This Recipe Makes One Large Loaf or 4 French Rolls
Just double the recipe if you need to make a larger quantity.
You can freeze this bread in a freezer bag real easily, It freezes and defrosts beautifully. Or just make it fresh when needed.
I store mine in a bread box, which does keep it crusty, but baggies are great also.
Suggestions of Equipment Needed for this and other Bread recipes.
I like to have everything out and ready so I can bake my bread.
Susanne Spirit's French Bread Recipe Video Click Here
Suggested Tools
Your Grandma’s Apron and Oven Mittens
Lots of Flour Sack Towels
Bread Pans (Loaf Pans and/or French Bread Pans)
One Large Mixing Bowl (For Mixing with Mixer the Bread Dough)
Stand Up Mixer or Old-Fashioned Handheld Mixer
One Large Bowl (For Letting the Bread Rest and Rise)
One 1-Cup Liquid Measuring Cup
One Quart Glass Measuring Cup (Used to Mix and Proof Yeast Mix)
Large Whisk (For Blending Dry Ingredients)
Small Whisk (For Blending Yeast, Sugar and Water)
Lots of Dry Measuring Cups and Spoons
Wood Rolling Pin
Wood Bread Board for Kneading Bread
Flour Sifter
Bowl Scrapers
Pastry Brush
Cooling Rack
Small Knife
Bread Box for Storage
and, Lots and Lots of Love.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 teaspoons or I package “Active Dry” Yeast
1/4 Cup Warm Water
1 teaspoon sugar or honey
3 Cups of Unbleached White or Wheat Flour (Bread Flour or Regular)
(Sift all flour)
1 Teaspoon of Sea Salt (Optional)
1 Cup Warm Water
Soft Butter (or Olive or Other Oil)
Ice Water (Put Ice in the Water)
Instructions:
To start, I suggest putting on your grandma’s apron. Somehow wearing an apron just makes this entire process very special. I always remove my rings and bracelets, putting them in a safe bowl in your work area, and when I am done, I ask my love to put my special ring back on me. It is rather romantic, I think. But you don’t want to ruin the things you love. Then wash your hands, and you are ready.
First we will proof the yeast mixture. Measure 1/4 cup of water and warm. Not too hot, Not too cool. Warm. You will learn this feeling. It has to be Hot, just not too hot. Probably about 110* on a thermometer. But I think if you learn to feel what works, making bread will always be easier.
Place warm water in the quart glass mixing bowl (or other glass bowl). Pour over water 2 1/4 t. (or one package) of active dry yeast, using small whisk, blend thoroughly.
Then add 1t. sugar (or honey) to yeast mix, and again, blend thoroughly. Do not be afraid, blend it. Then let is rest for at least five minutes and no longer than 20 minutes. If you get busy, don’t worry, the yeast just keeps getting more bubbles, but don’t let it rest too long.
This is a good time to butter the large bowl you will use to let the bread rest and rise in. I like to use butter for French Bread, as it makes the crust so nice, but Olive Oil, Walnut Oil or any Oil you prefer will be fine, but take your fingers, dig in and generously put lots of butter all over that bowl, and put it aside.
And with the yeast still proofing, we can put our dry ingredients together. Get your large mixing bowl, large whisk, your mixer, and your scraper near you. So, you are ready to go.
Measure 1 1/2 cups of your flour in your sifter, and put in your large mixing bowl with the 1t. salt. You do NOT have to use salt, for those who are having health issues. With your large whisk, blend the dry ingredients. Then get your mixer ready for action.
Warm 1 cup of water - same temperature as before - hot but not too hot, just nice and warm. And take that water and pour it into the middle of the flour and add the Yeast Mixture. With your scraper, gently blend all. Then take your mixer and blend all for 3 Minutes on Medium Speed.
Now take your mixer and all other dirty items, put in your sink, in some nice sudsy water, and wash your hands again as you are going to dig in to this mix now. Also have your bread board ready and near you.
Now measure out a 1/2 cup of flour at a time and sift into the blended mixture. You may only need another cup of flour or you may need the whole 1 1/2 cups you have reserved, which I usually come close to this amount. Weather, all kinds of things make a difference which is why I prefer to add in smaller segments until I know what I need. But with your hands start mixing. I only use one hand at this stage and let the other hand hold the bowl, plus that way your other hand is clean to put the flour in as needed.
Again, this process is a feeling. You do not want the mixture to be dry. You want it to be filled with bubbles.
Then when you feel you have your dough at the right texture, I rub my hands together - to get the sticky dough off - and I wash and dry my hands, get my bread board floured lightly, and gather my dough so I can start kneading. You do need to knead the bread on your bread board. Look at a clock, as you want to knead at least 6 minutes and hopefully you can do 8 minutes.
Your cherished hands make the difference. The exercise on your arms is also just the best. No wonder our grandmas and moms never had to go to the gym. So, just as our ancestors did, take the palms of your hands and press on the dough, turn, fold, press, turn, fold and enjoy yourself. Meditate! Dream Your Dreams. I put on classical or country music. I just could not use an automatic bread maker, it does not seem right to me; plus I would miss this moment in time where I find such peace of heart. And, doing this process with children, your spouse, or a friend, well, there just is nothing as great.
When all done, take the ball of dough, put lots of butter on it and put it in the large buttered bowl. Cover it with one of those flour sack towels, tightly, and let it rest for at least 40 minutes, and no longer than one hour and a half.
Clean up, get your loaf pan or french bread pans generously greased with butter. And Relax.
When that dough is all puffed up, you are ready to make your bread. Wash your hands, make sure your rings and jewelry are off, and if you want to make each piece on your bread board, lightly floured, get your wood rolling pin out and ready and go.
First thing you want to do is PUNCH the dough while it is still in the bowl. And, decide if you want to make one large loaf of bread, four french rolls, or one small loaf of bread and two french rolls. You have to know to create now the pieces for what you are making. Rolls or Bread is all made the same; it is just a matter of the size you do, So, let’s do what I did in the video.
Once you punch the bread, I divide the whole into half, and then one of the halves in half. As you saw I usually do my cuts with my hands, but you can also put the bread on the board. The bread does come out real nice this way. I just love using my hands, I can’t help myself.
We will begin with you making your loaf. Take the large half and place or keep that on the bread board, letting the others rest in the bowl. With your hands, or the rolling pin, stretch the bread. With the rolling pin, use it just as if you wanted to make a pie dough, just roll away, not too large, but a good size and when you feel it being nice and pliable, you are ready. And, all you do is roll the dough up into what should look like a loaf. Take some of the extra butter in the large bowl, making sure the dough is nicely covered in butter, and place it to rest in the bread baking pan, which by the way, can be glass, aluminum or one of those wonderful pretty clay ones, etc., they all work.
Now do the other halves, one at a time, the same way. And, place one roll, don’t forget to butter it, on each side of your french bread pan. I tried to put two on each side of this type pan, and my dough rose so much it went over in the oven. “I Love Lucy” had a skit on her bread rising so much it took over her kitchen. I now know that show was created on reality. This stuff GROWS, so make sure you give it space.
Cover your pans again with the flour sacks. Look at the clock, and again, you want 45 minutes to one and a half hours to let the dough flourish. At this time, I like to put down a towel with a cooling rack over it on my counter, and make sure I also have a place to put the hot pans onto after we bake, and have my oven mitts ready.
About five minutes before your “resting” time is up, I turn on my oven to 425* so that when the bread is ready, so is the oven. I also make ice water in a small cup and get my pastry brush ready, and have a small knife on hand..
So, remove the flour sacks, and what you want to do is first.
With your knife make to slits on the top of each piece.
With the pastry brush dip it in the ice water and spread across the pieces of bread. Do not be afraid. What we are doing is creating the essence that will make this bread crusty and beautiful. So, spread it on, not too much, but nicely.
And put the bread on a center rack in the middle of the oven.
Now here is the secret to French Bread making.
At five minutes, pull the bread out of the oven, on the rack, with mitts on one of your hands, take the other hand, and brush more ice water on the pieces. Return bread in oven, and wait another five minutes, and do this process again. So, our secret is we brush the water on before we put it in the oven, five minutes later, then another five minutes later (the bread has now cooked ten minutes) and then let the bread cook another five minutes.
You want a real pretty brown. Each oven is different, so just keep an eye on it.
IF YOU ARE MAKING ONE LARGE LOAF, IT WILL NEED TO COOK 30- 35 Minutes. You can brush it with water at 10 minutes, and then the second ten minutes.
With doing a bread loaf and rolls at the same time, as I have done in my video, I take out my rolls first and place each one on my cooling rack, and let the small bread loaf cook about another five minutes. When I take the loaf out, I let it rest in the pan for about five to ten minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan and cool and let rest on the rack.
If you are freezing your pieces, just let them cool, and freeze right away. If you are going to eat the bread soon or within a day or so, let these gems of heaven rest until ready to eat or cooled down entirely and then store in your bread box or in a baggie.
YOU HAVE MADE BREAD. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU. I always feel like my grandma, great grandmother, my mom or my aunt Zola is right there with me, especially when I wear one of their aprons. And of course, even when I am wearing one of my newly bought aprons, I know that these loved ones are in that kitchen with me. And, the kids and grandkids working with you in the kitchen, well, one day they can share this gift of love with their little ones. The memories you are making will be cherished for many generations and many lifetimes.
A Story of What Bread Making Has Brought to My Family:
I have a small story to share with you, what bread making can mean. As I said in my video I grew up with my Grandma helping her make all the rolls and bread for our “Supper Club” We had a great time. Well, she passed away when I was about fourteen years old. Now two years ago, her son, my uncle, his wife died. I was at my uncle’s home, the night before the funeral, and lots of relatives were gathering, my cousins, their spouses, grandkids, etc. My cousins were having the food catered into the local church the next day as they expected about four hundred people at the service.
And the subject came up about if the rolls had been ordered. I stated, “Wow, I wish we could make them” My cousin’s wife was like, “Yeah, let’s make rolls for 400 hundred people”.
Well, I was in the kitchen and I picked up one of my aunt’s old cook books. The page I opened blew me away.
The handwritten words on the page said “Ethel’s Rolls” Ethel was my grandma, and there was her recipe for the rolls from the Supper Club, something I had longed for my whole life.
Well, bread making expert that I am, I said “Let’s make our grandma’s rolls that are in your Mom’s cookbook” Well, everyone thought I had lost my mind, but the way I had opened that book, and that recipe was right there, they all did agree, that maybe the making of the rolls was a God thing.
Plus the wives would all learn how to make bread. So, there we are in the middle of Minnesota with snow waist high off to the store to make 400 + rolls.
Oh, my grandma’s recipe did not give the amount of yeast to use. It just said “Yeast.” Fortunately, I have made enough bread, to figure approximately what we would need. The secret ingredient in the recipe was Crisco. We bought the butter flavored. So, with pounds of flour and our other needed items, we were making “Bread”
What became a surprise was what happened as we started out this undertaking. Us girls were absolutely in heaven as we searched in my aunt Zola’s kitchen for the bowls, and baking pans. We ended up using every pan she owned and finding treasures beyond our wildest imaginations. And, we did find out that tin pie plates make the quickest and best rolls, for whatever reason. And, of course, we all needed aprons and Zola’s were just beautiful. I will cherish the one I was given for my lifetime.
But as we began, and the bowls of dough were rising, the men all got involved. The smell reminded my male cousins of their Mom, the men and all the women in our family, and the children were in awe. This recipe was their Great- Great Grandmother’s Recipe, and of course they all got to hear how she, and sometimes even Zola, their Great Grandma, made these rolls for the people coming to the Supper Club. Everyone in the house was crying, laughing and helping to make these little bread creatures.
The children were put in charge of making the little rolls. They rolled each one with their precious hands, as tears would roll on their face. The women in charge of clean up and oven procedures. And, the men became involved in cooling, and wrapping the rolls so we could transport them early in the morning to the church. Both my male cousins were so filled with emotions over these silly rolls, it was the healing of our hearts mysteriously at work.
That evening became unreal special. We were all so involved in the “Rolls” It was just so spiritual. And, the next day the men got them on the table and the children took turns serving them in the buffet line to everyone. And, of course, each child, would tell the story “these are our grandma’s special rolls, and we made them for you”.
Many people took them to keep as a memory. The kids did end up using theirs to throw at each other, but each child did save one in the end. This recipe I will be making for you real soon.
We lost another family member a few months ago, and it was funny, my cousin Arthur, a decorated Vietnam Veteran, told his wife, it was her Dad that died, “Hey, you know, we should make those rolls again Ma would like that” Zola, my aunt, was his Mom.
Funny, all the emotional peace and solidity that came to everyone during a time of such sadness and loss, just from making “Bread”.
Hope you have enjoyed this story and this recipe, I would love to hear from you about your families special recipe, and the loving story behind it.
Sincerly, Susanne Spirit
Send Me Your Story Or Comment Here Susanne Spirit
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