French bread is an easy bread if you have just started making bread at home. A few ingredients, mix in my a spatula, no kneading required and relatively less technical shaping, this bread is rustic and at the same time holds the charm of homemade. It is a very popular bread at my home and as my son says, if its that easy why don’t you make it everyday.
A little history
French Bread or Baguette a very distinct hard crust , rustic elongated bread is considered a common man’s bread. Rooted in deep political French history of making a lean bread with basic ingredients to erase the class difference. Later a similar bread was brought in to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by a Somali and hence the bread is called samooli.
How to make easy French bread?
This recipe requires a handful of ingredients
Flour – All purpose (Maida)
Salt
Sugar or Honey
Water
Yeast – instant (I highly recommend reading this basic yeast understanding article)
If you like making breads at home and just starting out make sure you check out this no knead easy overnight bread or this sandwich white bread recipe.
Serving Suggestions
Growing up my parents used to buy this bread after performing Umrah (religious short pilgrimage) in Makkah and buying fresh samooli from a nearby neighborhood bakery with salted butter and a frizzy drink.
I still enjoy that warm bread with a smear of salted butter and so does my kids.
However this versatile bread can be enjoyed in a sandwich, with soup or turned into garlic bread.
Storage and Make Ahead
This bread is the best when eaten the same day. You can reheat the leftover bread in the oven for 5-8 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 or toast it in a toaster. Leftover bread can be used to make garlic bread as well. Keep the leftover bread in a zip lock bag.
Place a handful of ice cubes when baking to create that steam which helps in the formation of the crust.
Easy French Bread
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups Flour , All purpose (Maida)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Sugar or Honey
- 1 1/2 cups Water , room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Yeast , instant
Instructions
- Mix flour, salt, sugar, yeast and water in a large bowl with a spatula until combined and no dry flour remains.
- The dough can be rough and that is ok.
- Cover it and keep in warm place to rise for about 1 hour.
- After it has almost doubled in size, take out on a generously floured workspace with the help of a spatula.
- Gather the dough with some flour on the hands and divide it into four pieces.
- Pat one piece into a rectangle and overlap one third of it from the longer side and seal with with finger tips on the remaining part of the dough.
- Repeat again till it is completely wrapped and seal with the palms of your hands.
- Roll it out with your hands elongating the baguette.
- Place it carefully on a large baking sheet.
- Place it to rise for 30 minutes until puffed up.
- Carefully score using a sharp knife in the center length wise or three diagonal slits across.
- Place in a preheated oven at 375 for 15 minutes until nice and brown.
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