French Bread

My friend Tori made this, and I insisted on the recipe. She has also made cinnamon bread out of it too! both recipes are as follows and are found here.

Ingredients:
- 1 package yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbls sugar
- 2 cups warm water
- 5 cups flour
- melted butter
- cooking spray
- Cinnamon and Sugar (if you want Cinnamon bread) the perfect mixture is 1 tbls sugar to 1 tsp cinnamon

 In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast, salt, and sugar in the warm water. Gradually stir in the flour, adding only until the mixture refuses to absorb more. On a floured board, knead the dough for 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and brush the top lightly with butter. Cover with a damp cloth. Set the dough aside in a warm place to rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until it is double in size.

Butter a baking sheet and sprinkle it with cornmeal, shaking off the excess. Punch down the dough. Transfer the dough to a floured board and divide it into thirds. Roll each portion into a 8" x 13" rectangle.

If you want Cinnamon bread do as follows (if not skip this paragraph). Brush melted butter onto each rectangle and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Roll each rectangle up from the long side, seal and shape ends. Place the loaves on the prepared baking sheet and with a sharp knife make several diagonal cuts across the tops. Brush lightly with melted butter. Let rise in a warm place - about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 and place a pan of water in the bottom of the oven while preheating. Place the bread on the middle rack in the oven and bake at 450 for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 F and continue baking for 20-25 minutes. Makes 3 loaves.