Hmmm, bread! 🙂 How many are bread lovers?! Like you could just eat bread anytime of the day and with any meal?! I’m not a huge bread fan, but I LOVE homemade bread. That’s the bread I can just keep eating! The BEST bread is homemade bread, of course. Making fresh bread is one thing I like to experiment with — bread made Totally.From.Scratch! If you’ve never tried making bread, you should try this recipe. It is very trustworthy! All you need to do is follow the recipe as is, and you will have two nice loaves of French bread. So, so yummy. 🙂 During the cooler months, our family loves to eat soup. Seriously, we could about eat a different soup every night of the week. And what pairs with soup better than warm, fresh bread?

The Perfect French Bread Recipe

So, I’ll show you step by step what I did. (You’ll find the printable recipe at the end of the post.) 

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. (You’ll want to put it in a medium size mixing bowl since it’ll need room to grow.)

In another mixing bowl, combine the sugar, fat, salt and boiling water. Cool to lukewarm. (Meanwhile, your yeast mixture will continue to sit and grow.)

Your yeast mixture is now ready to mix into your mixture that has cooled to lukewarm.

Stir in flour. (If you find that it’s too sticky after 6 – 6 1/2 cups, you can add 1/2 cup more flour.)

Knead 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. I kneaded mine in a KitchenAid mixer using the dough hook for about 8 minutes.

Spray cooking spray in an oven proof mixing bowl. Place your dough in the greased bowl, turning once. 

Let rise until it is doubled in size. I’ve found that the easiest thing to do is to turn your oven to about 225 degrees while you are still working on a previous step. After it is preheated, just turn the oven off. Then place your bowl of dough in the warm oven and let it sit there to rise. I like to cover mine with a wet towel to keep the dough from drying out. (But be careful not to let the dough rise onto the towel, or you’ll have a sticky, dough-y mess!!) 

                Punch the dough down. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into two balls. On a floured surface, roll each half  to a   12″ x 15″ rectangle.

Roll up, starting at the 15″ edge. After you roll it up, pinch the ends together. Place the loaves on greased cookie sheets and make 4 or 5 slashes diagonally across tops. Let rise until doubled. Mix and brush on beaten egg and milk. If desired, sprinkle on poppy or sesame seeds. I prefer sesame seeds.  🙂 Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.                                                                 

The Perfect French Bread

Yield: 2

this delicious French bread pairs nicely with soup

Print

Ingredients

• 2 packages dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 2 T. sugar
• 2 T. fat
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups boiling water
• 6 - 6 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 T. milk
• poppy or sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Dissolve dry yeast and 1/2 tsp. sugar in warm water.
2. Combine sugar, fat*, salt and boiling water. Cool to lukewarm and add yeast mixture. Stir in flour.
3. Knead 10 minutes** or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, turning once. Let rise until doubled.
4. Punch down. Let rest 15 minutes. Divide dough in half.
5. On floured surface, roll each half to a 12" x 15" rectangle. Roll up, starting at 15" edge. Place loaves on greased cookie sheets and make 4-5 slashes diagonally across tops. Let rise until doubled.
6. Mix and brush on beaten egg and milk. If desired, sprinkle on poppy or sesame seeds.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Notes

• *Your fat can be melted shortening, oil or a combination of both.
• **I kneaded mine in a Kitchen aid mixer using the dough hook for about 8 minutes.