I love making homemade bread!
There is just something about getting your hands in the dough and kneading it to a nice, smooth consistency.
The aroma of the raw dough rising, is second only to the awakening of your senses that you experience as the bread is baking.
I can't tell you how many times I've almost burnt my hand as I tore off a piece of a loaf fresh out of the oven.
One of the breads I make most often is a simple French Baguette.
My 7 year old daughter loves to help me in the kitchen, and she helped me make these.
This recipe makes 2 loaves.
You can mix the ingredients in a bread machine, on the dough cycle, in the order of the manufacturer's recommendation, if you want to.
I prefer forgoing the bread machine and making these by hand. I think my daughter does, too!
French Baguettes
(makes 2 baguettes)
What You Need:
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour, plus extra for dusting (bread flour is best, but you can easily sub all purpose)
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water
What You Do:
- Pour the warm water, sugar, and yeast into a small bowl. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes, until it is nice and frothy.
- Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl.
- Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Stir well, switching to your hands when the dough is too stiff for a wooden spoon.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic (10-15 minutes), adding a bit more flour if necessary.
- Oil a large bowl. Form the dough into a ball and put it in the bowl. Flip the dough ball, cover lightly with a clean kitchen towel, and let rise 45 minutes- 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
- Punch down the dough, divide it into 2 equal sized pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll one of the pieces of dough into a rectangle. Roll up tightly, beginning with long side, pounding out any air bubbles as you go. Taper ends by rolling gently back and forth. Repeat with the other piece of dough.
- Place the loaves 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Make deep diagonal slashes across loaves every 2 inches. Cover, and let rise again 30-40 minutes, until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water. Brush over tops of loaves.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.
- Remove & put bread on a wire rack to cool.
It does keep well wrapped in a plastic bread bag for a day or 2, but really, good luck getting it to last that long!
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Hi you are give the Sunshine award. You can see this here. http://bindu.ca/wordpress/the-sunshine-award-for-blogging/
ReplyDeleteAww! Thank you so much, Bindu!!! :-)
DeleteThank you for sharing such an awesome recipe. This one's definitely a keeper.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this awesome recipe. We just loved it!
ReplyDelete