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Fabulous French Bread
Oct 19, 2009, Updated Jun 03, 2013
Oct 19, 2009, Updated Jun 03, 2013
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Yum! Thanks so much for this recipe–I've been conquering my fear of baking with yeast (without maternal supervision) and so I thought I'd give this a try. Success! Mine weren't very pretty, but that will come with more practice. Thanks so much for the pictures and step-by-step instructions; they were so helpful. I don't have a stand mixer, but my hand-held mixer has dough hook attachments so I used those. I had a sore hand after @ 20 minutes of mixing, but it worked! It'll do until someone (cough*husband*cough) gets me a stand mixer for my birthday. ๐
Hi Jamie. I just made this recipe for the first time today and I LOVED IT!!! However, I'm not sure I'd call my results complete success… Mine didn't raise as much as I expected it to… I too am just venturing out in the yeast bread world so I'm a bit nervous when it comes to all of it. How cold is the water you put in? My fear is that mine may not have been cold enough so the overall mixture may have been TOO HOT and didn't allow the yeast to work properly? It did rise somewhat… but the texture seemed denser than I had imagined. Also you directions said to mix on high with the dough hook… I have the smaller Kitchen Aid and I couldn't get it much past Medium speed before the mixer started jumping all over the counter. I guess maybe it's possible it didn't kneed long enough? Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!
Hi Inger,
I'm so glad the recipe tasted good! You will get better and better at it, the more you make it. Trust me. It just takes a bit of practice.
The cold water that I add is just from my sink (not refrigerated water) but I do let the tap run for a bit to be sure it's as cold as it can be.
If you are using a Kitchen Aid, just let mix at medium speed. The Bosch Mixer can be run on high for yeast breads, but you are correct. The Kitchen Aid gets a bit frantic doesn't it. Good luck to you, Inger.
~Jamie
Wow, I actually made French bread today for the first time in my life and it turned out great! Your directions were perfect and I couldn't be more pleased. Thank you so much for teaching me a new skill!
Jamie, I have made this bread a few times and it's become my favorite! Our family has been going thru some serious food changes lately though and we've switched to only whole wheat and no sugar. I decided to try it with butter for the shortening, honey instead of sugar and 100% white whole wheat flour(Gold brand is my favorite). It still turned out amazing! My husband and kids still inhaled it and it was soft and flavorful. I'm so thankful that your recipe is this versatile and still works for our family. Thanks so much! Sarah
How do I pin this recipe, it looks so good, and what size do you pinch off to make hamburger rolls?
This looks amazing and was hoping to try soon. I was wondering if you new the nutritional facts? We LOVE French bread however, we are trying to change to a healthier meal plan. Thank you so much.
@Sarah would you please share the amounts you used to substitute? I was hoping to make this a little healthier too. Thank you
I’m sorry I never saw this. With the white whole wheat I don’t change the amounts. It’s a light spring wheat and not heavy like a dark summer wheat. I’m making some today and the white whole wheat still makes a delicious bread soft bread.
I made this french bread tonight and it was great, but the bottoms of my loaves got really done and I was hoping you would have some suggestions for next time.
Roxanne,
I would suggest moving your oven rack up a bit, and maybe cooking it a bit less. Good luck!
~Jamie
The accident of finding this post has briehtgned my day
Have you tried making this with butter instead of shortening?