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Easy French Bread
If you like a good crisp loaf on the outside, and a soft tasty crumb on the inside, this is an Indiana prize winning version for you! For a twist, it has a few more ingredients than the standard 4 ingredient traditional recipe for french bread. I have also included tips if you want to try this on a baking stone to achieve that elusive extra crispy crust. Set your expectations high for the authentic look, feel, and taste of this artisan loaf.
Ingredients:
1 scant TBSP active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105-110 F)
1 3/4 cup hot water (120-130 F)
2 TBSP non fat dry milk
1 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP butter (room temp)
1 TBSP salt
5 1/2 - 6 cups all purpose flour approx.
Wash:
2 TBSP cold water, 1/2 tsp. salt
1. mix yeast in warm water until dissolved and set aside 5-10 minutes until foamy.
2. in the large mixer bowl, add hot water, milk, sugar, and butter, stir until butter is melted, add 2 cups of flour and mix on medium speed for 1 minute with paddle attachment.
3. add yeast mixture and mix for 2 minutes, blend 1 TBSP salt with 1 cup flour, add to dough and mix for 2 minutes.
4. stop mixer and switch to dough hook, mix in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, 6-8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic, dough will be shaggy and begin to clean the sides of the bowl as the gluten develops, to test if gluten has has been properly developed, pinch off a piece of dough about the size of a quarter, begin to gently stretch it in all directions, it should form a paper thin membrane (windowpane) allowing light to pass through without tearing, this is referred to as the windowpane test, if it tears quickly, continue to knead by hand for 1-2 minutes until it can pass the windowpane test. Note: you may not need to add all the flour if the kitchen climate is cold and or dry
steps 2 thru 4 can be done by hand with kneading time closer to 10 minutes, mix with a large wooden spoon until too stiff to continue, use the push-turn-fold method for kneading
5. oil a large bowl or bucket, place the dough in and turn it so it becomes coated on all sides, cover with oiled plastic wrap or loosely fitting lid, move to a warm place near 80 F and let dough rise till doubled, or approx. 1 hour 30 minutes.
6. gently punch down dough and place on lightly floured work surface, lightly knead dough for a few seconds to rid it of excess air bubbles, divide dough into 2 equal pieces and shape both into balls, cover with oiled wrap and let rest 10 minutes, shape each dough ball into a rectangle and roll to 10 x 16 inches each, start with the short side and roll up into a cigar shape, pinch the seam tightly and tuck the ends under.
7. place loaves seam side down on a baking sheet lightly lined with corn meal, cover with oiled plastic wrap and set aside to rise in a warm place until nearly doubled (approx. 30-45 minutes) preheat oven to 500 F while loaves are rising.
If using a baking stone: moderately dust a large baker's peel with corn meal and cover it with parchment paper, place loaves seam side down on parchment and cover with oiled plastic wrap, set aside to rise in a warm place until nearly doubled (approx. 30-45 minutes), preheat oven to 500 F while loaves are rising, make sure you place baking stone in the oven on the lower middle rack before you turn oven on.
8. carefully remove plastic wrap from loaves so they wont deflate, brush loaves gently with cold water salt wash, make 3 diagonal slashes on top of loaves no deeper than 1/4 inch.
Standard Baking: place sheet pan with loaves in oven and close door, turn heat down to 400 F, bake for 10 minutes and use a clean squirt bottle to mist loaves and sides of oven with water to create steam, take care not to mist heating element or oven light, bake an additional 30-35 minutes until golden brown, be sure to rotate the pan half way through the bake cycle to expose the loaves evenly to the different temperature hot spots in your oven.
Hearth Baking: use peel to slide loaves and parchment directly on the stone and close oven door, DO NOT SPRAY WITH WATER-SUDDEN TEMPERATURE CHANGE MAY CRACK THE STONE! Turn heat down to 400 F and bake for 15 minutes, use peel and rotate loaves to expose them evenly to the different temperature hot spots in your oven, bake additional 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
9. turn loaves over and tap on the bottom, a hollow thud means it is done, if no thud place it back in oven for 5-10 minutes, remove sheet pan from oven and loaves from pan or use peel to remove loaves from baking stone and place on wire cooling racks, do not slice hot or bread will be soggy where you cut it.
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