French bread is famous worldwide for its crispy crust and light interior. It’s also very simple to make, with minimal ingredients and hardly any kneading! All you need is flour, yeast, salt, water, and a Dutch oven. If you don’t have a Dutch oven, it can also be made on a baking sheet; it just won’t have quite as crisp a crust.
On the Ingredients
- Active dry yeast is a form of baker’s yeast used for leavening bread and other yeasted confections. The earliest known use of yeast leavening was in Ancient Egypt, but for most of human history, yeast had to be fermented either by leaving dough in warm environments or with starters like with modern sourdough. It wasn’t until the end of the 19th century that commercial yeasts began to be developed. At first, it was available as slurry or cream yeast, then as yeast cakes, which required refrigeration. The most familiar dry granulated yeast was developed during WWII by Fleischmann’s for the US armed forces so that refrigeration was not needed for storage. Today, this is the most common type of baker’s yeast. Active dry yeast requires warm water to activate. Instant yeast is a different product that can be mixed directly with dry ingredients and takes less time to rise.
Simple French Country Bread
1
loaf15
minutes40
minutes2
hours30
minutes3
hours25
minutesFrench bread is famous worldwide for its crispy crust and light interior. It's also very simple to make, with minimal ingredients and hardly any kneading! All you need is flour, yeast, salt, water, and a Dutch oven. If you don't have a Dutch oven, it can also be made on a baking sheet; it just won't have quite as crisp a crust.
Ingredients
3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups hot water (as hot as your bare hand can handle)
- Special Equipment
Dutch oven
Directions
- Combine the hot water and yeast in a small bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Combine the salt and flour in a large bowl.
- Add the water and yeast to the dry ingredients and, using your hands, combine into a sticky dough. Depending on the humidity of the day, you may do to add more flour or water. You want a sticky and slightly wet dough.
- Knead in the bowl for 5 minutes until the dough is elastic and slightly shiny.
- Lightly oil a clean bowl and transfer the dough to it. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 2 hours in a warm spot.
- Generously flour a clean work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Gently form into a smooth ball. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes. This ball will be the shape of your loaf.
- In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425° F and put the Dutch oven in to heat for 20 minutes. If you are using a sheet, it doesn't have to be heated.
- When the rest time is over, score the top of the loaf in an X shape. It doesn't have to be deep; about a half-inch score is good.
- Carefully transfer the loaf to a piece of parchment paper, then lower it into the hot Dutch oven. Put the lid on, and then transfer to the oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for 10 minutes. (If using a sheet, simply bake for 35 minutes.) To check the bread's doneness, tap the bottom; it should sound hollow.
- Let the loaf cool for at least 10 minutes before digging in!
