Crusty French Bread

If you read my blog you know that making homemade bread is very intimidating to me. I saw this recipe for crusty French bread on a blog called Lynda's Recipe Box that looked so delicious and fairly simple to make so I decided to give it a try. My son helped gather all the ingredients together and put them in the bread machine and we let the machine do all the work on the dough cycle. The bread turned out to be really, really easy to make and it was absolutely delicious. It had a nice crust on the outside and it was light and fluffy on the inside - it was a huge hit with all of us. I can't wait to make this bread again and again. Thanks Lynda!

Note: If you don't have a bread machine - head over to Lynda's site where she gives instructions to do it by hand.

Crusty French Bread:

Adapted recipe by For the Love of Cooking.net

Original recipe by Lynda's Recipe Box

• 2 cups of warm water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 6 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 envelope active dry yeast
• Cornmeal
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp water

Place all dough ingredients (through yeast) in the bread machine in the order listed. Select the dough cycle and press start.

Once the bread machine stops (it was one and a half hours on my machine). Remove the pan from the bread machine and punch the dough down (deflate it), then cover and let it rise a second time, until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Remove the dough and place it on a floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Use a sharp knife and cut the dough into two equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle. Roll up jelly roll fashion and pinch the seam together. Tuck the ends underneath. Line a baking sheet with a silpat mat and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place the bread on the prepared baking sheet; cover and let rise until it doubles in size, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Carefully make several evenly placed diagonal cuts (with a sharp knife) on top of each loaf. Beat together the egg white and 1 tablespoon of water then brush over each loaf with a pastry brush.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 23-25 minutes, or until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire racks. Enjoy.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe - For the Love of Cooking.net