French Bread
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French Bread is known for it's fluffy inside and
crunchy, crusty outside. Don't substitute milk for the water and
don't brush the outside with butter. Allow 4 hours to finish this.
Makes 2- 3 loaves
Mix 1
2 pkg. yeast - make sure it's not out of date.
1/2 Cup water - lukewarm 95 - 105ºF
3/4 tsp. sugar
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Mix 2
4 ¼ cups bread flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tbs. sugar
4 tbs. cooking oil
1 cup water |
Combine Mix 1 in 2 cup measuring cup. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Yeast should activate and foam up to almost double in size. If it
doesn't the yeast is either no good or you killed it using water
that was too hot.
Combine dry ingredients in Mix 2 and mix well. Add water and oil.
Kneed dough for about 10 minutes. I don't know if this recipe will
work in a bread machine. If it does let me know.
Dough
should be smooth in texture when finished. Be sure to add flour to
the working surface to keep the dough from sticking to it and your
hands.
Grease a bowl and put the dough in
it and lightly grease the dough. Cover the bowl with a towel and put
it in a draft-free 80 - 85ºF place to rise. It should double in
size in about an hour and a half.
Punch it down, divide it in two and shape the loaves.
Spray the bottom of the pan with a cooking spray, or just oil it.
You can make small slices on the top to make it pretty.
Place the
loaves in the pan you'll be baking in, cover with a towel and put to
rise again for about the same time.
Pre-heat oven to 375ºF. Place loaves in oven and bake for about
20 minutes, or, until they turn golden brown.
Enjoy.....
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