Zippy French Bread Recipes

CHEESY FRENCH PULL-APART BREAD RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400˚F (200˚C).
• Cut the bread diagonally to form diamond shapes, making sure not to cut all the way down to the base of the bread.
• Place the pieces of white cheddar between cuts.
• Cover with shredded mozzarella.
• Sprinkle salt, pepper, parsley, and melted butter on top.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until all the cheese is melted and the bread is lightly toasted.
• Enjoy!

FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast and salt. Stir in 2 cups warm water, and beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
• On a lightly floured surface, knead in enough flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes total. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn once. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled.
• Punch dough down, and divide in half. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into large rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side. Moisten edge with water and seal. Taper ends.
• Grease a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Place loaves, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush on. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until nearly doubled, 35 to 40 minutes.
• With a very sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across top of each loaf. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 20 minutes. Brush again with egg white mixture. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until bread tests done. If necessary, cover loosely with foil to prevent over browning. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on a wire rack.

CLASSIC FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• Do ahead
• Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. If using a mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on the lowest speed for 1 minute. If mixing by hand, use a large spoon and stir for 1 minute, until well blended and smooth. If the spoon gets too doughy, dip it in a bowl of warm water. The dough should form a coarse shaggy ball. Let it rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
• Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium-low speed for 2 minutes or knead by hand for about 2 minutes, adjusting with flour or water as needed. The dough should be smooth, supple, and tacky but not sticky.
• Whichever mixing method you use, knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured work surface for about 1 minute more, then transfer it to a clean, lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then immediately refrigerate overnight or for up to 4 days. If the dough feels too wet and sticky, do not add more flour; instead, stretch and fold it one or more times at 10-minute intervals, as shown on page 18, before putting it in the refrigerator. (If you plan to bake the dough in batches over different days, you can portion the dough and place it into two or more oiled bowls at this stage.)
• On baking day
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 2 hours before you plan to bake. Gently transfer it to a lightly floured work surface, taking care to degas it as little as possible. For baguettes and bâtards, divide the cold dough into 10-ounce (283 g) pieces; for 1 pound boules, divide the dough into 19-ounce (53 g) pieces; and for freestanding loaves, use whatever size you prefer.
• Form the dough into bâtards and/or baguettes (see pages 21 and 22) or boules (see page 20). Mist the top of the dough with spray oil, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and proof at room temperature for about 1 1/2 hours, until increased to 1 1/2 times its original size.
• About 45 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 550°F (288°C) or as high as it will go, and prepare the oven for hearth baking (see page 30).
• Remove the plastic wrap from the dough 15 minutes prior to baking; if using proofing molds, transfer the dough onto a floured peel.
• Just prior to baking, score the dough 1/2 inch deep with a serrated knife or razor. Transfer the dough to the oven, pour 1 cup of hot water into the steam pan, then lower the oven temperature to 450°F (232°C).
• Bake for 12 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 15 to 25 minutes, until the crust is a rich golden brown, the loaves sound hollow when thumped, and the internal temperature is about 200°F (93°C) in the center. For a crisper crust, turn off the oven and leave the bread in for another 5 minutes before removing.
• Cool the bread on a wire rack for at least 45 minutes before slicing or serving.
• Variation
• By simply varying the method so that the shaped loaves undergo cold fermentation, rather than the freshly mixed bulk dough, you can create a spectacular loaf with a distinctive blistered crust. After the dough is mixed and placed in a clean, oiled bowl, let it rise at room temperature for about 90 minutes, until doubled in size. Divide and shape as described above, mist with spray oil, then cover the shaped dough loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight, away from anything that might fall on it or restrict it from growing.
• The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator 1 hour before baking. It should have grown to at least 1 1/2 times its original size. Prepare the oven for hearth baking, as described on page 30. While the oven is heating, remove the plastic wrap and let the dough sit uncovered for 10 minutes. Score the dough while it's still cold, then bake as described above.

CRUSTY FRENCH LOAF

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat until blended. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough., Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down; return to bowl. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. , Preheat oven to 375°. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into a 16x2-1/2-in. loaf with tapered ends. Sprinkle cornmeal over a greased baking sheet; place loaf on baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 25 minutes. , Beat egg white and cold water; brush over dough. With a sharp knife, make diagonal slashes 2 in. apart across top of loaf. Bake until golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.

CRUSTY FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup water. Add the sugar, salt, shortening, remaining water and 3-1/2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Do not knead. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Turn onto a floured surface. Divide in half; let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into a 10x8-in. rectangle. Roll up from a long side; pinch to seal. Place seam side down on 2 greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops with cornmeal. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. , With a very sharp knife, make 5 diagonal cuts across the top of each loaf. Bake at 400° until lightly browned, 20-30 minutes. Remove from pans to wire rack to cool.

ZIPPY OVEN FRENCH FRIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F
• Place potatoes, butter and Frank's RedHot Sauce in large resealable plastic bag; Seal bag and toss potatoes to coat.
• Combine Fried Onions and cheese on sheet of waxed paper.
• Coat potatoes in crumb mixture, pressing firmly.
• Arrange potatoes in single layer in shallow baking pan coated with nonstick cooking spray.
• Bake, uncovered, 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown.
• Serve with more hot sauce or mix 1 C ketchup w/ 1 or 2 T of hot sauce for a spicy dip.

ZIPPY CHEESE BREAD

Steps:

• Mix together the Miracle Whip, softened butter, and garlic powder. If using Parmesan, blend into the mixture.
• Spread mixture over inside of bread. Optional to top with Monzarella.
• Open faced, place the bread on a cookie sheet and put into the oven.
• Bake on broil for about 5-8 minutes until bubbly and slightly brown on top.
• Remove from oven, and let rest a few minutes before cutting and serving.

YOUR OWN CRUSTY FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in very warm water.
• Stir well.
• Let proof for 10 minutes.
• Stir in 2 cups of the flour, sugar and salt until mixture is smooth; gradually beat in enough of the remaining 5 cups flour to make stiff dough.
• (Kitchen Aid is perfect for this).
• Turn out onto lightly floured pastry cloth or board and knead 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding only enough more flour to keep dough from sticking.
• Return to bowl; brush top with soft shortening or oil and cover with clean towel or plastic wrap.
• Let rise till double in bulk in warm place away drafts (approximately 45-60 minutes).
• Punch dough down; cover; let rise again for 30 minutes (again in warm place away from drafts) or until double in bulk.
• While dough rises, make boat shaped baking pans as follows:.
• Tear off 3 twenty-inch-long sheets of heavy aluminum foil.
• Fold in sides of foil approximately 1"-1 1/2" on all 4 sides to form baking pan, this will allow the bread to rise up and not spread out into a flat shaped loaf by folding the short ends together to seal, pressing thumb inside to round slightly (shape into boat)with shortest ends slightly rounded.
• Spray with PAM and sprinkle lightly with corn meal.
• Punch dough down, knead 1 minute on lightly floured pastry cloth or board.
• Divide dough into thirds.
• Roll out with the palm of your hands to a rope approximately 18 inches long; place in prepared foil pan.
• Repeat with remaining two-thirds dough.
• Make 3-4 evenly spaced shallow cuts diagonally in the top of each loaf; brush with warm water and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
• Cover with clean towel and let rise in warm place away from drafts till double in bulk (approx. 30 min).
• Preheat oven to 450º.
• Place dish (I use an old aluminum pie plate) on lower shelf of oven and fill half way with hot tap water.
• Slide loaves on shelf above water.
• Bake for 15 minutes in 450º oven; reduce heat to 350º and bake 30 minutes longer.
• Bread is done when tapped and gives a hollow sound.
• Remove immediately from pans and let cool on cooling racks.
• Slice bread- spread each side with garlic butter- reassemble bread loaf and return to foil pans.
• Unfold edges to cover and warm in low oven (325º) till butter melts into bread.
• Serve warm.

ZIPPY FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• Beat cream cheese, butter, and chives.
• Lay bread on sheet of foil and cut into thin slices within 1/2" of the bottom.
• Spread mixture between slices and wrap foil around bread loaf.
• Bake at 400F for 14-17 minutes or until heated through.
• NOTE: To freeze: proceed with recipe through step 3. Place wrapped loaf in freezer.
• To serve: Thaw in fridge overnight. Proceed with baking directions.