French Bread

The video above is my friend Hyrum and I making French bread together.
We think you’ll enjoy making it too!

Try this bread for garlic bread, French dip sandwiches or French toast!

No need for special pans, bake the bread on a cookie sheet

Yield: 2 loaves (about 1.5 lbs each)

  • 1/2 cup warm water (95-110°)
  • 1-1/2 Tablespoons yeast (Saf-Instant or Red Star Active Dry)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup cooking oil (canola or vegetable)
  • 3 cups flour (Lehi Roller Mills brand-buy @ Costco)
  • 1 Tablespoon salt
  • 2 cups warm water*
  • 3 more cups flour
  • 1 egg white (optional)
  1. POUR 1/2 cup of warm water (err on the side of cooler rather hotter water if unsure of water temperature) in the bottom of a KitchenAid bowl. Add 1-1/2 Tablespoons yeast and stir to dissolve. Add the sugar and oil and mix well.
  2. ADD 3 cups of flour, 2 cups of warm water, and 1 Tablespoon of salt.
  3. USE a rubber spatula to mix the ingredients.
  4. ADD 3 more cups of flour.
  5. USE the spatula or clean hands to mix the ingredients. Pay special attention to the bottom of the bowl.
  6. SPRINKLE sticky hands with flour to coat them, then rub your hands together to clean them off.
  7. PLACE the bowl on the mixer with the dough hook.
  8. MIX the dough for a couple minutes. It is pretty forgiving dough so unless it seems really stiff or way too sticky–don’t worry about the texture too much. A bit of warm water softens stiff dough, more flour corrects sticky dough.
  9. COVER the dough with a piece of sprayed plastic wrap or dishtowel.
  10. SET the timer for 10 minutes. When the timer rings, turn the mixer on for a few seconds to deflate the dough. Replace the plastic wrap on the bowl. Repeat this step twice more, deflating the dough, then setting the timer for a total of 3 rising times.
  11. PREPARE the pans while the dough rises. Spray a 12×18 size cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Or use french bread pans coated with non-stick spray.
  12. SEPARATE 1 egg. Save the yolk for another use.
  13. SPRINKLE the counter with flour. Divide the dough in half. Form the loaves by gently molding the dough to create a loaf with the seam on the bottom. Use a serrated knife to slash each loaf 3 times diagonally. Lightly brush the tops of the bread using part of an egg white (not too much).
  14. PLACE the loaves side by side longways on a 12×18 size cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray. Or use a sprayed french bread pan.
  15. RAISE until more than doubled–it really is hard to over-raise the loaves.
  16. PREHEAT the oven to 350°. The oven rack should be in the middle of the oven.
  17. BAKE 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove loaves from the pan and place on cooling racks immediately to prevent sticking to the pan.

*Use 1/2 cup less water in a humid climate

4 Loaf Recipe

Yield: 4 Loaves, about 1.5 lbs each. (All 4 loaves can be made in one batch using a 5-quart KitchenAid mixer).

  • 1 cup warm water (95-110°)
  • 3 Tablespoons yeast (Saf-Instant or Red Star Active Dry)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup cooking oil (canola or vegetable)
  • 6 cups flour (Lehi Roller Mills brand-buy @ Costco)
  • 2 Tablespoons salt
  • 4 cups warm water*
  • 6 more cups flour
  • 1 egg white (optional)
  1. POUR 1 cup of warm water (err on the side of cooler rather hotter water if unsure of water temperature) in the bottom of a 5 quart KitchenAid bowl. Add 3 Tablespoons yeast and stir to dissolve. Add the sugar and oil and mix well.
  2. ADD 6 cups of flour, 2 cups of warm water, and 2 Tablespoons of salt.
  3. USE a rubber spatula to mix the ingredients together.
  4. ADD 6 more cups of flour.
  5. USE a the spatula or clean hands to mix the ingredients together. Pay special attention to the bottom of the bowl.
  6. DIP your hands in flour to coat them then and scrape the dough off your hands and place the bowl on the mixer with the dough hook.
  7. MIX the dough for a couple minutes. It is pretty forgiving dough so unless it seems really stiff or way too sticky–don’t worry about the texture too much.
  8. COVER the dough with a piece of sprayed plastic wrap or dishtowel.
  9. SET the timer for 10 minutes. When the timer rings, lower the bowl of the mixer and turn it on for a few seconds. Keeping the bowl lowered, place the plastic wrap over the dough but under the mixing hook. This is so as the dough raises it doesn’t crawl up the dough hook. (The bowl should remain in the lowered position from now on.) Set the timer for 10 more minutes.
  10. MIX and set the timer for a total of 3 raising times.
  11. DEFLATE the dough by slowly turning on the mixer and running it for a few seconds.
  12. PREPARE the pans while the dough rises. Spraying 2 (12×18 size) cookie sheets with non-stick spray. Or use french bread pans coated with non-stick spray.
  13. SEPARATE 1 egg. Save the yolk for another use–only the white will be used for the egg wash.
  14. SPRINKLE the counter with flour. Divide the dough in fourths. Form the loaves by gently molding the dough to create a long loaf with the seam on the bottom. Use a serrated knife to slash each loaf 3 times diagonally. Lightly brush the tops of the bread using part of an egg white (not too much).
  15. PLACE the loaves side by side longways on 2 (12×18 size) cookie sheets sprayed with non-stick spray. Or use sprayed french bread pans.
  16. RAISE until more than doubled–it really is hard to over-raise the loaves.
  17. PREHEAT the oven to 350°. The oven rack should be in the middle of the oven. If baking all four loaves at once, space two oven racks evenly in the oven. Rotate the pans halfway through baking.
  18. BAKE 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove loaves from the pan and place on cooling racks immediately to prevent sticking to the pan.

*Use 1 cup less water in a humid climate

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