French Bread

I've always wanted to master the art of making bread from scratch. Without using a bread machine, and not making a simple sweet bread like banana or zucchini. I do have to admit I'm intimidated by it, and have never had great success with making bread. I blame the yeast, or lack of patience on my part. Something in the rise of the bread always seems to go wrong when I make bread. I think bread making is truly an art in itself. Such simple ingredients go into it, but water temp, yeast, room temp, kneading too little or too much all effect how well that bread is going to come out.

Recently a friend of mine sent me a French bread recipe to try. I decided it's been a while since I last attempted to make bread so I figured I'd give this recipe a try. Very simple recipe. If you have time on your hands and can handle letting the dough rise for 45 minutes and then rise again, this is a nice recipe to try. I have an 11 month old at home who isn't quite into too much trouble yet, so I was able to test this recipe out today.

It does take time, but was well worth it! Bread came out great, and can't wait to try making it again! I don't claim to be Panera, but I can keep practicing! Hope you like it as much as I did!

What you need:

1 Packet yeast

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Teaspoons salt

2 Cups warm water

4 Cups flour

How to Make:

Dissolve yeast, sugar and salt in warm water. Let mixture sit for 10 minutes. Add flour and stir until combined. Turn dough out on floured surface and slowly begin to lift and turn dough until it sticks enough to knead. If dough is real sticky add a little additional flour. Knead dough for about 10 minutes until it feels smooth and elastic. Place dough in a bowl, cover, and set in a warm place for 45 minutes or until dough has doubled.

Turn dough out on floured surface and pat it until it's flat. Fold dough in half, and then in half again. Place back into bowl and let it rise again for another 30 minutes.

Turn dough out once more and divide into 4 sections. Gently roll sections into balls and let rest for 10 minutes. Shape each ball into a loaf and place on a greased cookie sheet. Let bread rise again until loaves doubles in size.

Bake at 450 for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy! The only bad thing about making home made bread is you can't stop eating it! Yummy!

Note:

I brushed the tops of bread with olive oil, and sprinkled some herbs on them. I also made a home made garlic herbed butter. I simply mixed butter, garlic powder and a green onion herb blend together. Very easy to make and was the perfect compliment to warm bread from the oven.

Thanks Hannah for sharing the bread recipe!!!!