My First Attempt at Making French Bread

We are almost out of bread at our house, so I decided, in an attempt to skip going to the grocery store, to try and make some bread. I should mention that I have really really bad luck getting bread/rolls to rise at my house. Like, I can't even get Rhodes rolls to work. I'm out of whole wheat flour(yes, I really need to make a trip to the store) so I decided to try making white bread. Of course, the only recipe I could find was for french bread, so I made french bread in a loaf pan. We'll see how that turns out. Anyways, here's the bread.

And, here's the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 package of dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 c. warm water
3 c. bread flour
1 t. salt
Cooking spray
1 T. water
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Directions:
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water; let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Place flour and salt in a food processor; pulse 2 times or until blended. With processor on, slowly add yeast mixture through the food chute; process until dough forms a ball. Process 1 additional minute. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 or 5 times.
3. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover dough; let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 45 minutes or until double in size.
4. Punch dough down, and shape into a 9x8 inch rectangle. Roll up dough, starting at long side, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets. Pinch seam ends to seal. Cover dough, and let rise 30 minutes or until double in size.
5. Preheat oven to 450.
6. Uncover dough, and make 3 diagonal cuts across the loaf, using a sharp knife. Combine water and egg white, and brush mixture over top of loaf. ***I didn't do this step.***
7. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

So, I haven't tried my bread yet. I'm pretty sure that it didn't rise like it's supposed to. Perhaps I'm destined to make bricks instead of bread. However, at least I'm making the effort???

P.S. This bread is delicious. Tim said its the best bread I've ever made. We both had PBJ sandwiches for lunch and I'm pretty sure there's only 1/3 of the loaf left. I sort of have a bread problem. :) This is definitely a repeat offender for our house.