Farmhouse French Bread

Homemade bread.....YES PLEASE! :) I had this bread at my Strawberry Class and it was so good. Jo, our teacher gave us her recipe (that is actually Bernie's, her assistants family recipe) and I thought I would make it today. Kristen made it last night and she told me that it seemed like an easy recipe so I was excited to get to bake it today.

How yummy does that look?

Into a 2 cup measuring cup, measure these ingredients:

2 cups warm water

1 tbs sugar

2 pkg rapid rise yeast

Let set until "proofed"...about 5 min.

Into a large mixing bowl, add:

4 1/2 cups unbleached flour

2 tsp salt

Use a whisk to combine.

Once the dry ingredients are combined, add in the proofed yeast mixture. Mix, until combined, scraping sides as you mix. Then add in another 1 cup of flour. Mix until the dough comes clean from the sides and comes into a ball.

Let dough rest in bowl for 10 min. (cover bowl tightly with saran wrap)

After 10 min, punch dough down. (I kneaded the dough a bit and didn't use all the loose pieces)

Divide dough in half, shaping into 2 loaves. (I also kneaded each half a little more to mix dough more so there wouldn't be any lumps)

Spray baking sheet with PAM spray. Place loaves on pan. Cut slits across the top of each loaf. About 5 slits on each loaf. Brush with olive oil.

Cover with wax paper and let rise in warm place (I put on top of preheated stove) for about 25 min.

Bake at 425 degrees for 23 min.

*You can also use a French bread pan if you don't want to use a baking sheet.

MMMMMMMMMMMMM :)