Mini French Loaves Recipes

MINI FRENCH LOAVES

Steps:

• In a bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar, seasonings, cheeses and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 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; divide in half. Roll each half into a 15x10-in. rectangle. Roll up from long side; seal well. Cut each into three 5-in. loaves; seal ends. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Brush loaves with water. Cover with plastic wrap coated with cooking spray; let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes With a very sharp knife, make three shallow diagonal cuts across top. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack Brush with butter.

MINI FRENCH BREAD LOAVES (SERVES 2)

Steps:

• Place the bread flour, salt, and yeast in a food processor, and process for 3 seconds to blend. With the machine running, pour 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons water through the feed tub; process until the dough holds together, about 20 seconds. The dough should be a sticky mass, and it should appear difficult to knead by hand. If the dough is too dry, add more water, a tablespoon at a time, processing for 5 seconds after each addition.
• Lightly grease a medium-size mixing bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn it to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise at room temperature until it has nearly doubled in bulk, 2 to 3 hours.
• Punch the dough down and let it rise again until nearly doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.
• Sprinkle a cutting board or work surface with a little flour, place the dough on it, and cut the dough into 2 pieces. Shape the pieces into balls, sprinkling them with a little flour if necessary to make them easier to handle. Place the balls of dough on an ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle a little flour over each round (to keep the plastic wrap from sticking), and cover them lightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough balls rise until nearly doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. To make a crisp crust, fill a clean spray bottle with water and spritz the inside of the oven with water just before you slide the bread into the oven.
• Bake the bread rounds until golden and crusty, about 10 minutes. Fremove the baking sheet from the oven or, If you like a crustier loaf, leave the bread in the oven with the door closed for 5 minutes after you have turned off the oven.
• Transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool. Serve it warm or at room temperature.

CRUSTY MINI LOAVES

Steps:

• In bread machine pan, place the first six ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed)., When the cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into four portions; shape into 6-in. loaves. Place on a greased baking sheet. Cut slits in the top of each loaf. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes., In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk and water; brush over dough. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds if desired. Bake at 375° for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

MINI BREAD LOAVES

Steps:

• Starter.
• Combine water and yeast in a large bowl and mix well.
• Add ¾ cup flour and whisk 100 times.
• Cover and let set one hour.
• Dough.
• Add an additional tsp of dry yeast, 6 cups of (room temp.) water, 4 cups of flour and kosher salt to starter mix.
• Whisk 50 times and let stand 2 minutes.
• Using a large spoon mix in 2 cups of flour until well incorporated.
• Add 3 cups of flour and mix until well incorporated.
• Add another 3 cups of flour and mix until well incorporated.
• Let dough rest 5 minutes.
• Cover working surface with generous amount of flour (about a cup).
• Turn soft wet dough onto surface and sprinkle with flour.
• Dip your hands in flour and knead the dough.
• (Push it down and forward with the heel of one hand. Then pull dough back from the top and fold dough over with the other.).
• Gradually add the last cup of flour as you knead for about 5 minutes.
• Shape dough into a ball and return to large bowl that has been lightly coated with 1 ½ tsp olive oil.
• Brush top with ½ tsp olive oil.
• Cover and let rise until doubled (approx an hour).
• Deflate the dough, turn out unto a floured surface and knead for about a minute.
• Separate dough in half.
• Separate each half in half.
• Divide these pieces into fourths.
• (You should have 16 pieces. And sometimes I get 18 pieces-- lol).
• Shape each piece into a tight ball and place on a greased baking sheet (up to 6 to a sheet).
• Let rise for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 450F and place oven racks in the center of the oven.
• Place a pan of water under the racks where the bread will bake.
• Place loaves in hot oven for ten minutes.
• *Spray/sprinkle loaves with water.
• Reduce heat to 400F and continue baking for 10-12 minutes.
• Remove from oven.
• Paint w/ butter or oil for a softer crust (optional).
• *For crustier loaves keep the 450F bake time to 20 minutes and omit 400F bake & water spritz.