Sunday, March 16, 2008

One-Hour French Bread

Aries was off today, and this afternoon said he'd cook spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight. We had just about everything ready to go. I had a big batch of meatballs and bell peppers in the freezer, jars of tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste from last summer's harvest, onions and garlic in the pantry, and lots of other veggies in the refrigerator. He also wanted garlic bread, so I said I'd make my One-Hour French Bread.

One hour is total time from getting the bowl out of the cupboard until a fresh hot loaf comes out of the oven. Lots of time, our dinner is this bread and some home-made soup. Sorry I couldn't get a photo of the loaf right out of the oven - Aries just loves hot fresh bread!

One-Hour French Bread
1½ cups warm water
1 tablespoon honey
1½ teaspoons salt
1½ tablespoons Active Dry Yeast
3 - 4 cups flour (any combination of white and whole wheat)

Preheat oven 450ยบ. Combine water, salt, honey, and yeast in a medium bowl. Let sit 5 - 10 minutes, until bubbling. Add flour, stirring with a wooden spoon, until dough is no longer sticky (I'll sometimes dump the dough out onto the cutting board with what flour is in the bowl and roll it around,adding a bit more flour, until it's not sticky). Roll dough into a 12 - 14" roll (or you can divide it in half and roll it into two long skinny baguettes). Place dough roll(s) on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray, cover, and let sit 20 minutes. Make diagonal slits, 1/2" deep, on top with a razor blade. (Optional: spray with salt water). Bake 20 minutes.

15 comments:

Felicia McB said...

I just made bread for the first time from scratch today, and I used this recipe. (but me being an air head I forgot the salt, lol). It still came out really good. Thanks for sharing this recipe, even a novice like me, while making mistakes was able to make an awesome loaf of bread.

Sadge said...

That's wonderful! Thanks for the feedback! Great photo, by the way :-)
Sadge

Carla said...

Sadge - I made your bread recipe this weekend & loved it! And it will soon be time to make more... Delicious!! And so fast & easy. Thank you so much for sharing it. With your permission, I'm going to pass it along to my two daughters...

Also, I used to live in Pocatello, ID - also high desert country. Grew wonderful tomatoes & herbs down there. Not that I've moved further north, and to a lower elevation, I'm having to change some of my gardening techniques.

I'm enjoying your blog, and check back regularly to read.
Carla in North Idaho
p.s.
Have to share this: I moved up here in the middle of January. One early spring morning, I wondered if it had rained during the night because the grass was so wet (actual drops of moisture). Turns out, I had forgotten what dew looked like - didn't have any of that in Poc. (smile)

Kez said...

Hi Sadge,

I found your blog via a comment you left on http://mylittlemogo.blogspot.com/ re your French bread. I'll be trying this tomorrow, thanks!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this recipe! I will try it tonite. =)

Julie Ann said...

Hi there! I'll be using this recipe for a cooking class that I co-teach in our homeschool co-op. The class is an hour long, so this recipe, with its very basic ingredients is perfect! I tested it out last night with some corn soup for dinner (half whole wheat and half unbleached white), and it turned out great. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

this is an awesome recpie - my husband really liked it (and he will tell me whether to use the recpie again) its easy and fast - and its good - my daughter, who does not bake can do this one.

thanks

Annodear said...

Oh man, that bread was SO GOOD! Really loved the consistency of it and warm, crusty french bread in one hour ~ amazing!

Thanks for posting this :-)

Anonymous said...


Which flour do I use bread flour or all-purpose flour for the recipe?

Sadge said...

I usually just use all-purpose flour. Starting with 2 cups whole wheat and then make up the remaining amount with unbleached white flour gives me the best results. Just don't use a pastry flour - it doesn't have enough gluten for the dough to rise

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this. Husband and family really enjoyed it. Husband said he found a new favorite.

Unknown said...

Found your recipe today and made two small loaves out if the recipe to go with the least soup that's been bubbling away all day. Thank you for a fantastic add to my dinner table.

captain jack said...

Worked perfectly. my eight year old loves bread, and I had her measure and mix and form the loaf. I have made bread for years, and more recently have been doing long fermented doughs, but today I wanted something quick to have, and something my kid could handle. perfect.
If/when I make it again, I will up the salt a bit, let it rise a bit longer, and maybe try an egg wash.

AN said...

Should I use 3 or 4 cups of flour? It seems like a big difference.

Sadge said...

It can depend on what kind of flour you're using, and humidity can play a part. I stir in 3 cups, and then usually dump the 4th on the counter when rolling the dough around - until it makes a smooth ball that doesn't stick to my hands.