French Bread
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One of my most fond memories from childhood was walking to the grocery store with my mom. The bakery section was always one of the first stops. This made my day because that meant I got to reach down in the brown paper bag that housed a loaf of warm french bread and pull off a big hunk to eat while we finished the shopping. There is something about the smell, taste, and feel of freshly baked bread that rivals just about anything in the culinary world.
I have had a lot of trouble baking a decent loaf of French bread. With so many delicious versions out there; from the sliced loaves that house fried oysters in so many different poboy shops, to the individual super crispy baguettes that serve as a perfect delivery system for the Banh Mi ingredients at your favorite Vietnamese restaurant, baking your own can be a bit intimidating. Goodness knows I have struggled to get this recipe close to the taste of my favorite loaves. I’ll be honest, this is as close as I’ve come.
Right up front I’ll tell you, kneading the hell out this thing is the trick. If you have a stand mixer let that sucker do the work. If you do it by hand you can probably go ahead and skip arm day that week because you will work the heck out of them. The goal is get the dough to pass something called the windowpane test. That’s when you pull a little hunk of dough off the dough ball and stretch it out till you can almost see through it. If it breaks before then, keep on kneading. I usually do about eight minutes or so in the stand mixer and finish by hand. The consistency of the dough is important, can’t be too dry, can’t be too wet. The best way to judge is when it just barely starts to pull away from the bowl while mixing.
While this recipe calls for four cups of flour, I usually only add about three and a half cups first and then add a little of the last half cup as needed.
This recipe calls for three rises and it’s important not to skip any. So, this is definitely something you don’t want to undertake on a school night. Or if you do, just don’t get in a rush. It’s usually a weekend project for me.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 2.5 teaspoons of yeast (one packet)
- 1.5 cups of warm water (about 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
- 2 cups of bread flour
- 1.5 cups of AP flour + .5 cup
- 2 teaspoons of kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon of powdered milk
- 3 tablespoons of melted butter
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Instructions
In a large measuring cup mix honey, yeast, and warm water. Stir well and let sit about 15 minutes until foamy.
In the bowl of the stand mixer combine all bread flour, 1.5 cups of AP flour, kosher salt, powdered milk, melted butter and whisk well.
Put the dough hook on the stand mixer and turn on to level one. Add the yeast water and let the machine do its work. At this time, the dough should be a little on the wet side.
Add the remaining .5 cup of AP flour a little at a time until dough just starts pulling away from the side of the bowl. Then, let machine knead for about eight more minutes.
Remove dough to lightly floured surface and finish kneading by hand (About 8 minutes). Try, if you can, to not add any more flour.
Add olive oil to a large bowl and make sure it coats all over the bowl. When dough passes the window pane test (see the intro above), shape dough into ball and place in oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and let dough rise for about an hour. The dough should about double in size.
When dough is ready, gently deflate (by punching the dough) and knead a few more times. Shape in ball again, place back into bowl, and cover with the damp towel. This time, let the dough rise for about ninety minutes. Ideally, it should be a little more than doubled in size when ready.
Remove dough from the bowl and shape into desired loaf. Place loaves in a baguette pan if you have one and if not, on a baking sheet. Cover again with the damp towel.
Let loaves rise for another hour in the pan. Thirty minutes before they’re ready, preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a pot, bring some water to a simmer. Pour the simmering water into an oven safe pan and fill about half way full (a cake pan would work fine). Place the pan of water in the oven on the lower rack. Keep the pan of water in the oven while the bread is baking. The steam from the water will help make for a crispy exterior on the loaves.
Place loaves on the rack above the water pan. Bake for about 15 minutes or until light brown, reduce oven heat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and rotate loaf pan 180 degrees and cook for about another 15 minutes or until the loaves are nicely golden brown. Remove from oven and allow loaves to cool on a rack before eating.
