Quick & Easy Homemade French Bread

I think this is my new favorite quick and easy bread recipe! I was honestly shocked by how simple it was to throw together and then you just have to wait about an hour for it to rise and about half an hour for it to bake and then...TA DA! French bread!

I think my current favorite use for this recipe is for garlic bread--that's what I made it for initially when we had Michael's friend over for dinner. You can make it the day of or like a day ahead of time and it helps you make seriously delicious an brag-worthy garlic bread (seriously...look at people's faces when you tell them you made the whole thing from scratch, even the bread. They will be impressed!) Slightly crusty on the outside, nice and chewy on the inside. Gotta love a delicious and easy recipe for homemade bread, am I right??!

Quick Wheat Baguettes-King Arthur Flour Review

Tomorrow is my birthday! To celebrate, we've got bread (I love bread. Ask anyone) and a giveaway! Yay!

Tomorrow may be my actual birthday, but when I received 4 bags of King Arthur's organic flour to review-it certainly felt like that was my birthday! 

If you're not (for some crazy reason) familiar with the brand, King Arthur Flour is America’s oldest flour company, founded in Boston in 1790 to provide pure, high-quality flour for residents of the newly formed United States. More than 220 years later, they’re the nation’s premier baking resource, offering everything from top-quality baking products to inspiring educational programs—all backed by the passion and commitment of their dedicated employees and owners.

To learn more about King Arthur Flour, their philosophy and/or products, you can find them on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest.  You can also sign up to receive e-mail updates that include everything from recipes to their latest product offers.  And don’t forget to check out their recipe page for fabulous step-by-step recipe ideas that use many of King Arthur Flour’s products! Their website alone is fab-they have so many amazing products and resources! 

And um, yeah, now they have ORGANIC FLOURS! I attempt to incorporate a lot of organic into my diet, and I use flour a lot so I was pretty ecstatic at the opportunity to try out King Arthur Flour's varieties. 

Here's a little run down about the flours I received and my (amazing) experiences with them:

King Arthur Organic (Unbleached) All-Purpose Flour: "A certified-organic all-purpose flour, produced from hard red winter & spring wheats. Slightly lower protein level of 11.8%." Obviously, all purpose flour is the go-to, it is the workhorse of flours in my kitchen. I've been using this flour like...almost daily, and everything turns out absolutely wonderfully!

King Arthur Organic (Unbleached) Bread Flour: "King Arthur’s organic unbleached high-gluten bread flour, milled from organically grown hard red spring wheat, is perfect for yeasted baked goods-bread, rolls, pizza, and more. 12.7% protein, a full point higher than other national brands. The higher the protein level, the stronger the rise. Use in recipes calling for bread flour, including bread machine recipes. Super when you're making rye or other whole-grain breads that have trouble rising their highest." Oddly enough, I've used this flour more in cookie recipes than bread ones (so far) but either way the cookies turned out thick and perfect, and the breads chewy and the whole wheat versions have a much higher rise than usual. Oh, and I used it for this bread recipe below. I'm officially in love with this bread flour :).

King Arthur 100% Organic (Unbleached) Whole Wheat Flour: "A certified-organic whole wheat flour produced from hard red spring wheat. King Arthur Organic Whole Wheat Flour works GREAT! Protein level: 14%. Ideal for all of your whole wheat baking." Whole wheat flour has been the 2nd most used flour in my kitchen, and I have absolutely loved the double layer of health (organic and whole wheat! woohoo!). And, this was another flour I used in the bread recipe below.

King Arthur 100% Organic (Unbleached) White Whole Wheat Flour: "King Arthur 100% Organic White Whole Wheat Flour, milled from a blend of hard white winter and spring wheats, tastes milder and bakes lighter than traditional whole wheat. Protein: 14.0%.Called "The new miracle flour" by First for Women: 'Bakers rejoice! Now you can make all your favorite recipes with white whole-wheat flour. Recently introduced by King Arthur Flour, 100% Organic White Whole Wheat tastes milder than traditional whole-wheat flour but incorporates the three key components of whole grains: bran (packed with fiber), endosperm (full of protein) and germ (rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber).'" This was probably my biggest surprise. I have been incorporating some white whole wheat flour into almost ALL of my baking--it barely (if at all) affects the flavor and texture, but I know that I'm getting the added nutrition! Possibly my new favorite flour, love love love it!

Now. About this bread.

It's perty.

And chewy.

And hearty.

And like...good for you n stuff.

Honestly? This recipe is very similar to that other baguette recipe I've shared. The biggest difference is that the bread flour combined with the whole wheat flour keeps it chewy and from getting too dense (like happens when you use too much whole wheat in the other recipe). But it's quick, tasty, and a perfect accompaniment to dinner, soups, chili, whatevs! Keep reading for the recipe, then after that the details on the giveaway(CLOSED)!

Quick Baguettes

Baguettes.

They sound French and terribly complicated.

But they're not!

...Ok...well...they are French, but they're not complicated! At least, not if you use this recipe.

 It makes 2 baguettes and take around an hour (2 max) from start to finish. 1 hour and then you have delicious, fluffy, buttery bread. Some of the best bread I've ever had (not even mentioning made). And this is such a great, simple, base recipe that you can totally play around with it. I have made these baguettes with various ratios of whole wheat and AP flour (I've done entirely whole wheat, entirely AP, and everything in between. My favorite has about 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour and the rest is AP.) I bet you can also experiment with putting cheese or other add-ins as well. All that matters is that this bread is golden and crisp on the outside, and incredibly fluffy and chewy and soft inside. Michael and I are crazy about this bread. I seriously just made it a few days ago. It's so good.

We've used this bread to dip in my spinach artichoke dip (in which case I make these mostly/entirely whole wheat) or soup, as toast, warm with butter (my favorite way), in sandwiches, French toast, or any way you can imagine! A couple days ago Michael had it for breakfast with cut tomatoes on top. He was so happy, lol. This recipe is a great idea if you're a beginner at baking yeast breads. It's nearly foolproof. And it's awesome so....yeah, duh. 

(Don't mind me, I speak fluent Valley Girl :P...I should probs. say something French but I am no good at it. Sooo...yah.)