Breads & Bakingchewoutloud5.0
French Bread
Nothing beats a loaf of crusty, chewy French bread at the dinner table. This recipe creates a beautifully browned and crisp crust, with a soft and chewy center that will leave you coming back for slice after slice.
👥 18 Servings⏱️ Prep & Cook: 1h 35m⏳ Prep: 1h 10m🔥 Cook: 25 min👤 Amy Dong📖 chewoutloud
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- bowl
- whisk
- oven
- baking sheet
- pan
📝 Preparation Steps
1
Combine
2
In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Hand-whisk until well combined. Gradually stir in the warm water (test the temperature with thermometer to ensure it's right around 110F) and stir until a dough forms. The consistency should be roughly like play-dough, not too sticky but easily forms into a smooth/elastic dough ball. Add 1 TB water at a time as needed to gain that consistency.
3
Knead
4
On a lightly floured surface, knead dough ⏱️ 10 minutes.
5
Cover and rise
6
Shape into a ball, place into a well-oiled bowl, and turn dough to lightly coat in oil. Cover bowl tightly with cling wrap and place bowl in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume, ⏱️ 30-60 minutes, or place in a pre-warmed oven for more rapid rising.
7
Roll
8
Gently punch dough down and divide in half. Place on lightly floured surface, cover, and let sit ⏱️ 10 minutes. Roll each half into approx. 14x9 inch rectangle. Roll rectangle up lengthwise, moisten edges with water, and pinch tightly to seal. Taper and seal ends.
9
Slice
10
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle evenly with cornmeal. Place loaves seam side down on sheet. Cut diagonal slits into loves on top, about 1/4 inch deep. Brush loaves with egg/water mixture.
(1/4 oz each) active dry yeast (fresh)2 packagescornmeal1 tablespoon
11
Cover and rise
12
Gently lay cling wrap over loaves and place in a draft-free warm place until nearly doubled in size, about ⏱️ 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F with rack on lower middle position. Place a large pan of water on lowest rack.
13
Bake ⏱️ 15 minutes. Brush again with egg/water mixture. Bake another ⏱️ 10 minutes or until bread looks done. Let loaves rest at room temp at least ⏱️ 15 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition Facts
calories
95 kcal
fat Content
1 g
serving Size
1 g
fiber Content
3 g
sugar Content
2 g
sodium Content
132 mg
protein Content
3 g
carbohydrate Content
20 g
saturated Fat Content
0.01 g
unsaturated Fat Content
0.4 g
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