Homemade French Bread

This simple and easy french bread recipe will be a hit with all your loved ones! It takes just a short while to have delicious, fresh bread straight out of the oven.

It looks great and tastes even better, you might just have to skip going to the store every time you want some bread.

Homemade French Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 ounce active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• Some cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon cold water
• 1 egg white

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water (make sure the water is warm i.e not too cold, not too hot), then add the sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups flour and beat until well mixed.
2. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough.
3. Turn onto a floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
4. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top, cover and allow to rise in a warm place for about an hour until doubled.
5. Then punch dough the down, return to bowl and cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.
6. Punch the dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into a 16×2-1/2-in. loaf with tapered ends.
7. Then dust a greased baking sheet with cornmeal and place loaf on baking sheet. Cover and allow to rise for about 20 minutes until doubled.
8. Beat the egg white and cold water together and brush over the dough.
9. Using a sharp knife, make diagonal slashes 2 inches apart across the top of the loaf.
10. Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown then remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.