Bread Machine French Bread

Photo: flickr user Tony the Misfit

Ingredients

1 cup Water

1 1/2 teaspoons Salt (can reduce to ¾ tsp)

3 cups Bread flour

2 teaspoons Yeast

Cornmeal

Preparation

Place all ingredients except cornmeal in bread pan. Select dough setting and start. At beep, turn dough onto a floured counter top or cutting board. (I spray an acrylic board with Pam and skip the flour). Shape the dough into 12" oblong loaf, 1 large round loaf, 2 18-inch baguettes, or 8 french rolls.

Dust the top with a little flour; rub it in. Place on a cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm over 30 to 45 minutes of until doubled. To warm oven slightly, turn on warm setting for two minutes then turn it of

Place a pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven. Preheat oven to 450 . Immediately before placing bread in oven, slash tops with a very sharp knife (I use a serrated knife) about 1/2" deep.

Bake round or oblong loaves 20 minutes, baguettes about 15 minutes, french rolls bake 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.