French Boule Bread

Since I have recently been dubbed the "official bread maker" of the family, I thought I would share this bread recipe that has been well loved by our family and friends. My grandmother made this bread a few years ago while at our house and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. So, of course, we needed the recipe....

(My family usually doubles this recipe, and so the amount ends up being about 4 loaves)

3 cups of lukewarm water (105 - 115 degrees)

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

6 1/2 cups flour

Mix the yeast with the lukewarm water in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and salt. When mixing the dough, keep it as wet as you can handle. Mix into a semi-rounded ball. My family has found that this bread tastes better if it sits in the refrigerator for a while before baking. But either way, when the dough is mixed form it into loaves, sprinkle the tops with salt, and let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes to rise. The bread needs to be baked at 450 for 30 minutes. We bake our bread on circular pizza stones because we found that it turned out better, but the stones are not necessary. Put a shallow pan in the bottom of the oven to heat. After the bread is in the oven ready to bake, put a couple of cups of hot water into the heated pan. It will sizzle, and a cloud of steam will be produced. This will help give the bread a crusty outer. My family has found this extra step to be worth it:)

Enjoy:)

~Olivia G.