French Bread

French Bread

about 1 hour and 45 minutes

1 c warm water

2 1/2 cups bread flour (or regular if that's all you have)

1 T sugar

1 t salt

1 1/2 t yeast

1 egg

• Mix the warm water, sugar, and yeast and let sit for 10 minutes. Using the Kitchen-Aid with the dough hook, mix in salt and flour starting at 1 1/2 cups and slowly adding until dough is one elastic ball and sides of bowl are clean.
• Let it sit to rise for 30 minutes.
• Punch down and let it sit for 5 minutes.
• Spread dough out to make a large rectangle (about 16x12 inches). Roll dough, beginning at 16 inch side, as seen below. I play with it from there to try form it into a pretty loaf. Spray a large knife with cooking spray and make deep diagonal slashes across loaf every 2 inches.
• Let sit for 30 minutes to rise.
• Beat egg and brush over top of loaf. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.

I usually double the recipe and if we don't eat both loaves you can share it with someone else or freeze it to go with another meal or for french bread pizza.