll into 2 large rectangles, roll into French loaves. Put loaves on greased cookie sheet or a stone. Let rise for 30 more minutes. (Cover again with towel.)
Slash the top of the bread with a knife and brush with beaten egg white. Bake at 350 until golden brown. (about 30-35 min).
So Yummy! I hope you enjoy it. If you want to check out my friends recipe post on this you can at
pinkcookieswithsprinkles.blogspot.com I have changed a few things. Anything that I find in a recipe that I think really isn't a necessary thing, I skip. And after making this a few times I left out a step and didn't see any difference. (It was punching down the dough every 20 minutes while it was raising)
Truly the BEST French Bread you will ever eat!
If you want to turn this Yummy bread into a Herb French Bread do this:
Add 1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp of Basil
1 tsp of Thyme
1 tsp of Dried Chives
Add with the first 2 cups of flour. Mix well
Enjoy!
Keeping it Simple
Kate