Easy Homemade French Bread | Simple Cooking with Pep
Easy Homemade French Bread
Serves 1
This Easy Homemade French Bread recipe is practically foolproof and rivals bread you may get from the bakery. This bread is golden, crisp and chewy on the outside, and light and fluffy on the inside. The best part? It can be made in roughly 90 minute
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook attachment, or a large bowl, add yeast, water, honey, bread and all-purpose flour, salt and olive oil. Knead for 3 minutes in stand mixer (6 minutes if you are doing this by hand). Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes, then knead an additional 2 minutes (or 4 minutes if doing this by hand).
2. Transfer dough to greased bowl. Spray the top of dough with nonstick cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Alternatively, you can turn your oven on and preheat until the oven reaches 100F. Once the oven has reached 100F, turn the oven off. Place the covered dough in the warm oven and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased surface. Pat the dough into a rectangle that’s approximately 9×13 inches. Starting from the long edge, roll the dough up into a cylinder. Pinch the edges together to seal. Pinch the edges at the tips together and pinch together with the seam down the center of the bread (so that the ends will be tucked under). Place the bread onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, seam side down.
4. Using a bread lame, razor blade or very sharp knife, cut 6 slits in bread at an angle. Cover bread with plastic wrap.
5. Allow bread to rise for 45 minutes at room temperature, or 20 minutes in a warm oven (using the same method as above).
6. Preheat oven to 375F. (Make sure bread is out of oven, if you used a warm oven to proof the bread).
7. Brush the top and sides of the bread with egg wash. Place bread in preheated oven and toss 4 ice cubes onto the bottom of the oven. Close the oven door (the ice helps create a crispy crust). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown in color.
