Back to the
Recipes
or the
Photos

French bread is tasty and crunchy. It comes in loaves and baguettes, the latter being really long thin loaves that have a higher crust-to-area ratio to maximize the crunch factor.

What you need (separated by stages):

1 cup and 2 tbsp warm water
1 tbsp sugar
1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast

3 1/4 cups of bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp softened butter/margarine

Cooking spray or something else to grease a pan
Cornmeal, also for the cooking pan

Once again I haven't made this by hand. I made the dough using my bread machine. I've included by-hand directions based on the recipes I've found, but I have not done them myself.

Bread machine version:

Mix the warm water and sugar in a cup. Sprinkle the yeast onto the top, and let it stand for about 10 minutes, until the yeast is foamy.

Dump the yeast mix into the bread machine. Add the flour, butter, and salt, in that order. Put it on the dough cycle and let it do its thing.

When the dough is ready, dump it onto a lightly floured kneading surface. Punch it down by mashing your fist into it to deflate it. Let it rest while you grease the cooking pans. Sprinkle cornmeal on the bottom of the pans. Not too much or the bottom of the loaves will feel sandy.

To make a loaf, roll the dough out into a rectangle about 16"x10", then roll it up like a jelly roll. Pull the ends a little to give them a tapered look and put the loaf-to-be in the pan, seam downward. Make loaves of various sizes, make buns, make any shapes you want. (I like making very small loaves for six inch subs. I don't bother with the jelly-roll procedures for these little ones.) When you're done, put the dough aside to rise for 30-45 minutes, until it doubles its size. Putting it in an unheated oven with a bowl of hot water on the bottom rack works for me.

When the bread has had 30 minutes to rise press two fingers an inch into the top. If the dent fills back in, the bread needs to rise more. If it remains, the bread is fully risen and ready to bake. Take it out, and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. While it's heating up, make diagonal cuts in the tops of the loaves with a very sharp knife. Bake the bread for 35 minutes - but if you're making smaller loaves and rolls check it at about 25 minutes. The bread is done when you tap the top crust and it sounds hollow.

Hand-kneaded version:

Mix the warm water and sugar in a cup. Sprinkle the yeast onto the top, and let it stand for about 10 minutes, until the yeast is foamy.

In a large bowl mix two cups of the flour and the salt. Then add the butter and yeast mixture. Mix. Add in more flour. Mix. If you have an electric mixer use it for a few minutes on medium, scraping the sides of the bowl to get the flour. Then mix some more with a wooden spoon, stirring in as much of the flour.

Dump the dough out onto a floured working surface. Knead it for 10-15 minutes, working in the remaining flour until the dough is smooth and elastic. Then grease a bowl, put the doughball into it, and swirl it around to get a light coating of grease on the doughball.  Cover it and set it aside for about an hour to rise to double its size.

When the dough is risen, punch it down by mashing your fist into it to deflate it. Dump it out onto the lightly floured working surface, cover it, and let it rest for 10 minutes while you grease the cooking pans. Sprinkle cornmeal on the bottom of the pans. Not too much or the bottom of the loaves will feel sandy.

To make a loaf, roll the dough out into a rectangle about 16"x10", then roll it up like a jelly roll. Pull the ends a little to give them a tapered look and put the loaf-to-be in the pan, seam downward. Make loaves of various sizes, make buns, make any shapes you want. (I like making very small loaves for six inch subs. I don't bother with the jelly-roll procedures for these little ones.) When you're done, put the dough aside to rise for 30-45 minutes, until it doubles its size. Putting it in an unheated oven with a bowl of hot water on the bottom rack works for me.

When the bread has had 30 minutes to rise press two fingers an inch into the top. If the dent fills back in, the bread needs to rise more. If it remains, the bread is fully risen and ready to bake. Take it out, and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. While it's heating up, make diagonal cuts in the tops of the loaves with a very sharp knife. Bake the bread for 35 minutes - but if you're making smaller loaves and rolls check it at about 25 minutes. The bread is done when you tap the top crust and it sounds hollow.