Crusty Country French Bread
An easy recipe for crusty country French bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 pkg active yeast 1 pkg = 2 1/4 teaspoons
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Make sure you read the tips at the bottom of the recipe for helpful hints.
- In a bowl, combine warm water (about 105 degrees), sugar, and yeast. Mix lightly and cover the bowl with a plate. Let sit until foamy, 5-7 minutes.
- In a large bowl combine the flour and salt. Mix lightly with a fork or whisk.
- Form a little well in the middle of the flour/salt mixture.
- When the yeast is foamy, pour it into the well in the flour mixture.
- Mix thoroughly. I use my hands for this. When I get to the end, I lightly flour the counter and pour out the dough, mixing 4-5 times to make sure everything is combined.
- Put about 1 tbsp of olive oil in the bottom of a large bowl. Wipe it all around the bowl so the rising dough won't stick. Add the dough and swirl it around so it gets a very light coating of oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and put it in a warm place. See the tips below for suggestions.
- Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- If you have used the oven to help the dough rise, remove the bowl to a counter.
- At the end of the two hours, place the Dutch oven, including the cover, into the oven and heat it to 450 degrees. Once it reaches the 450 degrees, leave the pot in there for another 20 minutes.
- As soon as you put the pot into the oven, gently remove the dough from the bowl. On a lightly floured surface, carefully shape the dough into a ball shape and return it to the bowl. Cover it and let it rise in a warm spot (I put it on the top of the heating oven).
- When the pot is ready, VERY CAREFULLY remove it from the oven. Remove the dough from the bowl and, once again, gently form it into the ball shape. Drop the dough gently into the Dutch oven. USING OVEN MITTS, put the lid back on and put the pot with the dough in the oven.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.
- Once baked, removed the bread from the Dutch oven using a spatula and let it cool on a wire rack. Again, be VERY CAREFUL of that pot. It will take a long time to cool off.
- When the bread is completely cool, you can store it in a paper bag.
Notes
Tips:
Yeast is pretty resilient, but hot water can kill it. Generally something between 100 and 105 degrees works really well.
You can coat your bowl with a neutral oil like canola oil or even non-stick cooking spray if you don't have olive oil.
My house is super cold all the time, so my warm spot is my oven. I turn it on, let it heat until about 170 degrees, and then turn it off right away.
Make sure your Dutch oven is safe to put in the oven; that includes the knob on the lid which can crack and break if not suitable to high heat.
I cannot say enough times how careful you need to be with that pot. It is scorching hot! Do not touch any part of it with your hands. This comes from painful personal experience.
Store the bread in a paper bag. If you use a plastic bag or plastic wrap, the crust will lose its crunchiness. If you don't have a paper bag, you can try aluminum foil which is not quite as good, but better than the plastic.