french bread round Recipe

How to make it

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• Place dough ingredients in a bread maker, select dough setting, and press start. (If you don't have a bread maker, use a kitchenaid type mixer or mix by hand until well-mixed.)
• When the dough cycle ends, the machine will beep. You can leave the dough in the machine or put it in a mixing bowl. Either way, the dough needs to be covered (if in a bowl, with a wet dish towel) and put in a warm place - about 90° F. (I usually put the bowl in another bowl filled with hot water to raise the temperature.) Set a timer and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour.
• After an hour, punch the dough down and knead a few times. Reset the timer and let the dough rise for another hour.
• After the second hour, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured baking stone. Form into a smooth round ball then flatten it with your hands.
• Lightly butter the dough. With a very sharp knife held almost parallel to the loaf, carefully slash the top of the dough at sharp angles in a # pattern.
• Preheat oven to 450° F. Place a small pan on the bottom shelf of the oven and add at least 1 cup of water to the pan. Place dough in oven and bake for 30 minutes (or until complete).
• (Note: To preserve the crisp crust, do not store in plastic wrap or bag. Bread can be loosely covered or left out for up to two days before it dries out completely.)