Super Cheap French Bread Recipe

Fresh Baked French Bread has been one of my go-to recipes when I make soups or stews- it is an absolute best thing to pair- low carb diet or not! Not only does it taste better than the bread you can get at the local grocery store, but it's half (or a third) of the price and a little soothing to bake! I estimate that when you take fractions of the price of each of the ingredients for baking fresh bread, it comes out to be less than a dollar!

Fresh Baked French Bread Recipe

Ingredients/What You Need

• 1 1/4 cup of water (temperature needs to be 100-110 degrees, I put 1 1/2 cup of water into a liquid measuring cup, microwave for 30 seconds and then temp it.) Fun Fact: Microwaves use water molecules to heat whatever is in there, and it usually takes 1/4 cup from the measuring cup)
• 1 TBS of sugar
• 1/2 TBS instant or active dry yeast (yeast loves sugar!)
• 3/8 Tsp salt
• 1 TBS of vegetable oil for the bread
• A small bowl of oil set aside for oiling the bowl and pan
• 3-5 cups of flour- divided put 3 cups in 1 bowl and 1-2 cups in a second bowl
• 1-2 TBS of butter, melted
• Cooking thermometer
• Mixer
• Large bowl
• Baking pan
• 1-2 kitchen towels
• Kitchen utensils
• Little bowl

Instructions

1. In the mixer bowl, add the yeast and sugar and warmed water. Lightly whisk it to break up the clumps. Let this mixture sit until it is bubbly (3-5 minutes) unless you are using instant yeast.
2. Add the salt, oil and 1/2 the amount of flour.
3. Turn on the mixer and slowly let the dough hook work its way through the dough. Then slowly start adding the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time. The dough needs to clear the sides of the bowl and start turning into an elastic but sturdy ball. If there are still chunks of flour clinging to the side, very slowly add bits of flour in 1/4 cup increments.
   Notes: (1)After much Pinterest research/reading, I discovered that every bread making day will be different. My reading says that the amount of flour depends on your altitude and the warmth of your kitchen. I like to sometimes warm up my kitchen by doing the dishes beforehand because the hot water seems to bring a little heat into our kitchen....(2) Use a kitchen towel to cover the mixer while you're adding the flour, it keeps the flour dusting to a minimum.
4. Turn your mixer up to Medium or High. This is the kneading step. Do this for 2-3 minutes/until the dough does not cling to your hands.
5. Stop your mixer, lift the hook and squish the ball, let sit for about 10 seconds. If you need to shape or reshape your mass, go ahead and do so. I need to do that every now and then. I sometimes need to turn the mixer back on for about 1 minute. (This is the "trial and error"/"getting to understand break making" step that will just take you time to figure out.)
6. Take a paper towel and dip it into small bowl with oil. Rub it throughout the insides of your large bowl, and place your ball of dough inside the bowl. Cover it with a kitchen towel and let sit for 1 HOUR or until your ball has doubled in size- this depends on how warm your kitchen is, I just set the timer for 1 HOUR. Also, using a towel to cover the dough keeps it from drying out. After the 1 HOUR wait, you kinda find out if your dough is going to rise or if you aren't making bread with this mixture!
7. After the 1 HOUR wait, take the dough out of the bowl and work it into a loaf, 2 bowls or dinner rolls... Place the dough into the pan and cover with a towel. Let sit for 1 HOUR or until doubled in size.
8. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
9. After the 2nd 1 HOUR wait, you can either rework the dough into shape and let sit for more time or bake it right away for 25-30 minutes- when it gets a lovely golden brown. (Optional: you can use a knife to score the dough prior to baking). Slather the butter on the bread when it gets out and let it rest for a few minutes.

Note for Fresh Baked French Bread

• This recipe is for using my Kitchen Aid mixer and the dough hook.
• The warmer your kitchen is prior to baking the bread, the fluffier it will turn out when you take it out of the oven. Try doing the dishes and maybe even preheating your stove with the dough near or on the stovetop while it rises.

This French Bread pairs Great with These Recipes

These recipes call for fresh bone broth- check out the bone broth mini-series blog posts

• Make Beef Bone Broth
• Chicken Broth Recipe
• Why I Make Broth