Honey French Bread Recipe
I’m not going to start this recipe off with my entire life story and make you skip through pages of cooking and baking jargon in order to find the measurements and instructions.
I am going to start off by saying, I AM NOT AN EXPERT BAKER.
This is a recipe that I have changed in the tiniest ways from an original expert baker’s recipe.
Where can you find the original recipe? With all the super details, if you want them?
RIGHT HERE > https://thekitchengirl.com/french-bread-recipe/#Stand_mixer_bread_vs_hand_kneaded_bread
See how I was honest and transparent about that? I’m not going to claim to have slaved for years to figure this out. I followed the recipe linked about for awhile and eventually changed a few things around. Wrote my version on a note card, and can’t even remember what I changed now.
Now, I shall share the recipe, a few of my favorite items to bake with, and we are off to the races! I mean oven. Off to the oven.
RECIPE
Time: Depends how slow you work?
5 minutes to hand mix
5-10 minutes to hand knead dough
30+ minute rise time
5-minute reshape time
30+ minute rise time
12-16 minutes bake time (I have a whimsical oven)
= 87 minutes or more (let’s be honest, staring at bread means it won’t rise though)
Ingredients:
315g warm water
20g honey
480g flour
2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast or 1 packet instant yeast (¼ ounce)
1 ½ tsp sea salt
*I do not know how many cups or tablespoons of water, honey, or flour. Especially with the flour, it really depends how tight you pack it!*
DEFINITELY consider getting a kitchen scale for all baking. Ever since I switched to a scale and quit trying to use measuring cups, my baking has been so much more consistent.
*Amazon Affiliate Link
Instructions:
1. Warm 315 grams of water over the stove or in microwave until you can dip your finger in it WITHOUT burning yourself. If it is too hot to touch, it is too hot for the yeast. Temp? How tender are your fingers?
2. Mix warm water with 20 grams of honey in large mixing bowl.
3. Stir until the honey completely dissolves!
4. Add 480 grams of flour to mixing bowl. Don’t mix!
a. I love King Arthurs All-Purpose Flour but any will do
5. BEFORE mixing flour in, add 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast or 1 packet instant yeast (¼ ounce) 1 ½ tsp sea salt
6. Toss around dry ingredients on top to lightly mix together.
a. You could do this in a separate bowl then add it all together, but why create more dishes?
7. MIX THE DOUGH.
a. It’ll start off easy and get more difficult / form a ball.
8. Once the dough is no longer really “mixing” but ready to be worked by hand, toss some flour on a clean countertop and plop your doughball onto it.
9. Hand knead dough for at least 5 minutes, preferably 10!
a. Here is a fabulous video on how-to hand knead dough if you are new to it. It is a good workout but really doesn’t have to be difficult. https://youtu.be/BJiucv88flM?si=EISAZupi66qKomCq
10. After kneading, plop your dough ball back in the mixing bowl (after scraping some chunks out but it does not have to be perfectly clean)
11. Lightly dampen a towel, place it over the top of the bowl, and in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes!
a. My house is cold so I like to set it on the oven that’s warming up.
b. Also, start to heat oven to _____ F
c. The damp towel will keep the dough from drying out.
12. Once the dough has at least doubled in size, punch it down!
a. Literally, give it the ol’ one two.
13. Put another dusting of flour on the countertop and roll the dough out either gently with your hands or with a rolling pin.
14. Roll the dough up into an elongated loaf of bread like you expect French bread to look like!
a. You could cut it in half and make two skinny baguettes!
15. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and your shaped dough on top.
16. Place towel back over the top of said dough and again let rise for 30 minutes in a warm place.
17. Once the dough has again doubled in size, do not punch it!
a. SCORE the dough with a sharp knife. Meaning cut 3-4 slices in the top where the bread will expand in the oven.
i. The sharper the knife, the better. Dull simply won’t work.
18. For a shiny browning on top, mix one egg white and a dash of water in a small bowl and brush over the top of dough.
19. Put the cookie sheet in oven and set a timer! 12-16 minutes in my experience.
a. My oven runs hot and usually this is browned where I want it in 14 minutes but sometimes it is more or less.
b. You can actually check the internal temperature for doneness with a kitchen thermometer. You want about 210F!
20. Pull bread from the oven and let it cool for a little bit before serving!
I think that’s about it. Maybe too detailed? Not detailed enough?
Well, it is in fact my first rodeo on sharing a recipe. Let me know what you think or if you tried it, and how it was!
By the way, here is the link to my FAVORITE mixing bowls on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4j0CA92
They’re the cutest neutral colors, and there is really nothing like a good glass bowl that also has a lid.