Easy Homemade French Loaf

There is just something special about the smell of freshly baked, homemade, bread. The way the aromas fill the air and invoke thoughts of slicing into the warm, soft, delicious loaf. Slathering it with butter and taking that first bite. It’s just heaven.

This recipe comes together rather quickly. So if you’ve got a craving for some soft, delicious, fresh homemade bread, give this a try. It’s a pretty hands-off recipe with most of the time left to the rise-and-bake portion. So, what are you waiting for?! Just make sure you read the recipe and instructions all the way through before starting and have all your ingredients measured out and ready to go – mise en place.

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp sugar or honey

1 tbsp instant yeast *

2 1/4 tsp salt **

2 1/4 c 110-115 degree warm water

5 1/2 – 6 c of AP or bread flour ***

2 tbsp The Olive Junction Tuscan Herb Olive oil

* Make sure your yeast is active – if it doesn’t “bloom” within a few minutes of placing it in some warm water, it’s no good.

**This is a guide on how much salt to use. Different salts, table vs kosher for example, will provide you with varying amounts per tsp as the crystal structure is different with them.

***The temperature, humidity levels, elevation level, etc will have varying degrees on the amount of flour you will need to use. Start with the minimum, and based on the look and feel of your dough determine if you need more. You want your dough to every so sticky/tacky to the touch, supple, soft, and doesn’t leave much residue on your fingers.

DIRECTIONS

• In your stand mixer fitted with your dough hook, put the sugar/honey, yeast, and water in. Combine for a minute. Turn off. If using active dry yeast, allow it to bloom (foam) for approximately 5 minutes. If you are using Instant yeast, you can skip this step and proceed to the next.
• Add your oil, salt, and 3 1/2 cups of your flour. Turn your mixer on low to combine. Gradually add 1/2 cup at a time until you’ve added 5 1/2 cups total. If your dough hasn’t cleaned the sides of the bowl and formed a soft ball, add more flour. We recommend doing this in tbsp increments to prevent adding too much flour. Once the dough clears/cleans the sides of the bowl and leaves very little residue on your fingers, it is ready to be kneaded.
• Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and the dough from the dough hook. While the dough is in the bowl, knead for approximately 2-3 minutes until your dough is smooth.
• FIRST RISE: take a clean bowl that will accommodate the dough rising to double its current size. Grease the bowl with our Tuscan Herb Olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and roll it around in the oil until the entire ball is coated. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until it has doubled in size – usually about an hour or so depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
• Once your dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl onto a lightly greased surface (a silicone baking mat works great for this) and divide it in half. Working with 1 at a time, using your hands, shape the ball into a rectangle. Roughly about 9 inches tall and 12 inches wide. Starting with the long edge, roll the dough into a log and remove any air bubbles as you go. If you get a seam or overlap of dough as you roll it into a log, press those out with the heel of your palm. Once the dough is rolled up, pinch the edge of the roll to the “log” to seal together and pinch the ends of your roll together to seal. Place roll, seam side down on your lined baking sheet.
• With a very sharp and clean knife, bread lame, or razor blade make several diagonal cuts along the top of the loaf. Cover the loaves with greased plastic wrap. Start to preheat your oven to 375 and place a rack in the center position while you wait for your second rise.
• SECOND RISE: let loaves rise for about an hour or so. You want them to double in size. If you forgot to cut slits into your loaves before the 2nd rise, you can do this now, however, take note that you may deflate the loaf if your knife is not sharp enough.
• Once your second rise is finished, feel free to do an egg wash (optional) on each loaf before placing your loaves in the oven. Bake for approximately 25 – 30 minutes until golden brown and baked through. If you find that your loaves are not browning as much or as quickly as you’d like, turn your loaf pan halfway, and/or you can turn the heat up to 400 – 425 degrees but be mindful to watch your loaves more closely as you don’t want them to burn.
• Once baked to your desired doneness, remove from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack.
• ENJOY!