Simple French Bread for the Bread Machine

Crusty on the outside with a soft and tender airy crumb on the inside. Hot from the bread machine this bread is hard to beat! 

With everyone at home baking has boomed.  The grocery stores are low on stock for everything you need to bake with.  I got lucky and found some flour, yeast, baking powder, chocolate chips (gotta have them!) and a few odds and ends to bake, and I was a happy camper.

Several weeks ago I posted a recipe for Basic White Bread Machine Bread and it was a major hit, so I thought I'd bring you another version of bread using a bread machine.   Let's make french bread!  So while your typical French bread comes in a baguette this one is in loaf form since it is made in a bread machine.  You can certainly use the dough only setting and then form the dough into a baguette if you prefer but I'm going to take the easy route and make it in my bread machine.  It really is a dump and go method which I just love.

So what is the outcome?  Crusty on the outside with a soft and tender airy crumb on the inside. Hot from the bread machine this bread is hard to beat!  This recipe make a 1 lb. loaf and is best eaten within a few days.  It's great for making toast, sandwiches, garlic bread, slathered with butter along side soup, and makes a mean french toast.

Any way you choose to eat it, you'll love this bread!

Enjoy!

Simple French Bread for the Bread Machine

1 - 1 lb. loaf

2/3 cup warm water
1 tsp margarine or butter softened
2 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose)
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsp quick acting yeast or regular yeast

Place all ingredients in bread pan in order listed.  Close lid and set your bread type.  Mine has a French setting.  Otherwise use the White setting.  Choose crust color, and then hit the start button.

Remove bread pan when completed.  After about 5 minutes, gently shake the pan to dislodge the loaf, and turn it out onto a rack to cool.

Store, well-wrapped, on the counter for 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months

Basic White Bread Machine Bread

Light and fluffy homemade bread straight from your bread machine.  Hot from the oven and slathered with butter will have you swooning for more!

Yum

I hope this post finds you and your family safe and healthy.

It's day 18 of our Safer at Home quarantine in Los Angeles.  I have to tell you the first couple of days anxiety was running high for me and I was either a step away from crying or snapping someone's head off.  The fear of what this could turn in to was eating away at me. Here's what helped me: 

• A Mantra: "I'm safe, I'm healthy..."
• Deep breathing/or Meditation
• Create a daily schedule or routine
• Daily Exercise
• Get Fresh Air
• Limit the news broadcasting
• Do something enjoyable or adopt a hobby
• Go to bed at a decent hour and getting rest.

Just to mention one of the items above.  Incorporating exercise in to my daily routine has been a lifesaver. Just 30 minutes a day is uplifting. Not only does it fill your body with endorphins (mood enhancer!) and energy, it's also a stress reliever. My favorite exercise routines comes from Body Groove.  Misty Tripoli takes dance down to a basic level and creates exercise routines that allows you to dance doing basic steps "your way".  So however you do it is perfect. There is no right or wrong way to move...just move and dance and have fun!  I just love her routines.  You can find them in the link provided as she has them on DVD, on Demand, and you can even find some of them on YouTube.  You should definitely check them out.

So the grocery stores are still bare and everyone is hoarding the bread (along with the toilet paper!) So what to do?  Well I say we dust off that old Bread Machine Maker and make some homemade fresh bread.  So out to the garage I went to find my trusty machine and went to work.  

Making bread in a bread machine is really, really easy.  This bread recipe is outstanding. The best, EASY yeast bread for a bread machine. Beginners will love how simple it is and everyone will appreciate a warm loaf of homemade bread.  This is a wonderful project to do with your kids as well.

What do you need to make bread?

• milk
• flour
• water
• butter
• sugar
• yeast

This particular recipe comes from King Arthur Flour and uses their unbleached all-purpose flour (which I just love and always use anyway) instead of bread flour. Their flour has a high protein level (11.7%), and the quality of that protein, allows you to use it in recipes calling for either bread flour or all-purpose flour. This recipe makes a reliably high-rising loaf, with soft, springy texture and nicely balanced flavor.


5 minutes of hands-on time and you will be set! In about 3 1/2 hours you will have a wonderful homemade loaf of bread that will be perfect fresh and hot, slathered with butter. Make sandwiches, toast it, soak up that gravy or pan sauce, dunk it in soups and stews. Make bruschetta, garlic bread, or even grilled cheese. Yum!

Enjoy!

Basic White Bread Machine Bread

source:  King Arthur Flour



For small (1-pound) machine

2/3 cup (152g) lukewarm water
1/4 cup (57g) lukewarm milk
2 tablespoons (28g) butter
2 1/2 cups (298g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
5 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon active dry yeast or instant yeast

Instructions:

Put all of the ingredients into your machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.

Program the machine for basic white bread, and press Start.

When the loaf is done, remove the pan from the machine. After about 5 minutes, gently shake the pan to dislodge the loaf, and turn it out onto a rack to cool.

Store, well-wrapped, on the counter for 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.