Bread recipes intimidate me a little and I was a little concerned about how this recipe would turn out since it doesn’t have a lot of rise time. This isn’t the first recipe I’ve tried from Crazy for Crust though so my optimism was higher than it would have been with a random recipe I found on the internet.

The dough comes together in a stand mixer, and the whole thing is very simple. You mix the dry stuff, add in warm water and oil, then slowly incorporate more flour until you’ve got a dough that’s soft but not overly sticky. It doesn’t even need to form a perfect ball in the mixer. Once you knead it by hand a little and let it rest for about ten minutes, divide the dough, shape it, then let it rise for 45 minutes.

Shaping the loaves wasn’t hard, you just roll each half into a rough rectangle, roll it up, and pinch the ends into that classic French bread shape. A few quick slashes across the top, a swipe of egg wash, and it’s ready for the oven.

I was so excited taking this out of the oven because it looked like French bread (again, I’m always nervous with bread recipes that they won’t turn out). It was a little rough looking, though maybe that’s normal since it’s a little more rustic, but it tasted really good. It’s also possible it was a little chewier than it could have been, but all in all I really loved this recipe and would definitely make it again.

Recipe Used: Crazy for Crust