Soft French bread

 

Ingredients for dough:

Warm water - 2 and 1/2 cup  ,
Rapid rising yeast - 1 tbsp ,
Sugar - 1/2 cup or 90 gms ,
Salt - 2 tsp ,
All purpose flour - 6 cups or 550 gms.

Method -
Sieve the flour and keep aside .

Use a wooden spoon to mix  the warm water  , yeast and sugar  together  in a large mixing bowl and keep stirring till the sugar is dissolved and then add salt .

Mix and then gradually add  the flour in batches .
 Add 5 of the 6 cups. If the dough is still  sticky add the remaining cup  of flour .
Knead the dough on a lightly floured counter top until it forms a fairly smooth ball .

Lightly flour  your large mixing bowl ,then carefully drop the dough into the bowl .Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap or cloth .

Let the dough rise in the bowl until it doubles in size . 1 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature  ( keep in a warm place and the dough will rise in an hour ).

Divide the dough in half by using a chef`s knife greased with butter .

Grease your baking tray .
Roll  out each ball into a  large sheet ( the length of your baking tray - do not use a rolling pin ,pat it with your fingers and dust  it with flour  ).

Then starting from the long side roll each sheet until your dough is shaped like a roll .
Place both loaves on the baking tray with spacing on each side .

Be sure to place the loaves seam side down and tuck the ends under it self .
Cover the loaf and let them rise for 1- 2 hours ( depending on the temperature ).

Pre heat oven to 176 C .
After  the dough has risen place the tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or till the loaves are golden brown.

As you take out the loaf  from the oven, brush it with butter  to give it a shinny and yummy taste:)