Easy French Bread
This delicious French bread needs just four ingredients. It has a fluffy, light crumb with large air pockets and a crispy crust, and it's ready in just over two hours.
Servings: 32 slices (2 loaves)
Calories: 51kcal
Equipment
- Stand mixer or large bowl
- Bread lame or sharp knife
- Small baking pan (for steam bath)
Ingredients
- 2¼ teaspoon active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1 teaspoon sugar (feeds yeast to make it work faster)
- 1¾ cups water (lukewarm)
- 3½ cups bread flour (you might not need all of this)
- 1 teaspoons salt
Optional ingredient
- ¼ teaspoon vitamin C powder (or ½ of a 500 mg vitamin C tablet, crushed)
Instructions
Make the dough
- Place the yeast in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer along with the sugar. Add water and give it a quick stir. The yeast should froth and bubble in five minutes.
- Add 2 cups of flour.
- Mix in the stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, or with a ladle, until a shaggy dough forms.
- Add 1 more cup of flour, salt and vitamin C if using. Mix and, if needed, add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, until a slightly tacky looking but smooth dough forms. I needed just under ½ cup more of flour. Continue kneading for 5-8 minutes on medium low speed.
First rise
- Turn out the dough on a work surface and knead it lightly before shaping it into a smooth ball. Place the ball in an oiled bowl, turning it over once to coat the top with oil. Cover tightly with a lid or cling wrap and set the bowl aside for 45 minutes in a warm spot in your kitchen.
- After 45 minutes the dough will have doubled, or more. Turn it out onto the work surface, knead it lightly to deflate it, then cut the dough into two.
Forming the loaves and second rise
- Dust a baking sheet large enough to hold two loaves comfortably with flour.
- Turn the dough out onto your work surface. Divide it into two pieces.
- Form each half of the dough into a ball.
- Punch out the dough into a disc about eight inches in diameter. You can also use a rolling pin. Flip the dough over so the smooth side is at the bottom.
- Begin folding the dough by rolling it, then pinching in the seams with your fingers or with the heel of your hand. Continue rolling, pinching in the seam each time.
- Pinch in the final seam as best as you can. This will ensure that the loaf doesn't open up as it rises.
- Flip the loaf over so the seam side is down. Using the palms of your hand, roll each cylinder on the work surface until you have a 12-inch loaf with slightly tapered edges. Repeat with the second ball of dough.
- Place the two loaves side by side, with at least 4-5 inches between them, on the baking sheet. Dust flour generously over the tops of the loaves. I find this easiest to do using a simple mesh strainer. Cover the loaves with a kitchen towel and set them aside to rise for 45 minutes until they are very puffy and have doubled in size.
Bake the French bread
- About 15 minutes before the loaves are done rising, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit/204 degrees Celsius. Place a baking pan filled with water on the lowest rack of the oven.
- Use a knife or a bread lame or a very sharp blade to make two or three diagonal gashes on each loaf. Use a single, clean motion - don't saw into the loaf or you will deflate it.
- Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake 35 minutes until the loaves are golden brown.
- Transfer the loaves to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before slicing.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 slice French bread | Calories: 51kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0.2g | Saturated Fat: 0.04g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Potassium: 16mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 0.2g | Vitamin A: 0.3IU | Vitamin C: 0.001mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.1mg