This recipe makes hot, fresh loaves of French bread with a crunchy, crisp exterior and a slightly mushy middle. This bread is just as conventional as French bread.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 35 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 45 mins |
| Servings: | 30 |
| Yield: | 2 large loaves |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Grease a large baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Set aside.
- Combine 2 cups flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in 2 cups warm water; beat with the dough hook attachment until blended. Continue adding remaining flour, a little at a time, until incorporated.
- Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a greased bowl, and turn once. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Punch dough down and divide in half. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Roll each half into a large rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side. Moisten edge with water and seal. Taper ends.
- Place loaves, seam-side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly beat egg white with 1 tablespoon water and brush over loaves. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until nearly doubled, 35 to 40 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Use a sharp knife to make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts, about 1/4-inch deep, across top of each loaf. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Brush loaves with egg white mixture. Continue baking until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 190 degrees F (88 degrees C) or loaves sound hollow when tapped, 15 to 20 minutes more. If necessary, cover loosely with foil to prevent over-browning.
- Remove loaves from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.
Reviews
I’m not sure how to rate the original recipe since I veered off quite a bit, but they did turned out yummy, and now people keep asking me to make it for them. I used 2 packages of active yeast, and proofed it first. *2 tsp of salt *2 tbl of olive oil for flavor *5 cups of bread flour After making the dough and putting it in the bowl to rise, folding the dough over itself every 10 minutes, about 2 or 3 times, helps to keep the yeast “feeding”, and creates the lighter airy center. I put a pan of water on the bottom rack in the oven while it’s preheating, so it’s nice and steamy when it hits temperature. I didn’t egg wash, but I brushed the dough with melted butter, & garlic salt with herbs. This also kept the dough from drying out, so I didn’t put a towel over them while the oven was heating up. They came out very flavorful, light on the inside and crispy on the outside Update: After making them a few times, I started laminating by lightly brushing the rolled out dough with either butter or olive oil, and a little garlic salt, then rolled. The flavor and air pockets are amazing.
Added 1 TBS butter and 5 tsp yeast. Made a great garlic bread. Baked in extra long bread pans for 25 minutes. Sliced, buttered, garlic salted and broiled 2 minutes served with lasagna. Came out dense but fine.
I like the recipe, but it calls for too much flour. I went with five cups rather than six, and it turned out just right. It seems like it is too much yeast for five cups of flour so I’m going to tweak that a little next time. Also, this makes a lot of dough. I split it into three, rather than two, and the loaves are still quite big. I might see about halving the recipe and making two loaves out of that. For those who are complaining in other comments that their loaves turned out too dense (mine were a little too dense, too), I suspect this mostly has to do with the cut. All bread cooks should work on their cuts, they make a big difference. For those
This is a great recipe. I make it all the time. I often eat one loaf the first day I make it.
Looks totally beautiful! I did the recipe exactly until I rolled it out and sprinkled garlic salt across the top before rolling it up. I also sprinkled garlic salt on top. Misted with water in addition to washing with egg whites as directed. Thanks so much for this recipe!
This was super easy to make and my family loved it.
I made it exactly as directions stated and it was too dense and it had an off yeasty taste. I threw it out.
Super easy and great. I make the dough in the bread machine.
I had a hard time thinking that I had to have made a mistake, but remeasuring the flour and all other ingredients, confirms this was the stiffest dough I ever pounded. The loaves were heavy and dense. Flavor was weak .
I followed the suggestions, 5tsp yeast, 1tbs salt. Formed one using the above technique and the thinner one using Julia Child’s method. Baked with pan of water on bottom shelf. 28 min
Came out amazing. The flavor is neutral like other reviewers mentioned. Which in a way is good if you want to add other salty toppings to the bread. We ate it with extra virgin olive oil and garlic with a pinch of salt. Next time, I will add 1/2 teaspoon more salt. It baked in my oven for 35 min.
While this is a solid recipe, with good instructions, I felt the lack of salt took off a star. I did double the salt and this was perfect. With so few ingredients the right amount of salt is imperative! It did only need a bit over 5 cups flour for me.
Light crunchy layer with a soft pillowy bread inside! 5 STARS! Definity a keeper recipe. I added rosemary while kneading & it came out wonderful. The whole house smells like fresh baked rosemary bread.
Great! Used Sabras suggestions. Will make again.
Delish!
Bread has a good taste. I added butter and a bit more salt. It is a bit dense but otherwise perfect.
I’ve made lots of bread and was seeking something faster and less labor intensive than Madame Julia’s classic recipe. This definitely isn’t it. It was dense, flavorless and rocklike on the exterior. My son hit it a few times with a hammer and didn’t so much as dent the loaves. Great for self defense, not for eating, sorry.
Really great, easy to execute. Came out perfect!
This turned out awesome. I did put the yeast into the water for three minutes first before adding to flour in mixer stand. Everything else was to the recipe. Will make again
Perfect French bread every time! So easy to whip up in my Kitchen Aid. The egg white is a must if you want a beautiful loaf! If I’m in a hurry I let the dough rest for 10 minutes after kneading then shape the loaves. Still delicious French bread with only one rise!
Absolutely incredible!! Perfect crust and inside is soft and springs back perfectly. My kids helped me make this and we plan on making it together weekly. The video was very helpful for figuring out the rolling stage. I made a few changes. 2 packs of yeast. Oatmeal ground up instead of cornmeal. 2 tsp of water for the egg wash mix.