This is a light and deliciously simple French bread. I made it this morning in just a couple of minutes, plus a few more for kneading. The rest of the time is just for the rise and bake. It’s better than anything in the grocery store. Great as toast and for sandwiches. Here’s the recipe.

I cut the recipe in half this time because I don’t eat much bread. When I do it needs to be worthwhile. This time I used bread flour (for the higher gluten content, although quality all-purpose flour is fine), instant yeast and baked in a standard loaf pan.

When substituting instant yeast for the small packets of dried yeast available in most stores simply include the water you would use to activate the yeast separately with the rest of the ingredients. Make sure your boiling water is cooled enough by the cold water so it doesn’t kill the yeast but warm enough to activate it.

The full recipe yields three, medium to small free form Artisan style loaves. They freeze well too. It’s not baguette but in many ways I prefer it because baguette is laborious and has a very short shelf life.

That said, very soon I will take a baguette class at Barton Springs Mill to learn some secrets that I intuitively feel I’m missing. They offer classes in sour dough and pasta too. Most sell out months in advance.

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