Long Loaves Recipe | Bread Baking

By
Donna Currie
A headshot of Donna Currie, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Donna Currie

A longtime cook and baker, Donna Currie has written equipment reviews and bread recipes for Serious Eats.

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Updated August 30, 2018
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Donna Currie

I'm not going to call these French bread or baguettes, because they are neither. What they are, though, is good. My secret weapon, semolina flour, adds a richness to the bread that I love.

These are softer loaves. Still substantial, but also a bit airy. They're perfect for sandwiches—soft enough to bite into without breaking teeth or gouging the roof of your mouth with sharp crusty shards, but hearty enough to stand up to whatever fillings you choose. Or, you could slice them and serve them with your favorite pasta dish.

Since these loaves are so airy, it's best to slash them about 20 minutes into the rise. You can slash them later if you're really confident, but it's a little tricky since the loaves are so soft by then. The soft dough also makes these tend to stick to the plastic wrap you use to cover them. A little flour sprinkled on top will solve that problem.

Recipe Details

Long Loaves Recipe | Bread Baking

Active 35 mins
Total 2 hrs 30 mins
Serves 16 servings
Makes 4 loaves

Ingredients

  • 2 cups lukewarm water

  • 1 tablespoon yeast

  • 1 tablespoon sugar

  • 1/2 cup semolina flour

  • 1 pound, 2 ounces (about 3 1/4 cups ) bread flour

  • 2 teaspoons salt

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

  1. Combine the water, yeast, sugar, and semolina flour in the bowl of your stand mixer and set aside until it's bubbly, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and knead with dough hook until the mixture is smooth, supple, and elastic. Add the salt and olive oil and continue kneading until both are incorporated.

  2. Flour your work surface and turn out the dough. Knead briefly, and form the dough into a ball. Drizzle it with a bit of olive oil to coat the surface, and return it to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until doubled in size, about 50 minutes.

  3. Flour your work surface and sprinkle cornmeal on 2 baking sheets. Turn out the dough and divide it into 4 roughly equal pieces. Roll each piece into a log about 12 inches long. Place 2 logs on each baking sheet. They'll look a little narrow, but they will grow impressively.

  4. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 20 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap. If it seems to be sticking, flour the surface a bit; rice flour is nice, for this but regular flour is fine. Slash the loaves as desired, and cover them with plastic wrap again. Let rise for another 10 minutes. They should be doubled in size, maybe a little more.

  5. Bake at 350°F until golden brown, about 25 minutes, rotating the pans about halfway through the baking time. Let the loaves cool completely on a rack.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
154Calories
2gFat
28gCarbs
5gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 16
Amount per serving
Calories154
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 2g3%
Saturated Fat 0g2%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 267mg12%
Total Carbohydrate 28g10%
Dietary Fiber 1g4%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 0mg0%
Calcium 7mg1%
Iron 1mg3%
Potassium 49mg1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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