Here’s a basic white, French bread recipe for a free-form/baguette loaf that can serve as a basic yardstick for the measurements for future breads. If you’re like me, you don’t really read endnotes (I prefer footnotes), but check out the one at the end of this recipe for some variations and delicious tips.
Hands-on Time: 1/2 hour.
Hands-off Time: 3 hours
Serves: 4
Gear:
Baking sheet
Bowl
Fork (or wooden spoon)
Measuring Cup
Tablespoons
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups of white, all-purpose flower (and more for dusting)
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 packet of dry active yeast
2 tbsp honey/or 2 tbsp sugar/or 2 tbsp brown sugar
1. Put the 3 1/2 cups of flour into a largish bowl and add the 2 tablespoons of salt and mix it around a bit with that fork.
2. Get 1 1/2 cups of warm water (around 105°, but don’t sweat it if you don’t have a thermometer. The water should be hot to the touch, but not enough to burn you)
3. Stir in a tablespoon of sugar and a package of dry active yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the top begins to get frothy, like the head on a mug of beer or the stuff on top of a cappuccino or hot cocoa. (The sugar feeds the yeast. If it’s going wild and is too bubbly, then add salt to slow it down. This process of letting the yeast get the gasses going is called “proofing” the yeast.
4. Once the yeast is done proofing, slowly pour it into the bowl with the flour while stirring it with the fork until it’s almost too think. Poke it with your finger; if there’s not more loose flour in the bowl and some of the dough sticks to your finger, then add more flour. If there’s still loose flour in the bowl and the dough doesn’t stick, then add more water. What you’re trying to achieve is something with a slightly springy, elastic consistency. It’s hard to explain, but the more you do it, the more you’ll come to realize how the dough should feel.
5. Once the dough is dry enough to work with your hands, take it out and put it on a smooth, flat, clean surface to knead. Kneading is when you mush around the dough a lot to align the gluten cells in the dough. That is to say, squish it, squash it, twist it, bend it, pound it; do whatever you gotta do to get out some penned up anger. I’d say go at it for about 5-10 minutes.
6. When you’re done kneading, shape the dough into a ball into a bowl (you can use the one you used before if you wash it). Cover and put into a warm, draftless place. Ovens work great for this, especially if you have a gas oven because the pilot light will give you enough heat. If you have electric, you can boil a kettle of water and put it right there in the oven with the ball of dough as it rises. You can also put the dough in the fridge overnight to slow down the rising process so you can make the dough the day before.
7. Depending on the humidity and the ambient heat, the rising time will vary. Check on it in about an hour. It’s done when the dough has doubled in size.
8. After the first rising is done, beat out all the air in the dough and then shape your loaf. There’s more than one way to do this. You can make a free-form loaf, which means just shaping a flattish ball and letting it go. If you so desire, you can roll a series of balls about an inch-and-a-half in diameter to make rolls, or you can shape a baguette. Either way, lay your dough out on a baking sheet well dusted with flour. That just means sprinkle a thin coating of flower on the top of the baking sheet. Cover it with a towel (not a bath towel, but something like a clean dish-towel), and let it rise again. You can also slash the top with a razor or sharp knife in a tic-tac-toe board pattern for large free form loafs or I a simple x for small buns. For a baguette, make a series of parallel diagonal slashes about 1 1/2-2 inches apart. Make these slashes about a quarter-inch deep.
9. Once it’s done rising, preheat the oven to 350° and bake for 25-45 minutes, depending on the form you choose as well as how crispy you like the crust. A series of small rolls takes less time while a larger loaf takes more. If you’d like, you can place a casserole dish with some water in it in with the bread to provide it with moisture while it’s baking.
I know this recipe’s a little wordy, but I wanted to be as specific as possible because I am very passionate about my bread. I love bread. After a tough day of classes, I’d take a loaf that I had rising in my fridge, bake it, and enjoy some oven-fresh bread with a cup of coffee or tea (or a beer) with some olive-oil infused with rosemary and some fresh grated parmesan cheese.
Variations: Also, you can totally play around with this basic recipe. Take out a cup or a half-cup of white all-purpose flower and substitute wheat flour. Toss in a handful of shelled sunflower seeds into the flour as you’re making it. Add a tablespoon of basil flakes; toss in some raisins, white chocolate chips, blueberries, sun-dried tomatoes, or almonds.
A note on washes: A wash is a kind of top coat of stuff that you paint onto the loaf before it goes into the oven. Washes I’ve used include water, olive oil, milk, beaten eggs, beaten whites, beaten yolks, milk and eggs, etc. Each wash has its own character and its own qualities. Play around to figure out which ones you like.
A note on toppings: Sometimes I’ll press rosemary sprigs into the top of the bread, which gives it a great flavor and makes your entire apartment smell fantastic during the baking process. I’ve also used onion strings, chives, basil, and other herbs and spices.
