Saturday, April 20, 2013

1 Hour French Bread

I saw this easy 1 hour French bread recipe floating around Pinterest last week. I looked at it. It looked terribly easy. However, I knew it wouldn’t have enough flavor. So I tweaked the recipe and added sugar and salt … nothing worse than going through the hard work of yeast bread only to have it not taste like anything. Trust me. There’s a bread recipe in my husband’s family cookbook from waaaaaay back. And it is waaaaay bad.

1 hour french bread from Fast, Cheap, and Easy

I apologize in advance for iPhone pictures … my USB cable got chewed by my puppy and I can’t upload pictures to my computer. Tragic. Okay. Here we go.

Here’s what you need:

2 1/2 cups warm water

2 TBS yeast

3 TBS sugar

2 tsp salt

3 TBS olive oil

6 cups flour

* 1 egg white mixed with 1 TBS cold water

 

Here’s what you do:

Combine yeast and warm water (not hot – you’ll kill your yeast). Sprinkle sugar on top and let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes. You’ll notice that the yeast has gotten all bubbly. Add the oil and salt, and slowly mix with a paddle blade in your electric mixture for about 5 seconds. Add flour and let the mixer ‘knead’ the dough together (on medium high speed) for about 1 minute. Dough will pull away from the bowl and be very sticky. Place a hot wet towel over the top of the bowl and let it rise in a warm oven (not hot) for 20 ish minutes. (I usually turn my oven on until it reaches about 150 degrees, then turn it off)

Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it out on a floured surface, divide it in half, and shape into loaves. (If you need it to fit in bread bags, just divide it in four and make short loaves, like ciabatta)

1 hour french bread Fast, Cheap, and Easy

Cut slits on the top of the bread and let the bread sit while your oven heats to 375*. Bake bread at 375* for 20 minutes. While it’s baking, mix up 1 egg white and 1 TBS cold water. After 20 minutes of baking, open the oven and brush the egg white on the bread while it’s still in the oven … I used a long BBQ brush because I didn’t want to take it out of the oven and have the bread fall. After you’ve brushed it with the egg mixture, bake it for another 4-5 minutes. The top will be a gorgeous golden brown.

1 hour french bread start to finish Fast, Cheap, and Easy

This bread is chewy, soft, and sooooooo tasty!! Enjoy!

21 comments:

  1. Hi, I'm your newest member through GFC. Your french bread looks delicious! I have recently been wanting to make home made bread and think I'll give this a try. I'd love for you to stop by my blog @ gloriouslymade.blogspot.com
    Have a great day,
    Deanna

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    1. You'll love this one. It's so easy!! I pinky promise. Just make sure you don't use hot water or you'll kill the yeast. Warm water only. :) Good luck!

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  2. DELICIOUS!!! Janette, I have tried to make French bread about 3 times. Everytime I go to make the slits in the top my bread deflates. I always end up with flat crunchy loaves. :( Any tips?

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    1. This will not be flat or crunchy. Use a very sharp knife and spray it with cooking spray/oil before you cut the slits. I kinda pull the dough away from the knife while I gently cut through the top couple layers, to help the knife cut deeper. Good luck! I swear, you will love this bread.

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  3. This looks soooo good, Janette!! Can't wait to try it! I'm not much of a bread maker....but only because I haven't really tried. This is on my to-do list for sure!

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  4. Janette I am dying looking at this. It looks so amazing!!!

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  6. Hi, Janette.. what would you suggest if you don't have an electric mixer?

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  7. I have been looking for a easy recipe and looks like I finally found it.I can't believe you only knead it 1 minute most others say 5 to 6 minutes.
    I am definitely going to make this super easy recipe this week when I make spaghetti! Yum ! Thank you

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  8. I have been looking for a easy recipe and looks like I finally found it.I can't believe you only knead it 1 minute most others say 5 to 6 minutes.
    I am definitely going to make this super easy recipe this week when I make spaghetti! Yum ! Thank you

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  9. I have been looking for a easy recipe and looks like I finally found it.I can't believe you only knead it 1 minute most others say 5 to 6 minutes.
    I am definitely going to make this super easy recipe this week when I make spaghetti! Yum ! Thank you

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  10. Hi
    Made this and it was better than store bought french bread. Since it makes 2 loaves can you feeeze half the dough for another time?

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  11. Hi
    Made this and it was better than store bought french bread. Since it makes 2 loaves can you feeeze half the dough for another time?

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  12. Made this a few weeks back and ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS AMAZING RECIPE! Mine turned out Perfect! Wish I could post a picture of it. WOW am making this again this week.

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  13. I made this twice and both times it has been AMAZING!! Great recipie to impress my mother in law haha

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  14. This is my favorite bread recipe!!! I have made several bread recipes over my many years and this one hit the top the first time I made it!!!

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  15. I made this bread and it's delicious and easy!It turned out great, and my family loved it!

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  16. To me this isn't a french bread. It's not crunchy or resemble french bread at all. But it's my go to bread that I bake at least three times a week for sandwich bread. It's delicious and easy and stays good for a couple days. I bake a lot of complicated bread but this is our every day easy bread.

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  17. My mixer that has the paddle attachment is in storage. Any suggestions for mixing without the paddle?

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  18. I've made this recipe several times. I love it because the bread tastes so yummy and it is easy to make. The last time I made the recipe I followed the recipe exactly and froze one of the loaves of bread when it was done baking. I pulled it out from my freezer several days later and then wrapped in in foil and baked it at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes until it was warm all the way through. It tasted as though I had just baked it. Great recipe and super easy!

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