Make-It-Yourself-Monday: French Bread

This recipe creates a light and crusty baguette that is absolutely delicious, and when you make the dough in a bread machine (like I do), it couldn’t possibly get easier!

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups   bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of dry yeast
• 1 1/4 cups warm water

Put the ingredients in your bread machine in the order specified by the manufacturer.  Use the dough setting and let the machine do its work.

When the dough cycle is complete, remove the dough and divide in half on a floured surface.  Roll each half into a loaf.  Cover loaves with a towel and let rest and rise in a warm place for about an hour.  (They should double in size.)

Preheat oven to 450.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Try not to eat it all before it cools.

Enjoy!

Notes:

• Little hands love to help roll the loaves out.  Let them!
• Having two loaves is perfect…one can be eaten when it’s fresh out of the oven (hot bread and cold butter…need I say more?) and one can be served with dinner!
• I’ve used bread flour, all purpose flour, a mixture of whole wheat and all purpose…the texture changes slightly, but the result is always delicious.
• It is best to let the loaves rise and rest for an hour, but I’ve let it rise less and still had success.  You do need at least 20-30 minutes though.

I originally found this recipe on Food.com.  You can see the original recipe here.