Classic French Bread

Name: Classic French Bread
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 145 min
Yield: 16 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 500 g all-purpose or bread flour; 350 g lukewarm water; 7 g instant yeast; 10 g fine sea salt

Crisp-crusted French bread with a light chewy interior, simple lean dough, traditional elongated shaping, scoring, and steam.

Total

145 min

Servings

Level

Intermediate

Vegan

Ingredients

500 g all-purpose or bread flour
350 g lukewarm water
7 g instant yeast
10 g fine sea salt

Instructions

Mix flour, water, yeast, and salt into rough dough.

Rest 20 minutes.

20 min

Knead until moderately smooth and elastic, approximately 6-8 minutes.

Cover and rise until doubled, approximately 60-90 minutes.

75 min

Gently fold/deflate. Rest 10 minutes.

10 min

Divide in half. Preshape into short logs. Rest 15 minutes.

15 min

Shape each into approximately 14-16 inch loaf.

Transfer to parchment-lined sheet or French bread/baguette pan.

Proof 35-50 minutes until puffy.

45 min

Preheat oven to 450F. Place an empty metal steam pan on lower rack.

Score each loaf with 3-5 overlapping diagonal cuts.

Place loaves in oven. Carefully add approximately 1 cup hot water to steam pan. Do not pour water onto oven glass.

Bake approximately 22-28 minutes until deeply golden. Vent steam after first 10-12 minutes if appropriate.

25 min

Cool on rack.

Nutrition per serving

108

Calories

Protein

22g

Carbs

Fat

Chef's Notes & Storage

CHEF'S NOTES: - This is intentionally a lean dough - no butter, milk, egg, or sugar. - Steam is critical for a crisp, crackly crust. The steam pan creates the burst of steam. - Do NOT pour water onto oven glass - pour it into the preheated metal pan on the lower rack. - Score loaves with overlapping diagonal cuts for the classic French bread look. TROUBLESHOOTING: - How do I create steam? Use a preheated metal pan on the lower rack and pour hot water into it when loading bread. - Why didn't my scores open? Blade wasn't sharp enough, cuts weren't deep enough, or dough was too dry. - Can I bake without a baguette pan? Yes - use a parchment-lined sheet pan. STORAGE: Best day-of. Room temperature 1-2 days. Freeze whole. SCALING: 2x = make four loaves or two larger loaves. Rise and bake times do not scale. ALLERGENS: Contains wheat. NUTRITION NOTE: Calculated per slice (1/16 of recipe, 2 loaves) using standard USDA nutrition values.

Part of:Artisan Breads Breads