The French Bread

Every Christmas dinner, my dad makes bread and it is good.
Sometimes he even makes it twice a year.

I'm just kidding- he makes it like once a month.

Bread making is a long process.
I just took pictures of the end of this process.

The last part just involves rolling the dough out and letting it rise more.

 

Well, actually the last part involves eating the bread.

Soft and delicious.

 This bread uses only 6 different ingredients:

one of which is water
and
none of which include oil or butter.

I just thought you should know.

Recipe for French Bread Print Friendly Version 

1/2 cup warm water

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon dry yeast

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup water

1 egg water

In a small bowl or dish, stir the warm water and sugar until sugar is dissolved

Sprinkle yeast on top. Leave for 10 minutes. Do NOT stir.

In a large mixmaster bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups of the flour, sugar and salt.

Pour the yeast mixture along with 1 cup of water into the flour mixture and blend at low speed. Beat at high speed for 2 minutes.

Add with wooden spoon, the remaining 1 1/2 to 2 cups of flour. Knead with a dough hook or by hand for 12 minutes.

Place in a greased bowl. Turn dough over. Cover. Let rise until double in bulk--about 2 hours.

Grease a cookie sheet. Sprinkle cornmeal on pan if you wish.

Shape dough into a long rectangle approximately 15" x 10". Starting with the longer edge, roll up tightly. Pinch edges of the dough into roll to seal. Taper ends of loaf.

Place loaf on cookie sheet. 

Cut 6 shallow diagonal slashes on top of loaf.

Beat 1 small egg white until foamy. Spread over top and sides of loaf.

Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes with oven rack placed in the second from the bottom slot. Bread should be golden brown when baked. Remove immediately to cooling rack.

Recipe from Just Recipes 2 by Kathryn Adams.