Reviewed: Oct. 17, 2009

This was my first time making bread period and it turned out just like in a bakery! It had the right dense texture and taste was an amazing addition to our dinners.

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Jennifer

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Fort Myers, Florida, USA

Living In: Thomasville, Georgia, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 14, 2009

I tried making this multiple different ways as suggested by other members before posting and basically didn't think any of them were necessary. the recipe as written makes wonderful bread. This has become my "basic use all the time for fresh bread" recipe and I use it at least once a week. Thnx!

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Gabut

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Living In: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 12, 2009

I have been making bread for years and always try new recipes. This one is crusty and chewy and all that a good french bread is. All I did is use the three packets of rapid rise yeast I had and it came out great! Thanks for sharing.

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Kathleen

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Reviewed: Oct. 9, 2009

Clearly you can add me to the "must have done something wrong" list. I've made bread before and NEVER had results this bad. My bread isn't even out of the oven yet and I knew before I even put it in that this was going to be a bust. It rose nicely up until the end and then it went flat. I even cut it prior to rising the last time as a reviewer mentioned. I think I'll stick to Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. At least then I knew my less than thrilling result (but nowhere near as bad as this) was due to improper handling of the dough.

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Jennifer

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Fernley, Nevada, USA

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Reviewed: Oct. 5, 2009

Excellent recipe! It makes 3 large loaves, I normally roll mine flat put different fillings (fresh herbs, garlic, olives, cheese, bacon) on it before I roll it into a loaf.

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Sarah

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Dayton, Ohio, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 26, 2009

This is the BEST bread! I used 5 cups of all purpose flour, 5 teaspoons of rapid rise yeast, a teaspoon of sugar to kick start the yeast. I also added a tablespoon of butter to the batter. When the bread was done, I poured a tablespoon each of melted butter and honey on top of them, covered with foil and a damp towel for 15 minutes. It made the bread soft and delectible. Thank you all who put their tips online, this recipe is going to be one that will be made often in my house!

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Denise

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Reviewed: Sep. 23, 2009

This is very good french bread. It's hard to believe that so few ingredients could produce such a tasty loaf, not to mention the great texture. I make sourdough bread all the time, but lately have been buying french bread in the stores, so I thought I would give that a whirl. I only made half the recipe because I thought it might not be that good. Boy, was I wrong! I'm going to double the recipe next time and freeze some loaves. Thanks Jenn for this great recipe! -Sonja Allen

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Sonja Allen

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Reviewed: Sep. 16, 2009

Fantastic! This is the second time I have ever made any type of yeast bread the first time was a disaster. (hamberger buns that came out like heavy biscuits) This was so easy. I even made a couple of mistakes and it came out great. (forgot to grease the pan. I just used cornmeal and I used a whole egg for the top instead of the white. oops!)It looked like it was from a bakery.

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chanda

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Van Buren, Indiana, USA

Living In: Springhill, Louisiana, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 12, 2009

What a fantastic recipe! I did follow what others had done like add extra salt, cut back on the flour, and proofed the yeast in a couple of tsp of sugar. This was the second time I made French bread and it is by far the better recipe. I don't think I'll ever buy French bread again. The only mistake I made was falling asleep and forgetting to put the bread on the cooling rack! It's the pits to get OLD!!!

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Royall

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Tacoma, Washington, USA

Living In: Keaau, Hawaii, USA

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Reviewed: Sep. 7, 2009

I used this recipe as the base for the first french loaf I've ever made and it turned out better than I even expected. I did use half wheat flour, and a bit extra yeast after reading some of the reviews,and the result was a very beautiful, tasty bread.

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laiyh

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Reviewed: Sep. 5, 2009

Great recipe! Like many others, I reduced the flour to 5 cups and then added about another 1/4 cup during kneading to get it to the perfect consistency. I only used 2 packets of yeast (couldn't justify using half of one) and it worked great! I also doubled the salt and mixed in a few tablespoons of melted butter prior to kneading. I also brushed butter on the tops before baking and sprinkled lightly with kosher salt. Baked with a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven to help form the crunchy crust. The results were PERFECT!

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Emily

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Reviewed: Aug. 27, 2009

This was super tasty with the soup I made for dinner! Way better than the store bakery.

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Laurie Vanderjagt

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Living In: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 22, 2009

My husband said "Better than the bakery!" I did most of the work in the mixer bowl (didn't incorporate flour with the wooden spoon), and I only used 5 cups of flour. Worked great, and we'll definitely be making this again!

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Liz

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Reviewed: Aug. 21, 2009

I love this bread! It was my first bread recipe that I ever made and it came out great. I have made it quite a few times now for gatherings and everyone loves it. Very easy and well worth the work.

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Rachel Trevino

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Reviewed: Aug. 18, 2009

I don't have anything to say that hasn't already been said, but I've been trying to make good French bread for about a month now. Until I made this bread, my bread was only so-so. Using this recipe, my bread is A-MAZ-ING. Thank you so much to the poster!

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Michelle_Pattison

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Sullivan, Indiana, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 18, 2009

This recipe was super easy, and tastes great. I only needed about 5 cups of flour.

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Momof4

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Omaha, Nebraska, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 11, 2009

This made truly perfect french bread. I have no doubt this will become a staple in my house.

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Lo

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Reviewed: Aug. 8, 2009

This was my first time making bread. And it turned out great. I wished at first that it had more of a kick but then I realized that this bread would be amazing with a great soup or chili. It is has just the right crunch on the outside and gooood chewy center. My little sister loves it. :) ( I didn't have regular flour though...I only had bread flour that I got for experimenting this summer.)

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ThreeofThree

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Reviewed: Aug. 7, 2009

this was a pretty good recipe. i think using the correct pan would give the bread proper height. a flat pan allows the bread to spread outward(more than it should). thanks for sharing!

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