All of your wildest fantasies are about to come true: now you, too, can make your own French bread, hoagies, and hamburger/hotdog buns, all from the same dough recipe! And if you REALLY want to get wild and crazy, you could also make pizza dough or breadsticks. You never knew things could get so out of control at Our Best Bites.
This recipe comes to you with minor tweaking from my dearest Lisa (who also gave me the infamously delicious breadstick/pizza dough recipe). I love this recipe because while it’s similar to the breadstick/pizza dough recipe, it’s a littler richer with much more substantial rising time, both of which give the bread an interesting flavor and texture. Because of the increased rising time, this recipe takes a little more planning (at least for me) than the other, but the French bread is SO delicious and I’m telling you, once you make deli sandwiches or burgers on the buns, you can never go back in good conscience.
I know lots of people get nervous when making yeast breads. If this is the case, be sure and check out the Tips on Yeast Doughs as well as the breadstick dough recipe, which provides additional pictures on what your dough should look like. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask! 🙂
French Bread, Hoagies, and Buns
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
4-5 1/2 c. flour
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 egg, separated
2 Tbsp. cold water
Combine yeast, water, and sugar in large mixing bowl and allow to stand 10 minutes or until bubbly. Add salt, vegetable oil, and egg yolk (set white aside for later) and combine. Add 3 c. flour and mix well until combined. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough that barely sticks to your finger. Knead, either by hand or in mixer (my personal and very lazy choice) for another 2-3 minutes. Cover and allow to rise 1 hour 45 minutes.
Punch down dough. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. For a loaf of bread, shape into loaf and place on greased cookie sheet. For buns or hoagies, divide equally into 8-10 (or even 12, if you want smaller buns when you’re done, and let’s face it, who doesn’t want smaller buns??) pieces and shape as desired. Use a scale if you have one to get equal-sized buns.
It’s okay if they touch (or will touch after having risen). Cover and allow to rise another 1 1/4-1 1/2 hours or until doubled. Keep an eye on things–if they seem like they’re getting so big that they might collapse, hurry and get them into the oven.
Preheat oven to 375. Mix egg white with water and brush over dough. Bake for 10 minutes and repeat brushing the dough with the egg wash.
Bake an additional 8-10 minutes or until bread is golden brown and your house smells like heaven.
French Bread, Hoagies, and Buns
Our Best Bites
Our Best Bites
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
4-5 1/2 c. flour
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 egg, separated
2 Tbsp. cold water
Instructions:
Combine yeast, water, and sugar in large mixing bowl and allow to stand 10 minutes or until bubbly. Add salt, vegetable oil, and egg yolk (set white aside for later) and combine. Add 3 c. flour and mix well until combined. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough that barely sticks to your finger. Knead, either by hand or in mixer (my personal and very lazy choice) for another 2-3 minutes. Cover and allow to rise 1 hour 30 minutes.
Punch down dough. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. For a loaf of bread, shape into loaf and place on greased cookie sheet. For buns or hoagies, divide equally into 8-10 (or even 12, if you want smaller buns when you’re done, and let’s face it, who doesn’t want smaller buns??) pieces and shape as desired. Use a scale if you have one to get equal-sized buns.
It’s okay if they touch (or will touch after having risen). Cover and allow to rise another 1 1/4 hours or until doubled. Keep an eye on things–if they seem like they’re getting so big that they might collapse, hurry and get them into the oven.
Preheat oven to 375. Mix egg white with water and brush over dough. Bake for 10 minutes and repeat brushing the dough with the egg wash.
Bake an additional 8-10 minutes or until bread is golden brown and your house smells like heaven.
Questions & Reviews
these look great! definitely want to try making them!
I made these to use as brat buns and they were great!
If your son is allergic to eggs (and how HARD would that be??), I’d leave the egg yolk out and then either brush the tops with water while it’s baking or don’t even bother with it and rub some butter on top when you pull them out of the oven. Definitely not a big deal! 🙂
Is there something I could do besides the egg white wash? My son is allergic to egg whites. We had the barbeque pizza tonight, so so good!
I couldn’t access your website at ALL yesterday (or my e-mail account – I nearly cried all day long). Now that I’m back, I just want to say YUM. I’m sure they taste as good as they look.
Oh yum!
Yay! My computer didn’t freeze up on me today! I can’t wait to try this one!
I have been waiting for this one. I knew it was coming. YUM. I can’t wait until I have an oven again.
those look good!
Holy hanna banana…those look amazing. Come to my house and give me a lesson!!! Come on Kate, we don’t have hurricanes here in the land next to Zion.