One Hour French Bread – Quick and Delicious Homemade Bread Recipe
I love fresh bread, and lately have been testing many breads and rolls recipes. They all are absolutely delicious.
Some require a little more time than others, but none are too labor intensive or difficult to achieve.
I always thought that the “ No Knead” bread recipe was simple, and it is, but when I found this one for ONE HOUR bread, I could not believe it, until I made it and found it absolutely effortless and delicious.
I would have made it into a baguette, but since I do not have a special baking pan it requires, I used two loaf pans instead.
The bread turned out very tasty, light, and moist, but I think for a crustier bread, it needs to be formed into a long log, baguette like, or even two thinner but longer logs. I will test that method next time…:-)
I am sharing my experience with you today, since I know you will love it.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 1/2 Tbs. honey
- 1 Tbs. Instant Quick Rise yeast (1 packet - 1/4 oz., I used Red Star brand )
- 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Bread Flour
- 1 tsp. Kosher salt
- 1/4 cup whole milk or cream for basting tops of loaves
Instructions
- In a small bowl pour 1/2 cup of warm water mixed with 1 1/2 Tbs. of honey. Sprinkle the dry yeast over it and mix gently to dissolve.
- Keep it in a warm place for about 10 minutes, to proof the yeast. It will develop a spongy foam over the liquid.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour with salt. Set aside.
- Grease a baguette pan with Crisco or butter, or you may use two loaf pans, or a 9 x 13 pan.
- Add the remaining 1 cup of warm water into the yeast mixture, then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and using a dough hook, mix at medium speed for 20 minutes.
- Remove dough from the mixing bowl, add 1/2 tsp. of oil, to grease the bowl.
- Please the dough ball back in the bowl, turn it once, to grease all sides of the dough.
- Remove the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead it few times to form a log.
- Cut the log in half, and form two long loaves to fit your pan.
- Place each log in a pan, cover with double thickness of a kitchen towel, and let it rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
- During the last 10 minutes of rising, preheat the over to 375 degrees F .
- Baste the tops of loaves with milk or cream.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and place the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then remove the bread form the pan, and complete cooling on the rack.
Notes
For a soft crust, baste the top of each loaf with butter, as soon as it comes out of the oven. Also, I used kitchen scissors to cut slits in the dough, after placing it in the greased pan to rise.
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