Oh SOOOO Simple French Bread Recipe
From Scratch to Your Table in just ONE hour!
Yeah, I’m a HUGE fan of bread…especially fresh, hot, crusty outside, warm soft inside, melt in your mouth, make your house smell like a bakery, yummy goodness bread! A while back I found this recipe for 30 minute french bread on Babble….but it did take me closer to an hour than 30 minutes from start to finish and I made just a few changes that seem to work perfectly!
Ingredients:
1/2 tsp Rapid Rise Yeast
2 Cups Hot Water
2 TBS Sugar
1 tsp Salt
3.5 Cups of All Purpose Flour
Directions:
Microwave your water for about 2 minutes…you need the water hot so the yeast and other ingredients dissolve properly.
Add yeast, sugar, and salt to water and mix well– set to side for 10 minutes.
Now here’s the fun part…adding the flour. I add the flour 1/4 cup at a time. As you add the flour your bread mixture will start to thicken up and become VERY sticky sticky! You want to keep adding the flour till your bread becomes elastic like…see the photos for the thickening. You’ll notice I started with a whisk and ended up with a spatula to get the ingredients well mixed.
Remove your bread from the bowl and lightly coat with flour. Roll out your bread and divide it into 4 even sections…try to keep it the same thickness but don’t worry too much if it’s not completely uniform.
Once divided you’ll want to take 2 sections and twist them together….not too tightly.
Then place them in a preheated oven at 425 degrees. Quick tip: the original instructions said to throw ice on the bottom of the oven and close the door….yeah….I have a toddler so I’m really not looking forward to cleaning up that mess! Instead I took a regular old casserole dish and filled it with water and placed it in the freezer the night before. So when I put in the bread I put the casserole dish of ice under the bread on the lowest shelf possible. This is apparently the secret to making that delicious crunchy outer crust and soft yummy center. Sorry I didn’t take a pic….but you get the drift…right?
Bake for 25 minutes or until your bread is a beautiful golden brown!
- 1/2 tsp Rapid Rise Yeast
- 2 Cups Hot Water
- 2 TBS Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 3.5 Cups of All Purpose Flour
- Microwave your water for about 2 minutes…you need the water hot so the yeast and other ingredients dissolve properly.
- Add yeast, sugar, and salt to water and mix well– set to side for 10 minutes.
- Now here’s the fun part…adding the flour. I add the flour 1/4 cup at a time. As you add the flour your bread mixture will start to thicken up and become VERY sticky sticky!
- You want to keep adding the flour till your bread becomes elastic like…see the photos for the thickening. You’ll notice I started with a whisk and ended up with a spatula to get the ingredients well mixed.
- french bread recipe
- Remove your bread from the bowl and lightly coat with flour.
- Roll out your bread and divide it into 4 even sections…try to keep it the same thickness but don’t worry too much if it’s not completely uniform.
- Once divided you’ll want to take 2 sections and twist them together….not too tightly.
- Then place them in a preheated oven at 425 degrees.
- Quick tip: the original instructions said to throw ice on the bottom of the oven and close the door….yeah….I have a toddler so I’m really not looking forward to cleaning up that mess! Instead I took a regular old casserole dish and filled it with water and placed it in the freezer the night before. So when I put in the bread I put the casserole dish of ice under the bread on the lowest shelf possible. This is apparently the secret to making that delicious crunchy outer crust and soft yummy center. Sorry I didn’t take a pic….but you get the drift…right?
- Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes or until bread is golden brown.
I always enjoy my fresh french bread with a little butter spread on….what topping do you love to put on your french bread?
Jennifer
Tuesday 18th of March 2014
I have tried this recipe twice now. The first time they came out as bricks and the second they were edible but very dense. Is it really just 1/2 tsp of yeast? What could I be doing wrong?? I will say that they, both times, were very runny/sticky and were a little difficult to form into twists. Is this a clue to something I'm doing wrong??
Melissa
Tuesday 18th of March 2014
Hmmm....it could be based on your altitude...I know that can have an affect on breads. Maybe try adding another 1/2 tsp of yeast and see if you can get them to rise a little bit more. They will be sticky but not runny...that would require more flour. I would also try adjusting your oven temp and bake time...higher temp and shorter bake time. It can be tricky to find just the right combo of everything but once you find it it's perfect and pretty easy to keep recreating. Sorry you're having trouble with the recipe!
Brenna @ Life After Laundry
Wednesday 12th of February 2014
How awesome! I would have never thought you could make this bread so easily.