Best Homemade Crusty French Bread - Bread Machine
The awesome aroma of freshly baked bread by itself will inspire you make this Crusty French Bread time and time again. However, once you taste it, you’ll definitely be hooked. It only has five ingredients, and the bread machine does most of the work!
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 3 ½ Tablespoons (9.75 ounces, 276 grams) filtered water
- ½ Tablespoon Kosher salt
- ½ Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 3 cups (15 ounces, 425 grams) bread flour
- ½ Tablespoon instant yeast
Instructions
- Add ingredients to bread machine pan in the order listed. Select Dough cycle, and press start.
- When the Dough cycle has completed, place dough on floured surface. Pat down, and cut dough into pieces. The weight depends on what you're making. For this recipe, cut into four 4-ounce pieces, and one 8-ounce piece. With each piece, pat dough onto a rectangle. Roll the long side, forming a cylinder. Press edges together, and continue to shape into loaf with tapered ends. Place on baguette pan. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.
- Heat electric oven for exactly 1 minute, 45 seconds. Place baguettes into oven for 1 hour, or until double in size. Mist with water and make 2 to 3 make deep diagonal slashes across loaves with a sharp knife of razor blade. (See Tip 1)
- Preheat oven to 400°F. When oven has reached temperature, place in oven; bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
- Yield: 4 individual baguettes, and 1 large baguette.
Tips/Notes
- To avoid the deflating that often occurs when the bread is slashed right before putting it in the oven, I often go ahead and slash it once the baguettes have been formed. This way - no deflating!
Nutrition
Calories: 115kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 3gSodium: 291mgPotassium: 31mgCalcium: 5mgIron: 0.3mg
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