Bonnies French Bread Recipes

HOMEMADE FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• Combine sugar and 1 cup warm water in a bowl. Stir in yeast and let stand 5 minutes.
• Stir in salt and 2 cups of flour. Continue adding flour a bit at a time to form a stiff dough. Knead until about 5 minutes (or use a dough hook on a stand mixer per notes below).
• Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Let rise 1 hour or until doubled. Punch dough down and let rise 30 minutes more.
• Roll dough into a 14"x10" square and roll up jelly roll style to create a 14"x2.5" loaf. Place on a parchment lined pan seam side down. Using a sharp knife, cut 3-4 diagonal slits into the loaf (about ¼" deep).
• Cover with a damp towel and let rise 30-40 minutes or until doubled. Brush bread with egg white. Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Place in the oven and bake 20-25 minutes or until browned. Cool on a baking rack.

BONNIE'S GLUTEN-FREE FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• 1. TO START: Assemble all ingredients before you make the recipe. Prepare two bread pans or one large bread pan, grease generously. If you are making French bread, spray a French bread pan (with 2 forms) with gluten-free, non-stick cooking spray or brush with more olive oil and sprinkle a teaspoon of cornmeal onto the bottom of each pan. You will need to put it on a cookie sheet or have corn meal everywhere.
• 2. MIX THE YEAST: Combine the yeast, sugar and warm water in a large mixing bowl, and whisk to dissolve the sugar. Let sit for 5 -6 minutes (10 if the yeast has been in the fridge) or until it is foamy and doubled in size. Mine was cold from the fridge, so it took about 15 minutes to double in size.
• 3. MIX THE GUM AND OIL: In a small bowl stir the xanthan gum with the olive oil until the xanthan gum is dissolved. Set aside. (Mixing the xanthan gum and olive oil together before adding to the batter makes it work better)
• 4. MIX EGGS AND VINEGAR: Beat the egg whites of two eggs in a small bowl until frothy, but not peaks. (beating the egg whites gives it its sponge texture) Slightly beat the other eggs and the yolks in another small dish, add the vinegar. Set both aside.
• 5. MIX THE FLOURS: (Don't mess with these flours because this recipe really works) Combine the flours, tapioca starch (or gluten-free flour blend) and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or just the regular beaters - don't use a dough hook) and mix to combine.
• 6. ADD INGREDIENTS: Add in the yeast mixture, xanthan gum mixture, and the frothy egg whites and beaten eggs and vinegar mixture. Turn the mixer to low to incorporate the ingredients (so it doesn't fly all over the kitchen), then to high and mix for 3 minutes on a timer. Do not add any more flour! Do not beat any longer! This will be a very stiff batter type dough.
• 7. PLACE IN PAN: Spoon the batter into greased bread pans, or the forms and shape into an oval with a spatula. If you are making French loaves, using a razor blade or sharp knife cut 3 or 4 diagonal slashes on top of each French loaf.
• 8. LET IT RISE: Cover the loaves with a clean kitchen towel and set in a warm, draft-free place to rise. Let rise for 30 minutes or until the loaves have doubled in size.
• 9. This is how it looks 30 minutes later. We are ready to bake it!
• 10. BAKE IT: Place a baking pan on the floor of your oven (or on the bottom shelf) and fill it with about an inch of really hot water. This keeps it humid and makes the inside of the bread moist and the crust crusty. Position the rack you are baking the French bread on in the middle of the oven, or if making sandwich bread, put the bread pans side by side on the rack. Turn the oven on and preheat to 400 degrees. Brush the top of the loaves with the melted butter and bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. The bread pulls away from the sides of the pan.
• 11. OTHER OPTIONS: A gluten-free recipe that makes 2 loaves of French Bread or 24 Crusty Rolls or 2 small loaves of sandwich bread or one extra large loaf. If you are making the extra large loaf of sandwich bread, do increase the time 10 to 15 minutes more. You can make crusty rolls by scooping the dough into 2 standard sized muffin tins, letting them rise 30 minutes and baking for about 20 minutes.
• 12. Here is how it looks! Enjoy!

BONNIE'S FRENCH ROLLS

Steps:

• 1. I use my Kitchen Aid bread hook to do the mixing work. You can knead by hand if you must.
• 2. Rinse out the large stainless mixing bowl with hot water and get it warm ( I use the one that fits the Kitchen Aid) add the 1 1/2 cups water, the yeast and the sugar, mix with a spoon and let stand for 10 minutes to work.
• 3. Then add 2 tablespoons of oil, and 2 cups of the flour with the 1 teaspoon of salt added to it and stir and then add that to the yeast mixture and stir again. Put the mixing bowl on the stand and add 1/2 cup of the remaining flour, a little at a time. The dough will pull away from the sides of the bowl.
• 4. Knead 8 minutes by mixer (or on floured board by hand) until the dough is smooth and elastic.
• 5. Lightly oil a large deep bowl, put the ball of dough in it and turn the oiled surface to the top. Place the dough in the oven, cover with a towel, and turn the oven light on to keep it warm. Let it rise about one hour until it has doubled in size.
• 6. If it has doubled in size, punch it down, turn out on a lightly floured board and shape into a large ball, divide that in half and divide it again. and so on until you have 16 pieces. Now if you want half sandwich rolls and half dinner rolls then make your sandwich rolls larger. You can also make a long loaf of French bread from this recipe or a braid if you wish.
• 7. Place the shaped rolls on a greased cookie sheet. I like a ball shape the best for dinner rolls, and you can make oval shape for sandwiches if desired. Let rise for about 40 minutes until double in size.
• 8. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake at 18 to 20 minutes if you make the standard 16 rolls. It may take a few minutes longer for the sandwich rolls depending on your oven. I have to tent the rolls the last five minutes or they get too brown. Cool on rack. Butter the tops to keep them nice and soft, or don't, and the bread will be crispy like French bread. When cool place in zip lock bags. Enjoy!
• 9. Cook's tip: To freshen the rolls the next day, put them in a paper bag in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for five minutes. They will be as good as fresh baked! These rolls freeze well. Defrost in the plastic bag and then freshen as stated above.

EASY HOMEMADE FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• Add the water, yeast and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer (or to a large mixing bowl if you're making the bread by hand). Mix together with a fork and let sit for about 5 minutes.
• Once the yeast mixture is bubbly, add 5 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt (be sure the salt doesn't touch the yeast mixture directly - mix it in with the flour first).
• Mix on low speed (if using a stand mixer) until the dough comes together, adding the last half cup of flour as the mixer begins to knead the dough. Let the mixer knead the dough for about 3-4 minutes on low speed.
• If making by hand, knead the dough for about 6-7 minutes on a lightly floured surface.
• Let the ball of dough rest in the bowl to rise for about 1 1/2 hours, and cover the bowl with some plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel.
• After 1 1/2 hours punch the dough down and scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface (flour your hands as well). Let the ball of dough sit, covered, for about 5-10 minutes before shaping.
• To shape the dough, divide the dough in half (this recipe makes two loaves). Roll the first half out into a rectangle about 16 inches by 18 or 20 inches. Roll the dough up tightly into a long snake-shaped loaf, making sure you roll tightly enough that there are no large gaps of air between the pieces of dough.
• Pinch the ends together tightly to seal them and flip the loaf over, placing it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
• Repeat these steps for the second loaf to shape it as well.
• Score the loaves with a sharp knife very carefully, creating 5 or 6 cuts on the top of each loaf about 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch thick.
• Cover the loaves and let them rise for another 20-25 minutes, covered with a clean kitchen towel.
• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Combine the egg and water in a small bowl and brush the mixture very gently over the top of the bread just before baking.
• Bake the loaves for about 18-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
• Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool almost completely before slicing and serving.

BONNIE'S BAKED FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• 1. Spray a bread pan with kitchen spray and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• 2. Butter the tops of all four slices of bread with two slices of bread to a stack. Place bread stacks in the prepared pan, buttered side up.
• 3. Mix the milk, eggs, Mexican vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and a dash of salt with a whisk. Then pour over the bread stacks in the pan. There won't be enough liquid to totally submerge the top layer of bread, which is okay. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until nice and brown.

BONNIE'S RANCH CHICKEN STUFFED FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• 1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• 2. Assemble all the ingredients, and grate the cheese. Reserve 1/4 cup for topping.
• 3. Mix the shredded chicken, cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, parsley, and ranch dressing mix.
• 4. Chop the onion and add to the mixture.
• 5. Spread the mixture evenly onto the bread.
• 6. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove and sprinkle reserved cheese on top, return to oven for an additional 5 minutes.
• 7. Serve immediately. Here is how it looks! Enjoy! Great with soup!