Lorrie's French Bread

Photo: Lorrie Perencevic

Ingredients

7 cups unbleached white flour

2 tablespoons yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups warm water

Preparation

Mix the yeast, sugar, and water together. Let stand until mixture bubbles, letting you know the yeast has activated.

Add all other ingredients, the flour one cup at a time, beating as the mixture thickens into a dough.

Knead the dough for several minutes, until it becomes smooth and elastic.

Set dough aside in a greased bowl. Turning to coat all of the dough, covered with a towel and until doubled in size.

Form the dough into loaves or rolls:

For regular 9x5 loaves, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/2 inch think, then roll it up into a loaf, pinching the ends and side edges shut.

For long baguettes, simply use your hands to roll the dough on the counter top, pulling it to elongate as you go. After placing it on a baking sheet, slash the top diagonally three times to form a lice "split" effect in the finished crust.

For rolls, form into balls, then pull the outer edges down and push it into the center on the bottom side of the roll, to obtain a smooth and evenly round top. Elongate into oblong shapes if you prefer. You can either bake them smooth-topped, lightly slash the top to produce a "split" in the crust, or use a pair of scissors to snip the tops crossways to form four points.

Let rise until doubled in size while pre-heating oven to 400 degrees.

Baking times:

Regular loaves: bake for 25 minutes and check for doneness. Cool covered to maintain a soft crust.

Baguettes: bake for 20 minutes, brushing with plain water twice during baking to form a crisp crust. Cool uncovered.

Rolls: bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven, and cool on a towel covered by a towel.

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About

A traditional recipe based on the long-standing French methods of bread baking. Great for loaves, baguettes, or rolls, this recipe can be multiplied up to four times and each loaf still comes out perfectly. Enjoy!